A good dive for beers and a quick bite. It's cool that they brew their own beer on site. They also have guest beers on tap that switch each month. Their food is average bar food. A fair sized menu, but their appetizers are the best. Highky recommend the Gunboats! Yum! They have a lot of seating, so even when it's busy in the summer you can usually find a place to sit. The bar used to be just beer but they've expanded to carry rails as well. One of the better bars in Ely for sure, but not comparable to many in the cities. read more

Stopped in for an early dinner as a party of 3 adults, 6 kids (ages 9-13). Sarah Mavis was our server. She appropriately followed social distancing guidelines and placed our kids a solid 6' away from our table. Sarah Mavis also understood that parents always wait to attend to their own needs, putting their children first. Sarah Mavis catered to us parents, making us feel very special, by delivering our food one minute prior to the kids. I will take this opportunity to say the food was delicious. She also recommend a near-by ice cream shop we could send the kids to so we could drink more beer. Sarah Mavis gave excellent descriptions of the draft beer, spot on in what she didn't recommend (of, course, I didn't listen, and soon learned I should have). Sarah Mavis seemed very well versed in wines as well, including having the knowledge of what inventories the local liquor stores presently had. Sarah Mavis cannot read minds, however. She failed to deliver us the extra napkins (drinking 4+ beer makes me clumsy) that I didn't ask for. I guess I can let that go. We enjoyed her humor. F off, Mavis! And enjoy the glass of wine you are presently drinking from your deck! We will be back to antagonize you on our next trip to Ely! read more

Love this place! The walleye sandwich is one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten, and being up here in Ely one really must have some walleye (if one is unfortunate enough to not be able to catch your own :) The assortment of fry options is great, but the sweet potatoe fries were definitely among the best I've ever had. I also tried my relative's "Motorboat" hamburger and it was fantastic, if we go back I'll probably get one of those myself. Another person got the chili and raved about it, really everyone in our group loved everything, no complaints! The atmosphere is good, very brewpub with a nice neighborhood bar feeling. The service was excellent and our server was very friendly and knew her recommendations. If you are in Ely, you need to come here! read more

The service and food were both excellent. I had the fish and chips with the broccoli slaw. The walleye in the fish and chips was fresh and seasoned perfectly. The slaw was excellent. The service was quick and friendly. I will definitely return when I am in Ely in the spring. read more

Great little bar and grill. Bartender made me a great cocktail and I ordered the walleye basket. It was a nice large fillet of fish with a nice light crispy breading that was cooked perfectly and came with a mountain of yummy fries. read more

This place is lovely and fun, a nice respite after a day on the lake.. good food and good home brewed beer! They have a BlueBerrry wheat which is to DIE for.. it comes with blueberries IN the glass. They gave me a little static about wanting to plaster a HUGE sticker on my growler thermos, and saying it was the law (ITS NOT THE LAW) .. You only need a small one on the cap, not a massive one.. so we just grabbed out glass one from the car.. they just need to train the waitstaff on what the law ACTUALLY is.. otherwise.. GREAT PLACE!! 4 out of 5 stars, only because of the unknowledgeable staff!! Would recommend!! read more

Lovely dinner. Went here with my family and friends for Friday night fish fry. The walleye was delicious along with the cheese curds and fries. The staff was extremely friendly and sociable which added a nice touch. My only complaint is the bathroom. The men's bathroom stalls didn't lock and there was some sort of food item on one of them. Otherwise great place on a summer Friday night. read more

Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant - Menu front - Brewpubs Near Me - Ely, Minnesota

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We waited at least 45 min to order. The server literally looked at us 5 times and ignored us, while he seated more tables. 2 tables that were seated much later than us were served in less time than we waited. He was rude and had a very bad personality for some one on the service industry. I left a 5 on the table and we left. read more

Corral was a FANTASTIC server who was very nice and good at her job. She had great recommendations. The food was very good, and so were the craft beers. read more

Waitress was very nice but it took awhile to get our food. Food was very good I would recommend the mushroom and Swiss burger. I would recommend going to this place. read more

Ignore the bad reviews. Came here and the staff couldn't have been nicer. The bartender waited on us immediately. I had read bad reviews and was cautious but she immediately got us a menu, explained the brewery and the on tap list. Would definitely come back here again. Good service, beer, and clean with a relaxing atmosphere. read more

This restaurant is open all the time during the summer, from 6 am to 1 am so it is ideal to grab some food before you set out into the boundary waters. I've only had breakfast here but the egg ham and cheese and similar variations were very good, the coffee kept coming and the waitress was very friendly despite the very early hour. read more

After a full-day of paddling, nothing tastes better than a craft beer. Luckily for everyone on of the Ely side of the BWCA, Boathouse has that. They're adventurous in what they offer, and have a great selection (their own beer + guest taps). Definitely a pit stop that needs to be made if you're in Ely. read more

