Boathouse Brewpub & Restaurant

Four of us went to the boathouse for lunch and it was great. Among us we had the Randal, the ribeye sand which, and the falafel, plus we did a flight to sample the made in restaurant beers.
I had he ribeye and it was fantastic. I ordered medium and it came well– which is typical for this area and why I order medium to start with (typically I like steak done on the medium well side but ordering medium well usually gives you a burnt mess). Anyways my sandwich was super tasty and the broccoli slaw is something I could buy and bring home it’s so darn good. My husband had the Randal and enjoyed it a lot. The house BBQ Mac salad is amazing.
The other party shared the falafel — the sauce that’s supposed to come with it was forgotten and made the sandwich dry but the waitress quickly corrected the problem.
We had a good time sampling the best flavors of beer. Who knew there was such a thing as chocolate-​peanut butter beer? The blueberry blond beer is delicious.
The waitress was one of the best waitresses I’ve ever dealt with. She was patient and kind and knew the menu well and was quick to get refills and correct food issues.
Overall it was a fantastic time. We will definitely be back.

We decided to eat here for dinner since this place brews its own beer. The nice waiter let us have some samplers but we finally decided on the blueberry beer. It had 6 – 8 blue berries floating in the beer which was a pleasant surprise. I ordered the sportsman’s appetizer which had fish and chips with 3 fried duck drumsticks (even better than fried chicken). My wife had the fish sandwich was really good too. She also had some backed Mexican rice with beans and hot sauce. By the end, it was nice to wash down our food with some beer. Hands down, the liveliness atmosphere and you can buy/​bring your growler for their beer.

Had a great lunch with some of their beer brewed in house. The Walleye sandwich was very good on a fresh hoagie with some above average tarter sauce on the side. The broccoli Cole slaw was very good also. I had the Blueberry Blonde, very good. My wife had a burger that was OK. Clean, bright, and appealing. Worth a try!

We come here often. Very friendly staff! The food is pretty good, but the bar is strictly beer. I little bummed when I don’t really like beer. I get it, they’re a brewery. The food is your standard bar food, but a nice variety on the menu. Overall, an average place.

Love the Boathouse! Great food & beer! Fun people, Great prices, I look forward to going to the Boathouse when in Ely!

My first BWCA trip — and after we came off the water, we explored Ely. This place was good — I had the walleye grilled cheese (I do not like fish, aside from walleye) and yummmmm. Beers were good, too.

Had dinner and drinks here. Started with the Hummus (baked pita chips were great) and an IPA. Fish for dinner was excellent. Filled a growler with the golden ale to take back to the hotel for the night. Good beer, good food!

The food was good and I would eat there again. They had a handful of vegetarian options for me which was great! Also they brew their own beer which is the best part! Overall, a good choice compared to all of the Ely restaurants.

You’re in Ely and about to eat out of a backpack for the week — make this your last meal before heading out of town. Ribeye Sandwich — the meat wouldn’t fit on the hogie bun. Same with the Walleye Sandwich — huge portions and taste to match.
We didn’t even get into the great brews listed on the wall!

Service was kind of slow coming in but food and beer were good. Duck wings were tasty with their sweet sour spicy sauce. Nice filet on the wallet sandwich. Pulled pork was good too!

My girlfriend, her cousins, and I came here a couple weeks ago to watch the women’s world cup (some of us our huge soccer fans), and we could not have chosen a better place to watch the game. Being from the south, I am new to the concept of fried cheese curds, and I must say that after having tried some I found them delicious! My sandwich was also very good; as usual, I ordered the pulled pork, which I have been craving lately for some reason, and was not disappointed.
One cool thing about this place is that they serve their own craft beers. The one I picked (I think it was their summer brew, though I can’t recall the name) was okay in my opinion, but had a funny aftertaste. But since taste in beer is a pretty subjective thing, I can’t critique this place too harshly on account of that.
Overall, great place to go with really neat atmosphere. One side is a restaurant; one side is a bar (it’s kind of set up like two businesses in one), so that’s kind of a neat concept.

This is probably my 1^st negative review on Unilocal.Thought out the years you would think I would learn… During the summer, if it’s overcast DO NOT go here especially if you’ve got more then 4 people. Service is horrible– consistently. In fact this time my wife and sister in law cleared our own tables after 30 min. What really annoyed us this time is the server (s) didn’t seem to care.
On a positive note the food has always been good and the blueberry blonde beer never disappoints.
Also– when it’s just the wife and I which we sit at the bar the service is great, so it seems to be dinning room issue.

