We went for lunch with a party of 9 (5 adults, 4 kids) and a dog. On the nice shaded patio, we enjoyed the cheese curds (according to the 6 year old there were 36), shrimp tacos, smash burgers, chicken tenders and a Cobb salad. The large beer was as big as our heads and easy to share between 3 adults. Our waitress, Olivia was so good and patient with the kids and multiple requests. As we parted ways she even gave us recos on shops to visit. We highly recommend Bar 209 for families of all ages. read more

This seems to be the place to dine in Bemidji so we went to check it out. We had a reservation and were given a great smaller booth which I prefer to the large shared tables. Our server was working her tail off, with a large table near us, outdoor patio tables, and many tables inside. To that end, we waited a bit here and there but she was apologetic and clearly working hard so no worries. We started with dry rub, bone in wings which I accompanied with a Bemidji IPA. Both were fabulous. Next, we split a smash burger with fries. The meal had a lot of potential but the fries were warm, not hot, and the burger a little small (but it did have a double patty and tons of sauted onions). We finished the meal with the Big Cookie Sundae and big it was. Waaaay too much to eat with only 2 people. The cookie was delicious. Soft and gooey inside with a nice crisp around the outside edges of the cookie. We tried but couldn't finish it. Liked the brewery vibe in there with lots of seating and exposed brick. Nice stop. read more

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Yum! We came here for lunch on our cabin trip up north and were really happy with the food we had. There is a very cute patio outside we sat on since it was nice out, but the inside of the restaurant also looked clean and spacious for the colder months. Our waitress was very kind and attentive. Overall I'd recommend the burgers here - they have quite a few unique options. The PB&J and smash were a hit at our table. The chicken sandwich was good as well but slightly on the drier side. Definitely a great stop for food if you find yourself in bemidji! read more

Food. Cajun burger. Burger was good. Cajun fries way too spicy. Ordered regular to replace. Those fries were too potato E. And soggy. Cheese curds were odd Service. Average. read more

The bar/restaurant atmosphere is amazing! Lots of seating options inside and outside with very comfortable booths. Appetizer of Cheesecurd Smash was absolutely disgusting! It was basically left overs plopped on a plate from a deep fryer with no cheese to speak of. My husband's Curd Daddy burger was good, but not great. I asked for sour cream to go with my quesadilla, and as you can see, it was liquid. :( The reviews were great for this place, but for us, it was mediocre at best. Definitely won't be back. read more

Bar 209 - Supposed sour cream that was the consistency of milk. - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Bemidji, Minnesota

Food (4/5) | Ambiance (5/5) | Service (4/5) We came here with a large group of about 40 and staggered arrivals so we wouldn't overwhelm the staff. Food was solid--my Tossed & Seared steak salad was tasty, and the Smokeshow burger is a must if you like bleu cheese and balsamic. The vibe was great for a modern bar, and the outdoor patio was super cute. Service was fine overall, though my friend's "large" walleye dinner came out as a small plate of walleye fingers, which seemed like a mix-up. All in all, good food + fun atmosphere = worth a visit. read more

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The food is always great, the service is always sub par. Very pretty restaurant though read more

I love the outside dining options! Fried pickles and honey garlic noodles are my favorite. Great cocktails, too.

service and food was SO good! i definitely recommend this place it's amazing! they have a wide selection of great choices of food. read more

Bar 209 - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Bemidji, Minnesota

Come between 2:09 and 5 PM Monday through Friday for half-price apps and drinks. It's a terrific deal and it's not so loud. The food is terrific and served beautifully. read more

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Retuned after a while, glad we did. Tyler the bartender was our server and he's awesome, our food was delicious and we're glad we gave it another try. We will be back thanks Tyler read more

The most amazing food. Fresh, homemade. Servers always friendly and helpful. Clean atmosphere, lots of tv's for sporting events. Highly recommend the pastas, so good. read more

