We dropped in on a Saturday night, dead in the middle of prime time (without a reservation, my bad.) Our wait was brief and we were seated within 10 minutes. Sarah H. went out of her way to spoil us rotten. SERVICE SCORE -- 10+ The boss ordered the jumbo shrimp (the oxymoron still makes me laugh) and she found them to be satisfactory but not quite stellar. I went with the prime rib and got exactly the cut I asked Sarah to describe to the chef and it was done to a perfect medium rare. For my side, I chose the shrimp bisque and had I known how great that was going to be, I'd have skipped the steak and just ordered a bottomless bowl of the bisque ... YES, it was that good!!! FOOD SCORE -- 4 of 5. But, let's talk about the elephant in the room ... every soul in the house was shouting over the other dozen people at their respective tables... the noise level on a Saturday during the evening rush made me wish I had known to bring earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. The noise level might have been partially attributable to the very generous pour that every glass seemed to have. AMBIENCE SCORE -- Ungraded. All in, though, we had a decent meal at a fair price and got top-shelf service from Sarah (the highlight of the visit.) If we were ever in town visiting again, we'd go back. read more

I don't get to visit GR very often and I've wanted to try this restaurant for some time. It's a very good place to grab a casual meal & a beer. (Not a great wine selection.) For us, it was busy but the service was fast and very friendly. The beer selection focuses on microbrewery's, which I prefer. I selected a German blonde beer from Bemidji. For my meal I did the walleye sandwich. It was breaded & deep fried walleye on a hoagie bun with tomato's, lettuce, red onions and tartar sauce. It was big and it hit the spot! My SO had the walleye filet and shrimp bisque. She said the bisque was the star of the show. The view over the lake makes this a special place. The loud noise from other tables detracts somewhat from that experience. read more

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our server was great, the shrimp app came out relatively fast which is great, it tasted good as well we finished it. my boyfriend got a marg that was not very good. then we waited a long time for our food, to the point i had looked at my life360 on my phone to see how long we had been there, over 45 minutes. our server looked at our empty table and asked if we got our food to which we said no ma'am, she ran to the kitchen and came back with our food, which looked like it had been sitting under/on the heat lamp for over 15 minutes as seen in the photo, i mixed thru it and there oil/butter was completely separated from the sauce. pretty gross. i just ate the scallops themselves which were good my boyfriend's sandwich bread was hard as a rock. our waiter was sweet about it tho and gave us 25 percent off, we still tipped her over 20 percent because kitchen/food runner mistakes are not her fault. started off good but ended not so great. overall would not recommend the food or the drinks unfortunately. but again the servers are very nice. read more

The Pickled Loon Saloon - Sea Scallop Shrimp Scampi* - Bars Near Me - Grand Rapids, Minnesota

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Decent overall experience. We were there on a Tuesday for a late lunch. Some minor hitches. Men's bathroom did not have soap. We had to ask for water refills multiple times. But nothing catastrophic. Food was decent bar food. I'd go back. read more

Great food, very friendly staff, good variety of food on the menu. Cute north woods/lake ambience.

We visited The Pickled Loon Saloon in Grand Rapids for Father's Day. Our first mistake was not knowing that it was a buffet only breakfast for $35.95 a person. Yikes! The food was poor quality and everything was cold. The fruit was not fresh, the deviled eggs were absolutely disgusting, the prime rib was all fat and raw, the scrambled eggs were not fresh eggs, the bacon was raw, the cheese potatoes were beyond nasty and french toast was soggy. Then the service....it was non existent! We had to go to the bar to get a refill on coffee. The only thing good was the weather on the patio. For four adults and one 5 year old our bill was over $200! Never again!! Don't spend your money at this establishment! read more

Worst coleslaw I have ever had. Got the bluegill and the coleslaw had no vinegar sugar mixed in. Was literally eating cabbage. Asked to sub the fries for salad and told there was no sub but saw a bunch of other potatoe choices.... Got the seafood soup and both myself and colleague got food poisoning from it. Would avoid that. read more

Consistent Loon customer for 5 years. The food is usually great. Occasional they will mess up an order but generally the kitchen staff is good. Service is frustrating. Seems you will always wait for something! Sometimes the staff just ignores that your order is there ready to be picked up. Other times they walk by and get to you many minutes later. A little more effort and awareness can go a long way!! read more

Great food, service and location. First time was last summer and we got outdoor seating with some live music outside so we will be back.