Stopped here at 1:15 in pm for a quick lunch. Stood for ½ hour waiting for someone to approach us. Surrounded by empty tables that were waiting to be bused. Finally cleared one by ourselves and sat down and waited another 15 minutes before a snarling waitress gave us menus and then disappeared. Waited another 15 minutes and she never returned. Left without eating. Understand if they got slammed but no manager in sight. No apologies for waiting and cleaning a table for them. And no hint of friendliness. Really???

We had the cheesy chipotle chicken and wild rice soup that was the best soup I’ve had in a long time! Superb!
My husband had fish and chips he thought were excellent. I had a brisket cheese burger that was the special. Brisket and cheese on top of a burger with sour cream fries. Very very good!!!
And we asked how the margaritas were and man oh man could she make a margarita!
Go if you’re in town!

Always a favorite when I’m up in Ely. We always frequent the bar side of things because of the atmosphere, and overall vibe over the restaurant.
Great beer, and tequila (Casamigos) if that’s your thing. Growlers to go both glass and plastic if heading into BWCA. You can’t miss the duck wings! (Not to be confused with Duck Tails… awooo oo!)

We had a great time at a beer-​pairing dinner! The food was awesome for the beer pairing, and I’m looking forward to getting back to try some of their regular menu and more of the beers BREWED RIGHT THERE at the Boathouse!
It’s great to find a place with great food, but great beer AND great food really sets this pub apart from others!

Don’t be fooled by the exterior of Boathouse. We almost turned around and left while walking up to the front door, but to our surprise… it was very nice once inside.
I really enjoyed the menu. Rather than overwhelming you with every menu option under the sun, which no one can do well, it provides cleverly conceived appetizers, burgers and sandwiches that it does very well.
It also brews it own beer selections, plus offers both a restaurant side for families, along with a bar side with pool & darts, if your interested in playing a few games.
The only reason I couldn’t give it five stars was due to the food taking quite a while to arrive, despite the restaurant not being very busy. The prices were good and the service was great though. Give it a try!

Service was great. I’m a vegetarian and got their falafel and it really hit the spot. It came on pita bread with hummus, yogurt, and a delicious cole slaw on the side; I don’t normally like cole slaw, but this one was light on the mayo and crispy. We loved their blueberry blonde; it was refreshing and served with fresh blueberries, which was icing on the cake. We live out of state but will be back during our next visit!

I really wanted to like this place, but it failed to deliver on all fronts.
First, the food: totally uninspired, which I can accept from a brew pub… but frozen, then fried or burnt? Ick. I feel like an old Prince song when I say, I guess I should have known… when they didn’t ask how I wanted the burger cooked… but I’m pretty sure it came straight out of a chest freezer. Whatever you do, steer clear of the gunboats… unless of course you like partially cooked wild rice and mushy jalapeños. They were so gross, when we sent them back the waitress said, «oh are those raw?»
Second, the wait time: we play a friendly family game of «guess how long till our food arrives» when we take the kids out to restaurants. It kills time and makes waiting fun… except when the wait exceeds 30 minutes for some burgers and fries. Even the kids joked that this was the longest wait we’ve ever had.
Lastly, family friendliness: in person they seem totally cool with families, but there are signs all over, including a huge bold footer on their menu that say, «kids must stay in their seats at the table at all times.» Really? I’ve got good kids who have been to restaurants all over the country, so no big deal, but it puts off this vibe of «kids not welcome here,» which I don’t dig.
All in all, a sad little place in a magnificent little town. C’mon Ely, you can do better.

The Boathouse has been on my brewery hit list for over a year and I finally had a chance to get up to Ely to taste their brews. I was going up the Boundary waters and wanted to take a growler with us. We ordered a flight of beer and the two that were good to my palate was the oatmeal stout and the blueberry blonde. Which ironically enough the blueberries were ripe in the BWCA. I took a growler of the oatmeal stout as it was filling as well as tasty. It tasted even better after paddling & portaging all day!
Edit: I forgot to add that the BWCA growler is a plastic jug that is allowable in the BWCA area and not the glass ones. You have to ask for them specifically when ordering.