First timer. Heard this was a good spot for burgers. A great sunny day and outdoor seating is available. The inside is also nice. We started we cheese curds that were lightly battered and tasted great Next was the smash burger. We enjoyed our food and our server Ellie. read more

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We absolutely adored our server, Hannah! She was so sweet to our party as part of our group arrived late due to an emergency room run due to an accident. She found paper and the other kids were able to make a giant get well card. She suggested the farmers market and we stocked up on our favorite home foods! The food was also delicious- the peanut butter jam burger was so tasty. A great way to cap off our rocky evening. read more

Bar 209 - Peanut butter jam burger - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Bemidji, Minnesota

Excellent place for lunch or dinner. Good menu. Salads and pastas are great. Excellent bar and beers. Always good service.

Been going to this restaurant for years. Usually decent food and service. Today was a miss. Ordered an elderflower mule based on the menu which included St. Germain. Ordered it with Tito's. When the waitress brought the drink, it clearly was not St. Germain and didn't taste at all like an elderflower mule. When I asked the waitress, she told me that they had changed their menu and they no longer had St Germain; they have something else that was similar. I politely explained that I didn't care for the drink and asked for something else. Ended up ordering another drink that I had before that was good. Ordered a walleye tacos and boneless wings. Tacos come on corn tortillas that are served cold. I've never been to a restaurant that serves corn tortillas or any tortillas cold. They are dry and fall apart. Sweet chili boneless chicken wings were dry and lacking sweet chili sauce. Asked for extra sauce which the waitress brought. When we received the bill, waitress said that they discounted my first drink. She said she spoke to the manager who said that they could give a discount but they couldn't take it off my order. I didn't want to get into it, but seriously, when the menu says, you have a certain liquor and you don't have it and you don't inform the customer before they order it, whose fault is that? Ended up paying five bucks for a drink. I didn't drink, plus a premium charge for Tito's., Since when is Tito's a premium vodka? Also charged two dollars for each of the sweet Thai chili sauces that were provided for the two orders of dried wings. The waitress was nice but I had to politely interrupt a personal conversation she was having with another diner that was extensive so we could place our order. $16 tip on our bill. Going out to eat is spendy when you need to subsidize someone's wages and pay for things that you shouldn't have to. Wasn't impressed tonight. read more

The food was amazing and it was easily one of the best restaurants I've had here. Our waitress Hailee was super nice and quick with the food. The music was nice but the only thing that bothered me was that some parts of the restaurant didn't smell the greatest. read more

The pretzel and drink were great. Allie's service was spectacular! We no longer live in the Bemidji area, but had remembered 209 as a solid choice for food and drink. We continue to be happy with the 209! read more

Awesome Thai chicken dish. Smoked Old Fashion was great super service and food came out fast and hot. DW had Cajun chicken over pasta. Mine was better! read more

On a Sunday night, it's not easy to find a restaurant open in Bemidji, esp for a vegetarian. So happy that Bar 209 fit the bill. The YELP description for the restaurant claims lots of items for vegetarians, but one might not know that from the menu which is very meat intensive. After asking for veg recommendations, My server informed me they could make almost any item vegetarian. I took her suggestion and ordered a chili lime salad, hold the chicken add mushrooms and extra black beans. It was the healthy tasty meal I was looking for. My only wish is that they had more veg items on the menu to take some of the guess work out. But let's talk about the top selling point for Bar 209a the drinks! I am really fussy about Margaritas. I love them, but way to many bars and restaurants dilute them with bar sour or sprite. The bartender assured me theirs were different because they make their own miX, and she even let me try a sample. She was right- their Margaritas are excellent! A hint of sweet but the tequila and lime really shined through. I ordered the jalapeño version and it had just the right kick. Very happy with my meal and beverages. read more

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Great happy hour and the apps are tasty!! The staff was also on point.. Very clean and well set up bar..! read more

