Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses. I started working in restaurants in 1978, and have done everything from bussing tables and washing dishes to owning. Believe me, I get it; I really do. However, when I go out, I always give a place at least 3 strikes until I stop going. Today was strike 3. The last 2 strikes happened within the last 12 months - all related to service/attentiveness of the staff. Strike 1 was when we were one of two tables in the place, and it took nearly 30 minutes to get food. Also had to go to the bar to get refills. Strike 2 was a couple months later - it was a bit busier (as there was a band) but it took waiting at a table for 15 minutes before going up to the bar to get our drinks. Owner was there but just "hangin' out". ABSOLUTELY unacceptable for the owner of a business. Food took nearly 40 minutes AFTER we ordered, and we had been there over 30 minutes before staff actually came to the table. Today, there was a good band that we came to see. Place was busy, so we were patient. Got our first round about 10 minutes after we came in, but next time staff showed up to our table was 20 minutes later. Took care of all the tables around us, but skipped over us (and one other table near us) several times. Had to make a couple of trips to the bar for refills during the show. Ordered deep fried appetizers at 20 minutes to 7. At 7:30 (50 minutes later), after seeing ALL THE OTHER TABLES THAT ORDERED FOOD GET SERVED (including 2 that were OUTDOORS) I called of the waitstaff over and asked for our bill. Staff asked if we had gotten our food and I said no. Disappeared for a couple minutes and came back and said "I can have them drop the order now and you'll have it soon..." I said no. They served sandwiches, pizzas, burgers and other fried stuff to at least 7 other tables that ordered after us. Oh, and the owner was there not doing much of anything that we could tell. Strike 3. Not spending money there anymore for any reason. The kicker? We know the owner and staff. Didn't even get a drink chip out of the deal (not that it would matter.) If it had been me, I'd have had the food made and packaged up to go, on the house. [In fact, I would have picked up the entire tab, but that's me. I've done it.] Certainly not worth a trip 30 minutes out to the middle of the woods. KS read more

The Viking bar is a large location with plenty of low top tables and a u shaped bar with high tops. There is also a stage for when they have live entertainment and one pool table. I tried the cheeseburger, fries, walleye fish fry, pizza and wings (both boneless and bone in). Everything was great other than the tartar sauce which tasted like pure mayonnaise. Our waitress was great the first night we came (on a Friday) but on Sunday there was one waitress also working the bar so she was not able to get to us in a timely manner for the entire night. Definitely a staple spot when we come throughout the year! read more

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The staff is friendly and the food has been good most of the time! I would stay away from the salads tho unless they've improved them this year . It's a fun place for dinner and pool and pull tabs too !! read more

Very disappointing. Long wait for food and not busy at all. Burger came undercooked. Solution was to nuke it. $25 bucks for two Undercooked burgers. Unacceptable. Unhappy customer. Unlikely to return. read more

Walleye Fish Fry Friday is very good. Price is really reasonable for two walleye fillets, bake potato, and coleslaw. We had this two Fridays in a row and will definitely go back. Arrive between 4:00 and 5:00 if you can; it gets busy after that. read more

Fantastic food and atmosphere. I highly recommend this place if your in the area. Great staff and welcoming environment. Make sure you get the firecracker shrimp! read more

Friendly staff, New owners are doing a great job. Love the wings and pizza! Nice variety on the menu, service is good. Love having take out for game day pizza and wings or in the summer for a pontoon ride. read more

The wings are good, the service is not. Other online reviews imply locals get served right away and "outsiders" get ignored. If that's true, Hibbing (about 40 miles away) is not "local". Arrived at about 6PM on a hot summer day. Ok, they were busy and understaffed (2 waitstaff for about 12 tables, plus the bar). I'm patient with that as long as the staff seems to be trying to keep up. Unfortunately, our waitress could only do one thing at time. When it's busy like that, you have to be able to take a drink order from one table on the same trip you take a food order. This lady was strictly one task per trip from the bar or kitchen, which really makes her job harder than it needs to be. Still not sure if the 2nd waitress was also the cook or not. Took about 20 min to order, over 30 min later (after ordering!), *no* food is out yet. We could see it was busy when we arrived, so we had ordered appetizers so that the kids would have something to eat while waiting for the main food. No such luck. Found out the kitchen "lost" our order when we finally flagged down the waitress. Ok, that happens, but waitstaff should be on the ball to fix that in less than an hour. She checked if we still wanted our meals... should have walked out right then and drove to Bimbo's (about 7 miles south), that still would have been quicker! Here's a good chance to show good service in a bad situation: The right thing to do is expedite the order, especially the apps, double-check on beverages, then touch the table periodically. 30-40 minutes later, I had to flag the waitress down at the bar to find out what was going on. Yea, the bar let us steam about the issue rather than give updates, or to even try and sell more drinks. Seriously... they couldn't even expedite mozzarella sticks and nachos. NACHOS! scoop up some chips, melt some cheese, and RUN the freaking order out to the table! Waitress disappeared again once the food was out. 3rd chance to salvage a bad situation: make sure the drinks are topped off (could have sold me 2-3 more beers during our stay, more profit for you, more tolerance from me!) make sure we get our bill in a timely fashion, etc. What happened: I helped myself to the "to go" boxes at the wait station, and then went to find my bill. Total length of stay: just over 2 hours. They did knock a chunk off of the bill. We like to go out for hot wings about once a month. The Viking is an easy drive for us, so I was hoping to make it a regular stop. That's just not going to happen for a long time.... Viking owners: Here's what I'd want to see changed: 1) Train your staff to be more efficient during busy times. Good waitstaff would have handled the crowd just fine. 2) Customer service: yea, stuff happens. Kitchens get backed up, tickets get lost, etc. If your staff was proactive about the issue, I'd be much less concerned. If they touched the table once in a while, they'd have noticed "oh gee, that table hasn't gotten their apps yet" when later orders were coming out before ours did. Learn how to expedite orders, especially appetizers as a method of damage control. 3) On the subject of touching tables: Keep pushing drink orders, hey, it's a band night, things are busy, have your staff make sure we're hydrated. Everyone's happier, and you'll make $$$ on the drinks while we're waiting for your staff to catch up. That's a better situation for your customers and your business. Advice to other diners: head south on highway 5. read more

I was expecting the normal and it was fantastic. They put some history and thought into this 2nd life. I love it.

We went here for the all you can eat fish fry for my cousin's birthday. The food was amazing. However, I have never received such terrible service in my entire life. I am an experienced server and bartender in a fine dining high volume establishment in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our waitress was one of the most snotty and rude people I have ever come across. When we got our bill we needed it separated and as they were separating it we were independently charged THREE separate prices for the same exact meal. Even the bartender that night that had to split our checks was totally rude. I will never in my life return to this establishment. The service we received did not even come close to the food being that good. That place seriously needs to clean house with their employees then restart new, and inform your staff being rude to your customers is not what the customer service industry is about. read more