Whiskeys on the Water — Restaurant in Wyandotte

My wife and I have been coming to Whiskey’s for a couple of years now, and we are happy to say they made it through the pandemic!

We stopped in tonight, a dark and rainy Sunday, and three couples preceded us into the place; an excellent sign! Looking around, the restaurant was busy but not packed, precisely what you’d expect to see at 6:30 on an early December Sunday.

We were promptly greeted at the door and seated immediately. Our hostess presented us with two menus to review. Since it had been a little over a year since we had been here, we were pleasantly surprised to see the menu was essentially the same. There were some new appetizers and entrees, but the burger I was looking for was still available—more on that in a minute.

We have been on a bit of a pretzel-appetizer kick lately, so we were happy to see Pretzel Bites on the menu. Now the spin Whiskeys puts on their Pretzel Bites is that they toss the warm pretzel nuggets in their house-made garlic Parmesan sauce served with a side of beer cheese. One thing to note is the size of this appetizer. We did not count, but there were at least 30 nuggets on the plate! We both had to stop eating them so that we’d have room for our entrees.

I had a beer, and my wife had a mixed drink cocktail. I settled on a draught after our server provided me with three samples of beers that I had not had before. My 60-minute IPA was brought to the table with the glass full with no visible head; a near-perfect pour.

After munching too many pretzel bites, my wife ordered herself their P&L Burger, described as “Inspired by Chef Matty Matheson, this burger is sure to impress! 8oz patty grilled to order, topped with our house-made Bacon Jam, Swiss cheese, Pickle Mayo, lettuce on a toasted brioche bun!” My wife ordered hers cooked medium-well without lettuce. Instead of fries, she chose a side of their Maple Roasted Butternut Squash.

The chefs cooked her burger precisely the way she wanted, and the only comment was that there was a little too much bun, and I had to agree. This is not a negative, but it was a very tall brioche bun.

I had my favorite, The Whiskey Burger; “8oz burger patty smothered in our housemade Jameson whiskey glaze, topped with mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, and gorgonzola cheese crumbles on a brioche bun.” I ordered mine prepared medium-well with all standard options, and I choose fries. Again, my burger patty was cooked to perfection, generously topped with all the good stuff, and the Jameson Whiskey glaze had me licking my plate clean!

Now that I know the post-pandemic chefs at Whiskeys on the River can cook a burger to order, I’ll get my next whiskey Burger cooked medium.

The restaurant was well-staffed, and our server Brenna, was competent and attentive. We were never “over-served,” nor were we ever left wondering what happened; where’d She go?

If you’re in Wyandotte and you want a good drink and excellent food, stop...

So let me start with the good.

Most of the staff is on point, attentive, and personable. The atmosphere downstairs is usually energetic and fun, weekends get busy and you're sure to run into friends. The menu has a bit of something for everyone, and they have a late night menu with snacks for after a few drinks for under $10. The not so good.

The upstairs remains confusing to me, but many seem to enjoy themselves as they have a sort of DJ and dancefloor on the weekends, which is fine, but seems to not fit the overall vibe of the rest of the establishment. The food is mediocre, the menu sounds exciting but it feels like they don't put any effort on food. For $10 bucks I expect a fresh made burger not a preformed frozen patty. The beer taplist is never correct which is a huge let down because their beer list isn't terrible, they have a dozen or so taps and a decent bottle selection, but you'll have to guess at what they have. The bottle list is sorted by brand, not by type, so be prepared to read it all to find your beer, then cross your fingers they have it.

This leads me to the whiskey menu. And the whiskey.

The bad. If you are called whiskey's on the water, you'd think, well, they at least got this part right.... Nope. The same half assed approach you see everywhere else...Same goes here. The menu doesn't reflect what they stock, the $5 pours are mixed in the same "blends" menu as the $25 single malts, and if you want an Islay, again, be prepared to read the whole list. Now...You've for me you're perfect pour of McAllen 15, or laga 16...Just hope it's not one of the bottles that's been hanging out in the window being beat with sun and heat... At least put a dummy bottle of brown water and up there and pour from stock...

All in all, you'll probably have a good time, but everything seems like a just...

I tried this place out because i had s gift card from tradefirst. The food was amazing, and service was good. Let me start of by "tipping my hat" to the chef. Superb! I got the stuffed chicken and my bf got the porter house. He cooked my asparagus perfectly, right amount of crunch and perfectly seasoned. My chicken was amazing..(I could have done with less goat cheese) but it was perfect not too dry and melted in my mouth. My boy friend's porterhouse was cooked perfectly! It's very hard to get a perfext medium rare with little juice and just enough red. This and one other place has gotten it right. Bravo!!!! The maple squash was perfect! Not over cooked where it was too mushy and not too sweet, same with my sweet potato. We also had the chicken egg rolls and the spinach dip, both were great. The chicken buffalo egg rolls were perfectly fried so they had just the right amount of crisp and chew. The spinach dip was very good as well. Some places u go to and its bland..not here! It was just the right amount of creamy to garlic. The drinks were good. I got the American mule however after a couple my limes and ice were just too much i would have preferred less ice and less limes. Almost seemed as if she was using the same ice? Not sure but it was still very good. The service was good, we will b back. Thank u for a great spot and good food. It's hard to come by, and slim to none most of the time. U will either have good drinks and ok food and the service might suck.. or the service is good and the foid and drinks suck.very hard...