I wasn't impressed when they first opened, but my husband's boss held a dinner party here last night. A lame salad, entrées, and still frozen cheesecake took almost 3 hours to serve. The wait staff was frazzled and our requests were met with rude replies. My drink was refilled only twice! Next time we'll be choosing The Peppercorn - Sparkling Waters was extremely disappointing. read more

Just passing through.....checked YELP and BINGO! What a find....what you folks have here is a fantastic local restaurant- period. I ordered the Seared Tuna and all I have to say is WOW! I travel extensively and without a doubt it's one of the top 10 places I've eaten at. read more

Best fine dining experience in Bemidji, almost too good for the locals. The food is epwell prepared, service is great and ambience is nice. I work part time in Bemidji, hear some of the gripes, think they come from local insecurity. This restaurant would do well in cities or other resort areas. Try the prime rib, sit on upper deck on a nice night and enjoy the lake. read more

One of my favorite places to go when I'm in Bemidji... happy hour is always super fun and the staff are very sweet and helpful

Upscale atmosphere but the food is over priced. Went on a Monday so maybe the service is mediocre on "off days" but the bread served with my garlic shrimp plate was fresh from the microwave. You could tell because the bowl was very hot and the bread was so hot that you could barely touch it. Once it finally cooled off, it was so hard that crumbs were all over the table. My dish and my friends dish were both luke warm and had to be sent back to the kitchen to be reheated. In terms of taste- the meal was bland and nothing to write home about. read more

Came here during the World Cup and we called to see if the USA vs Germany game was playing and they said they would accommodate us. When we got there, the waitress immediately changed the channel on one of the TVs to the game. Great service already! I ordered the prime rib. It was delicious. Great place for a casual or fancy dinner. We sat near the bar but there is a view of the lake so I can see this being a romantic dinner option as well. I would definitely go back if I'm ever in Bemidji again. read more

I went here when they first opened. I remember I got a cedar wrapped sea bass and it was actually pretty good. The portion size was smaller which leads to 4/5. read more

For a place that caters to an upscale crowd, I was baffled as to why they would serve unseasoned ahi tuna which was still frozen inside. The owners disciplinary conversations with the staff less than two feet away was a bummer too. The food quality is still better than fast food though. read more

We would eat dinner here every night. Dinner was amazing. Logan and Shauna made it special for us. It's a must go. read more

See all

The meal started out well with salad and soup. They were out of their dill pickle soup though so that was disappointing. Then things went downhill. Our food was delayed for a significant time due to a screw up in the kitchen according to the waitress. I ordered scallops which were gritty and burned. My rice was also cold. Nice furnishings and view of the lake was the best part of the night. read more

A few people have complaints about the prices and ambience of this restaurant. I have to give them kudos-Bemidji can be a hard place to put a more upscale restaurant. The population here just does not appreciate what the restaurant is trying to do. While I find it an enjoyable restaurant, it would be nice if they distinguished beteween casual diners and those looking for a more elegant atmosphere. The service is amazing, and most of the food is pretty good. read more

Sparkling Waters is absolutely amazing! This place made our whole evening. The sushi, walleye, and blackened mahi were perfect. Our waitress was the best we've ever had in northern Minnesota. Kudos Sparkling Waters on a job well done. read more

The decor at Sparkling Waters is fun and inviting. The food, plating and service were all stellar with special kudos to Jenna (food server) and Reva (owner). We ordered butternut squash bisque soup, walleye and filet mignon - all terrific. Great artistry in food! read more

I was really looking forward to finally trying the "nicest" restaurant in Bemidji. (Well, for sure this has to be the most expensive restaurant in Bemidji). With that, comes a menu that you'd usually find down in Minneapolis and the tiny portions you'd also find at such places. The food was delicious but not as amazing as someone would expect for the price. I upgraded my vegetables to asparagus for $2 and I got 4 stalks each about 4 inches long, cooked to perfection. But for $2 extra, I felt taken advantage of. The clam chowder was also delicious and the serving size was about the size of a china tea cup and I couldn't find any chunks of clam in it. Although my small piece of salmon with strawberry salsa was absolutely delicious, my wild rice was severely undercooked which was a total disappointment to me. I'm sad that out of town visitors experiencing this Minnesota dish for the first time will think it's supposed to be hard and un-chewable. I mentioned this to the waitress at the end of my meal and I was offered potatoes to go. When I declined potatoes I was offered my choice of three tiny desserts. I had their homemade lavender ice cream. The serving size was about 2TBSPs. It was very good. I won't be returning to Sparkling Waters, not because it was bad, but because I'd rather go TWO other places for the same price. Bemidji has so many delicious places to dine and my time here as a tourist is brief each summer, so I want to leave feeling like my dinner was worth every penny. read more