Awful service. When walking through the place most tables were dirty and no bussing was done. My group of 3 were sat by a host right before a large group of more than 12 people and our table did not receive service until I went to the bar and asked for it. After we got the food I ordered on the app, after waiting 15 minutes, before anyone even looked at us, my food was cold. I asked to speak to a manager and I was treated poorly for it by multiple staff. When I spoke to the manager, she was very rude and basically told me I was lying and assumed I was trying to take things off of my bill. I asked her to talk about the meal away from the table as I did not want to include the general contractor I was taking out for a lunch break in the discussion as it was embarrassing to have such horrible service. The Manager came to the table and spoke loudly so people around could hear our conversation. I paid the $90+ tab right there and left. 0star. 0/10. Will never go back to the 209 again. read more

Used to love coming here, everything was always great. As of the last couple months, the quality has decreased overall. My complaint for this evening is that the fries are always inconsistently seasoned. Sometimes fries are over or under spiced, sometimes fries in the same batch even vary in seasoning. This evening we asked for less seasoning on the fries, for the fries to come back with no seasoning at all. Sad :( read more

Not a bad little destination, but neither is it much of a standout. Service was a little off here and there, even right at open before getting busy. In terms of food, their Thai Chicken Flatbread is really solid all-around. Great flavor, nice and light, a definite recommendation. On the other end was the Walleye Tacos which were highly recommended, but left a lot to be desired. Not nearly enough meat as one taco had basically 2/3 of the tortilla left without meat. The flavors were OK, but a bit more bland than I was expecting. The sauce was a necessary inclusion but still felt like it all just lacked that "WOW" factor to leave it as anything better than just average. read more

Bar 209 - Thai Chili Chicken Flatbread - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Bemidji, Minnesota

I just wanted mustard for my burger. You serve burgers but don't have mustard. I couldn't believe it.

Food is good, service is good, I only have one main issue... The menu change. Recently the menu went under a change in theme. It used to be normal names like "appetizers" but this has been changed to "foreplay". I'm all for funny sometimes "dirty" names, but my issue is these names are on every item on the menu. The entire menu has a sexual theme to it. The reason this makes me uncomfortable is for 3 main reasons. 1. Children reading this 2. Accessibility 3. The waitress/waiters dignity 1. Children reading this - The sexual theme in the menu names are not subtle. The name might be "bar" but this to me is a restaurant first, bar second. These could be menu item names I could expect from another bar in town like keg, hardtimes, etc. Families may bring their children to this place and their children may be exposed to themes they should not be. For example the salad "the corn star" clearly in reference to "porn star". I would hate to hear a child order "the corn star" knowing what it was referencing. 2. Accessibility -Although the names have a description, taking away common names for food items makes it less accessible to everyone. Those who may not be able to understand the description of the ingredients might recognize "cheeseburger" but not "curd daddy". As someone with no reading disabilities even I struggled to find what I was looking for in the menu. 3. The waitress/waiters dignity -I feel bad for the waitresses and waiters who may be uncomfortable saying the names on the menu. "cream dream" and "fire noods" is something I would feel incredibly uncomfortable saying to someone while I was at work. "Is there anything else I can get for you or just the fire noods?" I mean come on man... Side note: One of the appetizers being "my girlfriend isn't hungry" feels really weird if not a little sexist. This stereotype stems from women commonly having disordered eating and not feeling like its okay for them to order what they really want to eat. I get the joke but I don't like feeling like the butt of the joke. I'd like to note I am not someone who ever makes reviews or even gets upset about how places run things. But this feels like such a dramatic shift from what it was just a few months ago. I like this place, but ordering off the menu I didn't feel fun or playful I felt uncomfortable. This new menu just feels weird and hard to order off of. I hope the owner seriously considers a change back to the original menu. To anyone still reading this: thank you for taking the time to read this. If you decide to still go they do have good food! It's just a weird new menu... read more

