Review of The Bay Club - South Haven, MN

Originally posted March 17, 2009

The Bay Club

12635 Bayview Rd

South Haven, MN 55382

Since I first went to this restaurant almost 20 years ago, it has gone through many hands and many revisions. It is still located near the public access landing on Clearwater Lake. Chicken Oscar is still on the menu, the service has improved, and the offerings of a destination dining are definitely matured from the hole in the wall it once was.

I need to apologize to The Bay Club and my readers as this review has been sitting in queue as a draft for about five months. I am now just getting to write about it again. Luckily I have an excellent taste based memory.

Food: 6

The menu over the years has always been tilted towards meat. It’s current owners keep the restaurant pointed in that direction. I think it would be short lived if they ever tried to take their focus away steaks, cops and ribs. To classify the selection consider it a hybrid between Classy Americana and Surf and Turf.

I was able to eat both the Boursin Chicken and the North Woods Chicken on this particular instance. That is the benefit of eating with my family, there is always more food to try than is on your plate. The Boursin Chicken was tender and overall a mild dish. If you like to taste the same thing from the first bite to the last, then this dish certainly has the continuity you’ll enjoy. On the other hand, the Northwest Chicken was a more varied taste and texture but that was mainly due to the fact it was served on a bed of rice pilaf.

Yea for original and intriguing menu items like Sugarcane Shrimp Shewers. A propensity for mushroom dishes seems to permiate the menu. Also offered are wraps and a little southwest, Mexican, and Italia.(Stress, a little)

Prices are reasonable for a vacation town. It has different prices for a varied clientelle as a meal can run from $8-18without appetizer.

Service: 8

Service was great. Our server Brian was either exceptionally sincere or an outstanding liar. Either way we felt like he really was pleased and happy to serve us dinner. He was very well informed about the menu and the service well well timed and orchestrated. In this case the service was so good, it definitely improved the whole dining experience. Kudos.

Atmosphere: 6

Gone are the dark walls and dimly lit candled tables. Hello light colored wood, sports bar-ish flat panel monitors, and chunky furniture. It still owns a very rustic feel with exposed log walls and the ever prevalent knickknacks.

The only real knock I can make is that it would be great if they could pull a couple more tables off the main floor. I was not the only one having to jostle a neighbor when trying to make it to the bathroom with my son and then get back into our seats. If you need to pack them in, make sure there is ample path space for passing through the dining area.

If you like to stare out the window, make sure you get a spot down on the old porch area. A secluded and calm bay resides outside the back of the restaurant and the entire wall facing it is festooned with windows.

Overall: 6

Service was excellent, food was palatable, and environment was bearable. I will definitely return if given the opportunity.

Check out their website.

This entry was posted on October 12, 2009 at 13:50 and is filed under Grub Reviews - OLD. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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