Loved It!
DESCRIPTION: Just celebrated my 10th anniversary with my wife in their private wine cellar dining room. The tasting menu was outstanding. The wine pairings perfect, service was professional, friendly and knew their stuff. Our out of town guests were also very impressed. No wonder this place is so popular.
DATE: 2002-06-07
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Tasting menu

DESCRIPTION: This is a true Southern Lunch with all you care to eat buffet. Its where the locals eat.
DATE: 2005-12-29
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : fried chicken, carrot fritters, & peach cobbler

A really great buffet
DESCRIPTION: This is a classic country buffet, with the best fried chicken I've had since the Hopkins House in Pensacola closed a couple of years ago. Priced fairly at $7.50, including iced tea and tax, it is a real bargain. I love this place.
DATE: 2006-03-12
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Fried Chicken, butter beans, turnip greens, fritters

A highlight of our visit
DESCRIPTION: The food was EXCELLENT at a great price. It was rather busy, but it's easy to see why. There isn't much to say about the environment - nothing very special. We had gumbo, jumbalaya, oysters, red beans and rice, and the bread pudding (YUM!) and they were all fantastic. What topped off our experience was the manager (or owner?) stopping by our table and asking how everything was. He was very sincere and ended up talking with us for about 5min. The service was VERY fast and the waitress was right on top of things, despite how busy she was. I would HIGHLY recommend it.
DATE: 2003-06-13
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : gumbo, bread pudding

DESCRIPTION: the burgers are very good and also the hot brown is maybe not the best I ever had it is decent.
DATE: 2003-07-02
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 4

Great Place
DESCRIPTION: There is just a special aroma to this place. I like to just walk around it looking at everything. It is an old-fashioned market, and it seems to take you back in time. The muff's are fantastic and HUGE. We usually just buy 1. I eat 1/4 and he eats 3/4. You can get a glass of wine there, too, and sit on the levy of the Mississippi River to eat.
DATE: 2003-04-23
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 8

Needs Major Improvements
DESCRIPTION: I was very dissatisfied with the service. We were shocked at the service they had. My husband was upset all night.
DATE: 2001-03-04
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Ham and Steak

Seniors loved the Cruise
DESCRIPTION: I am an activity director at an Assisted Living and Nursing Facility and we go on the Southern Empress Cruise twice a year. The residents always enjoy the cruise and return with very happy memories. The food is always delicious and the service by all of the staff is very helpful and appreciated. I would recommend this cruise to everyone.
DATE: 2002-09-22
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Enjoy the dishes they already prepare

Great Food, Sunset, Music, Dancing, Scenery
DESCRIPTION: Every time out on the Southern Empress is a great time. Never disappointed. Sunsets are great! Music and comedy are outstanding. Will go again and again.
DATE: 2004-03-22
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Theme dinner cruises are always good

DESCRIPTION: I was given the Sunday Brunch cruise as a birthday present and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the waitstaff was great and I found everyone to be very friendly. The entertainment was great - maybe dated for some - but I really liked it. I definitely will go back and would certainly recommend it to others.
DATE: 2004-08-09
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : breakfast brunch

Duck, Venison, Elk, Walleye they have it all
DESCRIPTION: Great food so carefully prepared fresh. Everything was served just right and everything under $20 I don't know how they have so much for so little. I had a huge Ribeye Steak for only $17 and it was great.
DATE: 2004-11-11
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Angus steaks, fresh seafood

Stay away!!!
DESCRIPTION: New owner purchased the resort. Resort has been removed from the Chamber of Commerce due to excessive problems. They say that there have been more complaints about this resort in the last 8 months than in 18 years with all Ely businesses combined. The food that was available when we came (refused to stay in fact) was frozen pizza.
DATE: 2005-06-29
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Anything at another place