This is the best stake house around when ever im in town I go there , I think it is a very good place to eat and drink,

Horrible management, but our waitress was really good. They had to cook my steak 3 times. I then wanted to speak to the manager being she was the one that gives an okay to subtract items from our bill. Our waitress then came over to tell me her manager was to busy and that we have to pay full price being the stake was eaten (after the 3rd time). I was not okay with that. I said I will not leave till the manager comes over here. The waitress came back (not the manager) and said we can get you free desert. I then said I'll pass on the desert, but still want to talk to the manager. (At this point we just decided to pay the bill). I hear the manager say to another customer, "hold on I have to go talk to a table over here". She came over to do nothing but tell us that she was going to go call the police because we won't pay the bill (which we did at this point). She also said she had no proof the stake was not cooked being the waitress did not show her the stake. (Not our problem). She didn't even think to apologize or even an explanation to help me understand the situation. I could care less about paying the bill, I just wanted to know her opinion on the situation. Just right to "I'm going to call the cops." At this point she was already walking away from our table still yelling. The whole restaurant was now watching this unnecessary issue. It doesn't make us look bad, makes her look bad. Btw I was not doing anything illegal therefor calling the police would have been pointless and a waist of their time. That being said management please care about your customers a little more. read more

Absolutely wonderful experience all around. Amazing food- I has the cashew encrusted halibut with pepper coulis, welcoming ambience and excellent service. Wouldn't change a thing! read more

After a wonderful week in the north woods we decided to go out for a steak dinner in Bemidji Minnesota before we went home and found sparkling waters on yelp. Thank goodness we did what a wonderful restaurant and dining experience!!!! The service was kind and generous and the food was tasty write down to the homemade strawberry rhubarb ice cream yummy! If you're ever in the area this is the place to go,sparkling waters thanks again!!! read more

Nice atmosphere, food was ok. The price was adequate for the quality, some of the dishes lacked flavor. Only issue I personally had, ordered filet medium and it came to the table raw. Martinis are a good attempt but could use some work. Wait staff very helful wih issues we encountered. All in all, I would give Sparkling Waters a 4 out of 10. read more

This is my favorite place to eat when in Bemidji. Love the service and atmosphere. They have a unique Creamy Dill Pickle Chicken soup. It is my favorite so I need to force myself to try their other amazing soups. I recently had their Clam Chowder. One of the best I have ever had. Today I tried the Loaded Potato. Yet another with 5 stars. Something new on the menu is Frickles so of course I had to try them. They are deep fried pickles served with ranch dressing. For you pickle lovers put this on your must try list. If you are remotely close to Bemidji put this restaurant on your must stop in and try list! read more

Would recommend this restaurant for Happy Hour. Limited 1/2 price appetizer menu (many of their best appetizers, like the bruschetta we ordered, were not on it) but they had a good bar selection and service. Appetizers were incredible; fresh and well-prepared. Portions were not generous and more expensive than I usually pay at a restaurant of similar style in the Twin Cities (where I live). I would go back, however, and would recommend the place to others. read more

There was nothing lacking about this dinner. I had the shrimp cocktail. The shrimp were huge and had great taste. The main course was ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes. Outstanding. The view of the lake was a nice touch. I recommend this restaurant. read more

The seared Ahi tuna steak was sushi-grade and excellent! Rolled in black sesame seeds and served with wasabi paste and soy-ginger sauce. Highly recommended! Salad & wine were great too. read more