We had the cheesy chipotle chicken and wild rice soup that was the best soup I've had in a long time! Superb!! My husband had fish and chips he thought were excellent. I had a brisket cheese burger that was the special. Brisket and cheese on top of a burger with sour cream fries. Very very good!!!! And we asked how the margaritas were and man oh man could she make a margarita!! Go if you're in town!! read more

Consider us regulars. We come for a burger and a beer every time we are up for a Canoe Trip. The food atmosphere and service are always good. The staff is mostly the same from season to season and it is nice to see familiar faces. Locals who will listen to your fishing lies and always have one better. My only complaint is they never reveal where the secret fishing spot was...... Come on we are only up once a year at best. We live in Texas. Who are we gonna tell your secret fishing hole to? I'm kidding. Good food. Good beer. Good folks. We will always stop by read more

Abysmal service. I've never had such a hard time getting a beer at a brewery-- our server did an almost supernaturally effective job of ignoring our requests for new beers and making sure our glasses stayed empty. Hilariously, he then proceeded to overcharge us on drinks. When the error was pointed out, he became argumentative and told me the error couldn't be corrected. "Fine, just don't tip me" he suggested. I was happy to comply with this request. The beer was mediocre. read more

Had pulled pork with coleslaw....very good food. Great wait staff. We ate on the bar side.

The food was decent but nothing special. The burger was a large portion but was 14 dollars. Service was pretty awful, but not necessarily to the fault of the two bartenders doing all of the work on the bar side from running food to clearing tables. Two employees were swearing and one told a couple people they weren't the only two in the place and would have to wait which seemed rude. I was there for about two hours by myself for a meal and beer. Sat for about forty minutes without a beer and was clearly finished eating. read more

If your looking for good steak in this small town this is the place to go! Very friendly staff and service. With fast times for getting your food. read more

Four of us went to the boathouse for lunch and it was great. Among us we had the Randal, the ribeye sand which, and the falafel, plus we did a flight to sample the made in restaurant beers. I had he ribeye and it was fantastic. I ordered medium and it came well-- which is typical for this area and why I order medium to start with (typically I like steak done on the medium well side but ordering medium well usually gives you a burnt mess). Anyways my sandwich was super tasty and the broccoli slaw is something I could buy and bring home it's so darn good. My husband had the Randal and enjoyed it a lot. The house BBQ Mac salad is amazing. The other party shared the falafel -- the sauce that's supposed to come with it was forgotten and made the sandwich dry but the waitress quickly corrected the problem. We had a good time sampling the best flavors of beer. Who knew there was such a thing as chocolate-peanut butter beer? The blueberry blond beer is delicious. The waitress was one of the best waitresses I've ever dealt with. She was patient and kind and knew the menu well and was quick to get refills and correct food issues. Overall it was a fantastic time. We will definitely be back. read more

I had two separate experiences at Boathouse in the same day, both of which were amazing. For lunch, We had a party of 13 people of mixed age who ate restaurant-side. Our server, Joseph, was very friendly and helpful. We had a few kids in our group and he was great with them as well. The food was tasty, all our orders came out perfectly, and the prices were very fair. He was also considerate when it came to splitting our check many ways (as we were multiple separate families). Our experience was a large part in what made us decide to come back later. We returned for drinks that night and sat bar-side with a party of six. Game Seven of the NBA Finals was on, so it was understandably busy. The bartenders, Aaron and Dan (who also went by Biscuit), were phenomenal. They were friendly, helpful (to us out-of-towners who knew nothing about their beers), entertaining, humorous, and managed to stay on top of the whole place despite the bustling environment. The taps started to run out by the end of the night, but we still had the opportunity to try everything. The only negative I could see for some people is the limited selection of beers, as they don't serve anything they don't brew (with the exception of guest taps). However, I personally felt this was a positive as it forces you to try their beers and doesn't detract from the quality of their collection. All of their in-house brews were exceptional and the guest tap was pretty good, too. My favorite was the Alimony Ale with the Blueberry Blonde closely behind. I strongly suggest you try either if they are available, depending on if you like dark or light beers (respectively). Boathouse provided a top-notch experience and never missed a step. We will definitely be returning next time we visit Ely. read more

Peanut butter bacon burger ....da' bomb! Pre dinner before heading into BWCA for 5 days. Highly recommended. Great friendly staff. Met a couple from Missouri who were back for their second night of Blueberry Blonde .....with fresh blueberries in the bottom of the pint. read more

BBQ Mac was tastey on the side of the Randal and the Smokestack. Also the Walleye sandwich hit the spot. Great service and food.