We scheduled a 70th birthday for my father as it's their favorite place on the lake to go by boat.. Absolutely everything was excellent, the appetizers were great and out right when we scheduled. The meals were popular with everyone and the service for that many people could not have been any better. We have Absolutely all good things to say. The air conditioning was not working and all their efforts overcame that issue wonderfully. The whole staff deserves so much credit. read more

TL; DR: A must-stop destination if you're up north looking for good brews, a patio, and decent bites. Enjoyed a great summer night here recently as part of a bachelor party up north. Our favorite stop of the weekend. Maddy and Brendan did a great job holding down service. Drinks were a bargain and the thin crust pizza did the trick. Loved the patio and fire pit. Pro-Tip: Bring bug spray if you plan to Yale advantage of outdoor seating and/or fire pit and download the TouchTunes app for jukebox fun. read more

There loon eggs, walleye fingers, and wings were all great. Would definitely return here. Really enjoyed the food. Nice lake views as well.

The food is great, the Service and Staff is wonderful, and the location is right by Pokegama Lake and is beautiful. They also had live entertainment outside on the deck. read more

Great food options for a bar! Really nice beer selection on tap. Enjoyed the experience. We will be back.

In Grand Rapids for our anniversary and heard they had all you could eat crab so my Husband tried it. Very good but the spice on the outside was a bit much. I had garlic butter halibut which was AMAZING, possibly the best I've ever had. Rolls were yummy as well as the garlic mashed potatoes that were real not fake like some places have. All in all we would recommend it if you are in the area and they have a great outdoor patio! read more

The Pickled Loon Saloon - Halibut with lemon butter...AMAZING! - Bars Near Me - Grand Rapids, Minnesota

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We ate here twice once for dinner and once for snacks The prime rib my husband had was delicious and the catfish sandwich I had was yummy. Lots of choice in the beer category. For snack we got the walleye finger and the French fry nachos with pulled pork oh my can't say enough good things read more

Walleye sandwich was amazing!!!! Everything seemed was very fresh. Was there on a Saturday night and even though they were very busy I had excellent service. read more

Great food. Awesome outdoor deck with a lagoon view. Great variety on the menu. Staff was super friendly. We will go there again.

Our waitress yesterday the 3rd of July never came back to the table, she went to other tables so we had another waitress getting refills for us and even a young man delivering for got stuff for us and when it came time to pay she was right there at the till waiting for a tip that she didn't deserve and gave me a look like I was a cheap customer. We tip very well when our waitress does a good job but for some reason she thinks she deserves a tip even when her service was terrible, we love going to the pickled loon saloon the food is great and most of the time the waitresses are great but this one was not very good at her job so she needs to step it up and maybe she will get better tips. It was an older lady we haven't seen before if that helps figure out who it is read more

Hands down our favorite restaurant in Grand Rapids. From the ambience to the menu to the outstanding service, you won't be disappointed. The Bloody Mary hits the spot. Love the Asian lettuce wraps & appetizer list. My husband had the most amazing burger. Wait staff was attentive, conversational and didn't miss a beat. Inside atmosphere is excellent, but be sure to sit on the deck overlooking the boat-in lagoon and watch the island goats head butt mid air. All around excellence. read more

I really wanted to like this place but there were a couple of screw-ups that keep me from giving them anything more than 3 stars. 1) First, the flavor of our food was really good but it was literally dripping with GREASE -- gross. This is because they didn't have the temperature high enough on the deep fryer. This is an amateur move. Someone in the kitchen should wake up. 2) Second, the customer service was messed up. We sat at the bar so we'd get good service. There were too young dudes working as bartenders. They took forever to do everything, despite not being very busy (see photo). One guy was more interested in SOCIALIZING with his buddies at the bar than doing his job. They were also ridiculously DISORGANIZED. It was like an old Laurel & Hardy episode. The second guy finally took our order after we waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then the first guy finally showed up to take our order. So despite being only 6 feet from each other, they obviously didn't know what the hell they were doing. Finally, they were super damn SLOW. It took almost an hour to wait to be acknowledged, to wait for our menu, to wait to order, to talk to 2 different bar tenders, to wait for our food, and to finally get our food. After an hour we decided to not order more food and to get back on the road. 3) Third - finally - they have a killer summertime location on the lake. They could be so much better. I might be willing to try them again but only if someone else buys. -Daddy Maxx Retro read more

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I had the grilled walleye and it was very good, my first time eating walleye and I was not disappointed. Very friendly staff and everyone was very satisfied. The Reuben egg rolls were a hit. I stepped outside t check out the view and it was nice. I hope to be back next year! read more

The Pickled Loon Saloon - Wild walleye dinner!!! - Bars Near Me - Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Great place to eat with awesome atmosphere. Amazing deck overlooking the lake. large menu with many choices.