This was supposed to be a fine dining experience in Bemidji mn: I will start from the beginning, Our first disappointment was dirty silverware: Then, the gooey substance that was on the outside of my glass was less that pleasant to put towards my lips... The wait staff did apologize and get us new glasses after we flagged them down. Our steaks were cooked to proper requests. However, the fat wrapped around the filet could hardly pass as bacon. Vegetables were steamed very little seeming to be raw: Now some vegetables are good that way yet, green beans aren't one of them. The order was repeated to us when the waitress accepted it. We were quite a surprised to receive the wrong sides with our main course. The waitress was happy to replace and correct our order. Did I forget to mention the wait staff had taken our silverware with our salads and when the main course arrived she had left with knowing we needed silverware approx 5 minutes when she returned to fill our waters we politely asked again for a fork. My bride and I get 1 to 2 date nights a year without our son being present. By no means am I complaining we love our time with our son and that is our choice... non the less, this was one for the books. On the bright side they did charge us full price for the experience and made sure to ask us to come again... We did tip our waitress 10% for her efforts. Yet that is far below our normal 20-25% hopefully this review helps them become aware of some shortcomings they may not have been noticing... I have been here before for drinks and Hors d'oeuvres. And was hoping for a better experience. Maybe I will try again someday to see if our timing was off, or something... read more

I guess I am not the type of person for the menu they have I looked at everything and ended up going somewhere else. I loved the atmosphere and service while we were there (5 minutes tops). read more

This was the best supper meal we have had out in a very long time! The atmosphere was amazing as well as the quality and taste of the food. Their signature soup, butternut bisque was AWESOME! Overall service was outstanding. Prices were comparable to other "nice" restaurants but the quality was far above. We would definitely go back. read more

After 4 years of watching hockey in Bemidji, my family and I finally decided to try this place. We left mad... ***I have managed and served in restaurants for over 14 years.*** The Decor: They need to start over and take down the Christmas decor before adding the Valentine's Day decor. The sofa in the front doesn't match the dark cherry woods and the richness it requires. The front pots walking up to the door are a little too DIY for my taste...pay someone for nice winter plants...it makes a big difference on a first impression. The Staff: They seemed friendly at first... We were seated at a four person table with 4 people and a baby. I asked for a high-chair and the hostess actually had to think about where they kept one. The Food: It tasted good when we FINALLY received it. We ordered our food between 5:35-5:45 and we finally asked one of the girls walking by to check on our food at 6:23. It arrived shortly after that. I ordered a filet that cooked to med-well/well when I ordered it med. My mom ordered the Mahi and she kept saying that her mouth was on fire. She is not shy when it comes to spicy, but the blackened seasoning was too overpowering on the fish. We are now trying to scarf our food down because we were going to the 7:00 BSU game...We finished our food and asked the server for our check and explained that we were in a huge hurry at this point. She disappeared.... We ended up bringing our checks up the front to have one of the hosts run our credit cards to we could leave. She was actually reluctant to help us... Bottom Line-we left mad. Save your money and eat anywhere else! read more

Beautiful place!! Peaceful, with a fountain in the entry way that has fish swimming in it. Wonderful selection of entrees and wines to go with. I would most definitely eat here again!!! read more

I was a little disappointed, reading the reviews on here it seemed like this would be the greatest thing to hit the Bemidji area since sliced bread. Not so much, I'm sorry to say. It appears they tried to build a fine dining establishment, but it is a little hard to enjoy the ambiance or your company if you are seated in the area right in front of the open kitchen with all the banging and clanging. The waitstaff were fabulous, very friendly and helpful. The food was comparable to say a Ground Round or some other quasi fine dining establishment. I had the Sirloin Steak which was slightly over-cooked with just a hint of pink when I ordered it done medium. More disappointing was the fact that the meat was not seasoned at all, it was simply a cooked piece of meat. If you are the type of person who likes to douse your meat in steak sauce, have at it... I prefer eating a meal prepared with some forethought on how it would taste and not need to add anything to cover the blandness. The baby red potatoes were likewise prepared: cut in half and fried in butter, but no seasoning was used. The green beans were the best part of the meal, fresh with Parmesan cheese and garlic. My wife had the sampler platter, which was better than my meal. The walleye (breaded) was good and the chicken strips battered with coconut were very good! I liked the sweet potato fries and the frickle (yes, it is a deep fried pickle). Our meal including a glass of iced tea and a tap beer came to $40. Not a bad price if it would have included some seasoning on the food. So in closing, while it wasn't bad enough for me to say the place was awful, or swear to never return, I did not like it enough to go rushing back. It is unfortunate that as of yet there is not a really good place in town to get a steak! read more

