Whenever I visit Duluth, the Boat Club is on my agenda. The staff, the food, and the ambiance are all well worth the experience. The view of the lake as you enter the main dining room is spectacular. If you are fortunate enough to visit on a good-weather day during the summer, the patio experience cannot be beat. Every time I have visited, the staff have been genuinely gracious and caring. Add a unique and generous drink menu on top of a delicious selection of meal options what more could you ask for? Many of the menu items are gluten-free or gluten-free on request. As with most of their menus, brunch options are unique and worth the visit. Lake Superior Hash is a unique and tasty recommendation. I cannot say much about most of the dinner menu, because I ALWAYS order the ribeye, though I have added the scallops on occasion. The quality and preparation of the ribeye are well above most restaurant standards. Don't miss it! I also enjoy just stopping in for a drink. I have struck up conversations at the bar with perfect strangers, while enjoying one of the signature cocktails (don't miss the Minnesota Old Fashioned). Be sure to make a reservation. This is the one mistake you can make at the Boat Club. With a restaurant of this quality, you cannot assume there will be an open table for a walk-up. read more

Unfortunately, I have to change my review, comparing it to last year's. Quite simply, I don't like being told half-truths. A year ago, I was at Boat Club--a pleasant place with impeccable service. Now, 6/17, the staff is new and inexperienced, and the manager gives vague answers and doesn't solve the problem. It was impossible to have a good time when the temperature in the main room was at least 67 degrees. It seemed like they wanted us to leave as soon as possible. The adjoining room where the bar is located was at least 72 degrees. The Mall was at least 70 degrees. The manager, who seemed completely out of touch--as if he didn't even know what was going on--didn't solve the problem. On the contrary, he dramatically announced that he was going to raise the temperature. Instead, it got even colder. Very unpleasant. Another employee told me that the temperature is controlled from the hotel. Who's telling the truth? I don't like being taken for a fool. It's a shame--I was looking forward to spending an evening with my family and having a pleasant dinner. It didn't turn out that way. Translated with DeepL.com (free version) read more

The scallops were some of the best I've ever had. They really are dog friendly, know that up front. Staff was super attentive this time and the food again was amazing. The chowder was a bit on the runny side, but I'm sure that's the way it's supposed to be. read more

The Boat Club has been our go-to place for special occasions. Not any more. The food, which we have always appreciated, was nearly inedible this time. For the first time ever, I returned a meal (beef "filet" @ $56) to the kitchen. We had brought a bottle of vintage wine to have with the meat, so it was especially disappointing. The meat was so tough, I could not chew it. (Was that prime meat?) Other items were poorly prepared: garlic mashed potatoes were a dark tan & unappealing; Bernaise sauce on meat (extra $5) was the consistency of cottage cheese; carrots totally dry; and the popovers were soggy. We were shocked at how many items were poorly prepared. Was there a new chef? New management? The only highlight was our server who was excellent. However, that is not enough to make us go back. That is sad for former fans like us. read more

Please read the first picture for a better description. Terrible experience. Bad food. Rude waiters. A real disappointment for my wedding reception. The ambience was confusing and maneuvering was very hard. Overall, do not recommend. The owner needs to contact me immediately. 3 of the party have stomach issues since yesterday. read more

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Checked out the Boat Club while we were in town, and honestly, it turned out to be a great find. It's tucked inside a hotel that's basically its own little village - shops, restaurants, the whole deal. Parking felt like a scavenger hunt at first, but after circling around, we finally spotted a free ramp nearby. The cocktails? Fantastic. The food? Even better. We shared crab cakes, popovers, and a hummus platter--zero regrets on any of it. I ordered the Seafood Trio with a side bowl of clam chowder, and everything hit the spot. All three of us walked out happy and very full. Our server was friendly and made the whole experience even better. I'd absolutely come back for another meal. Great food and great service. read more