Offensively named menu items and food that is not tasty and is overpriced. Used to be good food in their old location but not anymore since the moved several years ago. Food has consistently gone downhill. read more

Great food and I nice atmosphere. Very nice staff Working there and they were on top of everything so our wait time was not very long. read more

Another great find. Unique burgers, great beer.Service was great as well. Don't skip this gem. read more

Underwhelming and kind of a ripoff. The horny menu arouses mostly eyerolls. Vastly overpriced for a college town. Waitstaff was humorless. Not a fan of being given a total to pay without an itemized check up front. And then the waitress hovers over you as you decide on the tip. Portion sizes have shrunk since last year. Will not be returning. read more

My sister and I were in Bemidji for a night as my sister had an early morning Drs appointment the next day. We looked at a lot of bar/restaurant establishments before we ventured out, and we settled on going to Bar 209. We could not have made a better choice. The atmosphere was cool, there was plenty of room to sit at the bar, and little did we know how great of a deal the happy hour was - 50% off all drinks and all appetizers! We were drinking wine and we even got the bottles of wine at 50% off. The best thing about our visit though was our bartender, Tyler. He was the nicest young man, he was attentive to all his customers, and had a smile on his face the entire time. He took time to chat with us which made it a very personable experience. Bar 209 is very lucky to have an employee like Tyler. If you are ever in the area, Bar 209 is the place to go! read more

Very fast service ; great staff. Recommend item was delivered with almost perfection. Very tasty! read more

Bar 209 - Mushroom parm Swiss burger with parm fries - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Bemidji, Minnesota

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Great spot, great service. Cheese curds were one of the best! Strawberries in my salad were super fresh and house made dressing makes a difference. read more

I've eaten here a lot. Unfortunately, the menu names have changed to add a sleazy vibe that will likely keep many women & families away now. I mean, would you like to order a couple orders of "Foreplay" & "Busty burgers" for the kids. Too bad. read more

We tried this restaurant after hearing how good it was over several years. We were a party of three and we all ordered burgers. Each of us chose slightly different versions but all of us asked for "pink". It took a long time to get our food and, when we did, all of them were burnt. They were way beyond well done. It left a burnt taste in my mouth all afternoon. The fried cheese curds, however, were very good and worth trying. Overall, the experience of the 209 was one of the worst I have had in years. One star is all I can give this joint. read more

Genuinely one of the most disappointing dining experiences I've had in a long time. It's especially sad because they used to be one of the better places in town, but has fallen to one of the worst. Lots of menu items were removed, as well as (as far as I could tell) monthly specials. While the prices have gone up, the food has gotten significantly cheaper. The fries are cheap and thin, akin to McDonald's fries, and (along with the boneless wings) were barely seasoned. I'm curious to see what other food has gotten worse, but don't want to shell out any more cash to this place. Service was slow, even for a busy night. Had us waiting for a while even to get our water. It was an over-expensive, low quality dinner, made especially sad by the fact that it used to be decent before the owners seemingly stopped caring. read more

Stop by after a long drive. Smash burger was great with cheese curds. And our waitress was really helpful. Great food and service.

I initially planned to order a margarita pizza but was informed that they had run out of mozzarella which is unfortunate so instead I ordered a curd burger which is a burger with cheese and cheese curds with a side of fries. I opted for no pink on my burger and while that is what I got the outside of the burger was a bit too charred but was still tasty to say the least. Our server was great, she was very considerate and great at checking in on us. We waited about 30 minutes for our food which was expected due to it being a busy Saturday night. We chose to sit outside on a sort of turf patio which was quite cool. We enjoyed the openness and the overall aesthetic of the outdoor patio. read more

Amazing food, atmosphere and staff! We were in town for an event and had the best time here for a large group dinner! Highly recommend & we will be back! read more

I ordered a cocktail from their extensive drink menu, and it was delicious--perfectly balanced and refreshing. The bartenders were friendly and knowledgeable, eager to recommend drinks based on my preferences. read more