clean cut, nice, with a pinch of elegance, although the raised booth seating seems somewhat out of place. i've dined here a couple times and it is the nicest place in bemidji. nothing spectacular, but the food and cocktails are solid and the owner and staff more than make up for any shortcomings with their attentiveness. certainly recommend it for anybody looking to dine with a nice view of the lake and a touch of refinement! read more

Went to Sparkling Waters for a wedding party. Service was poor and slow, waitresses were oblivious to peoples needs like water and asking 3 times to get the orders right and they still got them wrong, even though orders were placed weeks ahead of time and having cards in your sitting place that had your order. Portions were beyond pitiful the starter salad had 1 slice of tomato 1 slice of cucumber 1 slice of onion. the prime rib seasoning was very inconsistent some people had way too much or none at all. The owner was rude to the party also, i would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Wonderful dinner! Everything from food to drinks were spot on! The pet friendly patio saved us an evening of carry out. more restaurants should offer this service! Best restaurant in bemidji! read more

the server was not very polite... Nobody tell us that we need a coupon for the deal of getting half price... We only realized that we have to pay in full while the receipt came. The server asked us to see the menu ourselves when I have read through the menu and asked for her recommendations.. read more

The fact that this is considered 'upscale' as so many reviews have stated so far is amusing. The interior is very nice and does have an ambiance about it. That being said the other 85% of the restaurant experience falls short. I went in for a private dinner with my significant other and ordered crab. We really enjoy 'snow' crab as opposed to 'king' and other varieties out there. After a 20 minute wait to order after waters were brought out, we asked our server to check what different options they had if any. 15 minutes after that I heard quite easily the 20 year cook shout back at the server "what kind of crab? . .the kind from the ocean!" If I'm paying 28$ for crab, try and know what kind it is. read more

This was a very poor dining experience. The most egregious offense was the manager handled the bread for several patrons using her bare hands even though tongs were available. We waited over an hour to receive our food. Some of the food was cold. The waitress offered salad dressing options that were not available. Instead of asking if we wanted a different dressing, she simply selected a different dressing herself and served it with the salad. The clarified butter with the seafood had an off taste. Overall, the food was overpriced and the service was poor. The hostess said we would have a great experience, which was not true. We will not be returning. read more

We asked Siri for suggestions for best steak house in Bemidgi, Mn. She sent us to "Sparkling Waters". We were greeted by such a friendly man. I believe one of the owners. We loved the atmosphere and the staff. We each had a steak, my husband had Ribeye, baby red potatoes, green beans and zuckinni with parmasean sprinkled over them. I had filet and twice baked potato that was amazing. Our meals were the best we've had in a long time. We finished our meal with a piece of carrot cake between us. They make their own recipes!! We talked to the other owner a delightful lady. I found them very personable and lovely people. Felt as tho we were special. What a treat. I would go there again. We will probably go there again before going home. We loved the experience and our waitress was a delight. read more

Great food, very nice ambience and friendly staff! The owners are attentive to your needs.

What a treat of a place we stumbled upon!!...its on the main drag east of downtown. the place is a beauty, comfortable, relaxing, fun, it has a lounge and a very inviting dining room. our meal was wonderful; the staff was very attentive; the lady that owned the place was so friendly and interesting!.....go there you won't be disappointed!!....great dining experience.....and the decor is so nice!.... read more

I had an excellent meal at Sparkling waters tonite. Food well prepared, very nice and friendly service! I would definite recommend this place to others! Thank you! read more

I've eaten at Sparkling Waters twice and thoroughly enjoyed the food, service and ambiance. First of all, the food was excellent. We had a party of eight the first time we ate there and four the next time. Everyone agreed the service was pleasant. Again, we all enjoyed our dining experience.The view from the restaurant is beautiful and well worth dining there. I will definitely eat there again! read more