The food was so delicious. It was nice and quiet, the service was great, the portions were large and we are satisfied. My husband and I split the prime pepperjack melt and the fish & chips. The melt was good, the fish & chips was AMAZING! Everything down to the sweet potato fries and the boathouse slaw hit the spot! read more

Good not great. The food is exactly what you would expect from a bar. Burgers/fries a variety of sandwiches they do brew their own beer but that's about it nothing too over the top... read more

I ate here before and after my canoe trip and both times were very good and if this place was within an hour drive of me it would probably be on a semi regular stop for me and the wife. The BBQ sandwich was super good and the fish and chips were one of the best I've had. The next time I come up here for vacation I will definitely stop at this place again. read more

Stopped here at 1:15 in pm for a quick lunch. Stood for 1/2 hour waiting for someone to approach us. Surrounded by empty tables that were waiting to be bused. Finally cleared one by ourselves and sat down and waited another 15 minutes before a snarling waitress gave us menus and then disappeared. Waited another 15 minutes and she never returned. Left without eating. Understand if they got slammed but no manager in sight. No apologies for waiting and cleaning a table for them. And no hint of friendliness. Really??? read more

Service was terrible!! Waited about 25 minutes for a refill, while sitting at the bar. ‍ food looked good but never got to order... ‍

The fish and chips were perfectly done - great flavor, light batter, and fresh fish. Chicken tenders had great spice and not greasy at all. Creative beers on tap and excellent food, and to top it off, great service too! We were here for lunch and it was busy, but the servers were very attentive! read more

Amazing. The food was great, staff was friendly and engaging, and beer was off the charts! Everything they recommended was delicious! We will be back! read more

Tired a cup of the wild rice soup - was very good. Had the fish and chips (1/3 pound of fish) very glad I didn't order the 1 pound special - the portion was huge. Even though I didn't order the special, they gave me the same cut of fish they were using for the evening special. It was a treat ( and our server told me that usually it is smaller pieces) - thanks for making my experience at the Boathouse a "we would eat here again" - as this was a very special weekend for us. Great service (couldn't rave about her enough). Good atmosphere. No wait even at 5:30. Right on the main strip and within walking distance to our hotel. Would have loved to try the desserts if I would have had room. Oh, and I'm most curious - how do you cook your chicken that you use in the soup - there was something very unfamiliar about it (not in a bad way at all) - just had me puzzled. With so many places to choose from in Ely (many with great reviews), I'm glad we tried the Boathouse. When we return to Ely the only reason we wouldn't eat here - is if they are closed. read more

Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant - I'm not sure if it beats out the frosty mug I grew up with, but it was fun to try something that "known" to the area. - Brewpubs Near Me - Ely, Minnesota

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Great experience and great food. We ate here for both a lunch meal and dinner over a weekend stay. Very happy with our soup, meaty chili and a great side salad. The ruben choices on the meal were awesome and the best I've had in years. I don't get them ofter but I'm so glad I choose one. Brewpub atmosphere was fun and inviting. Will be coming back this summer! read more

This is a very friendly brew pub located downtown Ely. The beers are brewed on sight with a nice selection of stout and pale ale. We did not eat here, but the happy hour was fun & reasonable. Two pints & a pop for $6.00. Friendly bartenders. They do serve a wide range of pub food. read more

Very good brewhouse and restaurant in Ely. We were there on a Friday so had the fish fry with sweet potato fries. The fish was fantastic - flaky, fresh, large slabs - and the sweet potatoes were good too. We tried the ESB and the Blueberry brews, both were fine but not outstanding. read more

Service was great. I'm a vegetarian and got their falafel and it really hit the spot. It came on pita bread with hummus, yogurt, and a delicious cole slaw on the side; I don't normally like cole slaw, but this one was light on the mayo and crispy. We loved their blueberry blonde; it was refreshing and served with fresh blueberries, which was icing on the cake. We live out of state but will be back during our next visit! read more

Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant - Blueberry blonde is a must. - Brewpubs Near Me - Ely, Minnesota

The Walleye basket is to die for? And the beer is fantastic after a week in the BWCA!

Good luck getting service. Need to hire more people. Waited forever , never had any service. Walked out

Family was visiting Ely and we stopped in for lunch. The IPA was solid and the food was fantastic. There were 8 of us with the extended family and everyone thought there food was delicious. Quick overview, Randle (great twist on Reuben), steak bites, mac & cheese bites, walleye sandwich, walleye grilled cheese, and beer battered chicken sandwich were all winners. I've been to a lot of brewpubs over the years. It's hard to believe tiny Ely is among the best for food. I wish I had more time to sample the beers. read more

Great place! I had the walleye sandwich and it was huge and delicious. I shared it with two other people and they were jealous of my meal! But all 5 of us were very happy with our food and with the service. Would definitely return next time I am in Ely. read more

Excellent veggie panini/lobster tail/mussels. Great atmosphere. Beer is excellent. Leave with a few growlers. Worth the trip through the national forest!!! read more