Losing Battle, He doesn't get it!
DESCRIPTION: Mike, the new owner doesn't understand the meaning of customer service. His full-service Restaurant/bar he advertises is anything but. He ran a special in the local paper advertising "Free, hot appetizers,daily,3pm until gone" Great we thought, Let's go see 'Dave' the bartender. We arrived about 3:15, We sat at the bar and ordered beers, chatted with 'Dave' a few minutes eventually asking him about the "Deal in the paper". He said you will have to talk to "Mike" because he is not sure. In a few seconds the owner "Mike" came out and I questioned him about the "special". We had a lengthy conversation about why he thought it was not cost effective for him to start up the fryer for just two people in the place. (there were a group of three other people sitting just down from us.)He had several reasons why not to do anything. Of course I made comment on the ad in the paper. He also argued about the wording. He ended up bringing out a bowl of chips. One bowl,filled half with potato chips,the other half of taco chips. We were still having conversation about cost effective ways, I said "well, If this is what you want to serve your guests,maybe you could offer some salsa or dip which is usually served with chips. his response was "I don't like salsa". Clearly a losing battle. I offered other ideas as well. (I worked in food service for 15 years.) I dont know if he took me up on it, for I have not been back since. Until I hear that "Dave" is back or the lodge gets sold to people who are experienced in Quality Control, I will not be back. It's too bad to see such a beautiful place be destroyed by a owner that clearly doesn't understand the first thing about how to run a Restaurant/bar or Lodge for that matter.
DATE: 2005-10-30
FOODRATING : 2
SERVICERATING : 4
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 2
RECOMMENDED DISHES : I wouldnt trust how long food has been sitting.

DESCRIPTION: Excellent food and service as always. Whenever we go to Jackson the Cadillac is on our MUST do list.
DATE: 2004-05-13
FOODRATING : 8
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 8
RECOMMENDED DISHES : lamb and game dishes

Brunch Buffet at a Reasonable Price
DESCRIPTION: With two new chefs, the restaurant at the Grand Ely Lodge gets better marks for their Sunday brunch in 2003. They've restyled the buffet table, adding freshly carved tender prime rib, and served up a combination of breakfast and lunch items like scrambled eggs and bacon (with optional salsa), home fries, salad, fried chicken, ravioli, a bean dish and mashed potatoes and gravy. Their famous bread pudding and assorted desserts round out the $13.00 buffet, complete with a live electronic keyboardist playing and singing standard fare. Right outside of Ely with a beautiful view of Shagawa Lake, this is a very pleasant place for a Sunday brunch.
DATE: 2003-06-15
FOODRATING : 6
SERVICERATING : 8
AMBIANCERATING : 8
OVERALLRATING : 6
RECOMMENDED DISHES : prime rib, bread pudding

DESCRIPTION: I've been here 4 times at differnet times of the day, and each time the meal was substandard. Getting a replacement was no problem (to the servers' credit), but the second meal was as dissappointing as the first. Not worth the price, which was noticably higher than other local restaurants. The bar was fun, though, and the food went down easier with some drinks.
DATE: 2005-04-08
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 6

Wasn't the greatest
DESCRIPTION: We got the Romantic package which included two dinners and four breakfasts at the Evergreen Restaurant. Our first night there we used our dinner vouchers -- and there was a hair in my pasta. The next morning I got coffee and the waitress provided a surprising variety of individually-portioned creamers. I picked a few up to look at the flavors and one looked as if something icky had dried on the side of it. Our final morning there I went to use my spoon to stir creamer into my coffee and there was something green dried to the tip of the spoon. The silver was rolled into the cloth napkins so there's NO WAY that someone should have missed this. The staff was pleasant but the food wasn't the best. Breakfast food was good -- but dinner was disappointing. The pasta was served on a dinner plate and not in a pasta bowl. It had drippy sauce and no "twirling spoon." I'm no food snob, but it felt like it was just flung onto a plate and a shred of curly lettuce thrown onto the side for color. My husband got pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon -- the Calypso Tenderloin. The meat was very dry. You'd figure for being in a marinade and wrapped in bacon that it would retain some moisture -- but it was not the greatest. Overall I would not recommend this place unless you want good blueberry pancakes or a Belgian waffle. That's about it.
DATE: 2005-06-27
FOODRATING : 4
SERVICERATING : 6
AMBIANCERATING : 6
OVERALLRATING : 4
RECOMMENDED DISHES : Blueberry pancakes or Belgian waffle

Best in Northern Colorado
DESCRIPTION: What a great meal we had. Amazing staff, well thought wine list, and the food, the food!!!!
DATE: 2004-10-31
FOODRATING : 10
SERVICERATING : 10
AMBIANCERATING : 10
OVERALLRATING : 10
RECOMMENDED DISHES : The daily specials