We visited this place on 9/11. The place was located right off of US 169 which is one of the main roads to Grand Rapids. It was located on Lake Pokegama with a outside dining deck over looking the lake. We had 9 people so I'm always way flexible on food preparation time. The initial visit from the waiter was very fast. Our drink orders were taken and served quickly. Our dinner order was about 30 minutes but like I said we had nine people! The food was ALL served hot and had great presentation! I ordered the walleye sandwich because, afterall, we were in northern Minnesota! The walleye was fresh and tasted like walleye. yes walleye does have a unique taste! The fresh cut fries were very good. Everyone ordered something different and all proclaimed excellence! I tasted the sunrise burger which was my second choice, outstanding! The shrimp was the only dish that got an "average" review. We had several appetizers and all were good. Place was clean and had plenty of dining inside. A MUST stop! read more

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Sat there for 30 minutes minutes after being seated. The waitress did there best to avoid eye contact as me and my friends sat there and waited for even a " someone will be with you soon" but nothing. It's like we were invisible and it wasn't even that busy. Finally we decided to get up and go to Applebee's. Worst service I have ever had and I will never be going back. read more

This is a good place to check on the local action. Pull tabs for fun and lots of beers on tap and a good bar menu too. Had a nice time making some new friends and of course i ate the walleye and had some soup. Not the best ever but it was all served hot and fresh and certainly good enough to go back for drinks and maybe try the burger with home fries and an egg as I originally thought to get...the staff was super nice and friendly as were the other patrons sitting at the bar. read more

We usually stop at the Emily location and enjoy the food and service. Because we were in the area we stopped at this location and were disappointed. The service was slow and did not remember our order, the food lacked any flavor outside of salt, and one of our entrees never showed up until we asked about it. read more

We asked our boat salesman to give us a lunch recommendation and he said "If you want good food that tastes good go to The Pickled Loon." My husband ordered the Reuben sandwich and said it was one of the best he ever had. I had a delicious cheeseburger with fantastic fries and a tasty southwest soup. Service was fast and friendly. read more

Good menu, lots of drink options, and nice servers! Great view of the water and the island (which has GOATS grazing on it to keep the brush down) - yes, goats to watch :) read more

Great outdoor seating. A few specialty drinks, good food. Fun place to stop for a late lunch. Park your boat just steps from the door.

Our first two times there we didn't have great service, but the food was delicious! The third time we had gone we had our two teenagers with, service was above and beyond!! Food was the best yet! Italian Nachos are our favorite, and you can not go wrong with the burgers!! We hope they do well, its nice to have another place to choose from south of Grand Rapids. We will continue to go there. I firmly believe when a new place opens up they go through 'growing pains'... They are doing a great job for being open since mid July. Don't be afraid to try the Loon! P.s. the drinks are strong :-) read more

This is a MUST stop each time we are in Grand Rapids. Food is awesome, Walleye Fingers are the best I have ever had - huge and lots of fish, not lots of breading! We are a family of six and everyone loves their meals, from Ahi Tuna salad to Prime Rib, always good. We also love all the craft beers, local and regional choices, great variety and awesome service. The best part however is the outdoor seating and watching the boats come in and out, can't find that atmosphere everywhere! As I started out with, we ALWAYS stop here when in Grand Rapids and it never disappoints. read more

Good food but overpriced. Atmosphere is nice but very loud especially inside. The outside area is the best bet. Many options on the menu, and many drink options as well read more

Service was good. View from patio is lovely. Food was disappointing. Soggy buns. Fries overdone. my fries were the crumbs from the bottom of the bag. Couldn't eat them. read more

Well, we've been to the " other" Pickled Loon locations, and generally, the food was always fairly good. This was the first time at Grand Rapids location. The place was busy, but we got seated right away. Drinks were there quickly, food arrived within 30 min. I had chicken-pancetta pasta- excellent. My partner had a Rueben, also excellent!! Service was very good, all in all, a great dining experience, something you don't always find in the northland, unfortunately. We'll be back! read more

LOUD in the evening with tables so close together you're involved in others meals. Food was...Meh at best. Tried it for breakfast too and the eggs were wrong, bacon was cooked just short of black and super crumbly. Tried this place a few times as friends of ours really enjoyed it. Absolutely not for us...we tried. read more

Great deck and lots of energy. Service has always been great and very attentive. My father in law had a stroke and can only drink shakes. They don't make shakes but they made one for him anyway. Smothered southern chicken is well prepared and solid walleye. Always good variety of tap beers. read more

OMG! The absolute worst food! greasy, tasteless, very overpriced and how do you burn fries?

We had a large party in the party room, and the staff was incredible! They were incredibly attentive and quick with the drink and food orders! Our whole party raved about virtually every dish that was served. I had the walleye fingers, which apparently came from the nearby lake, and were amazing. read more

Our sandwiches were good. We opted for the hand cut fries as a side which were $1.50 extra. Service was friendly and fast. It was very loud since it is a bar and we were there during the meat raffle on Sunday. $43.00 for our meal. We'd go back. read more

The Pickled Loon Saloon - Jalapeño BBQ Wings - Bars Near Me - Grand Rapids, Minnesota

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