The view may be the reason many are attracted but the food was quite good and the view, is possibly the best in Duluth. The service is consistent and without issue. As things were progressing along nicely, we ordered the filets as we've before and they were very good. This night they offered add-ons and we chose the crab for $20. While adding a better than average Ceasar, we were looking forward to the entree. What arrived looked like a joke and it felt like they were kidding. The attached photos will show what they offer for $20 (to be clear, that's for the little butter holder of crab). It was good for sure, but it was about a large spoonful. It's not that big of a deal, but it's cheeky and feels nickel & dime'y at what's supposed to be an upscale spot in Duluth. I would still recommend the Boat Club, but stay far-far away from any add-ons no matter the price. It is not the price really, but the way it was presented and handled just changed the whole vibe of a nice evening. Not awesome read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - $3 of crab that "identifies" as $20 of crab. Ugh... - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

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Food, service and ambience was outstanding!! Inside is like a "Boat Club" with even little boat cushions on the seats. Steak was cooked absolutely perfect with a nice crust on the outside. The wild rice was unique. read more

The boat club well not the boat club but this space has been always amazing due to its amazing view and convinceencehas always been my go-to spot when I stay at Fitgers. The crowd is always interesting and a good mix of old and young and tourists and locals. The vibe changes depending on morning or evening and you never know what to expect. The staff is always kind and curtious and has always been that way every year since the Boat Club restaurant has opened. The view of the water is spectacular and it makes a great spot for morning coffee, tea, or champagne to get the day started. They have a very good drink selection with something for everyone. I tend to get the same breakfast items all the time here unless I see new items on the menu then I try those. I was disappointed that the oysters sold out in I think they said 2 days but there were a few left so I got to at least get 2 of them. Like clockwork, I forgot to take photos of the other times I stopped in here of the items and I need to work on remembering to get photos. If you are at Fitgers for breakfast or brunch you must check out the boat club and get a nice spot by the windows. For dinner well it does not matter where you sit I prefer closer to the bar because you get the best people watching. read more

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So bad! While we had a great table, the food was overpriced and disgusting. We ordered the stuffed mushrooms which arrived frozen in the middle. I told our server, who was polite but did not apologize, that we did not want them. He returned with them clearly reheated with two replacing the ones we cut into and some excuse about the fryer. I ordered the king crab, which came out completely uncracked and laying in my mashed potatoes. They were watery, stringy and lukewarm. Nothing like enjoying a fine dining dinner with mashed potatoes and crab all over me. Come on chef! Crack the crab! I should have asked the price because we were charged $136 for this terrible dish. My husband's Chilean seabass was overcooked and the couscous was extremely oily. We both felt sick after. The view is the only good thing about this place, skip the food! read more

Truly one of the best places in the northland for surf & Turf and other Seafood specialties. Every time I've been there the service is always stellar. If you've never been here. I do highly recommend checking it out. read more

Food was delicious. View wonderful. Waited 30 minutes to have order taken. 3 other tables came in and their orders taken, food delivered to 2 of them and we were still waiting to order. Finally ordered. Husband ordered 2nd glass of wine. Almost 20min later brought out and barely any in glass, last glass with 3x the amt. Manager came back with a little more wine but not anywhere near the first glass. Food arrived and was good. Would have given higher rating but service was lacking. Disappointed. read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

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I came to this restaurant for a business meeting during a very snowy day. The view from this restaurant is absolutely stunning even with 16 inches of snow. The staff was awesome and very friendly. I have a dairy allergy which they took very seriously and I appreciated it. I ended up getting the scallops and they were delicious. The Brussels sprouts were gone quickly because they were so darn good. I also got a cocktail which had some local flair. It was great. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. I hope to come back in the summer time and experience the patio! read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - Scallops - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

Service, food, views were all a hit. We had dinner inside then had a post-dinner cocktail outside on the lawn, great vibes and healthy options for dinner. read more

We both enjoyed the chowder. The seafood wontons sounded good. Since they are fried you really don't want them sitting around in a sauce. Everyone else serves it on the side so you can dip as much or as little as you want. Basil was complaining about how salty the ribeye was. I got the farfalle alfredo which was quite good except for the tomato bruchetta topping. It just doesn't belong there. Elijah was our very attentive waiter. AC was freezing, I knew to bring a jacket. read more

We walked up to the hostess and said "a party of two please" She said " there's no where to sit in the main dinning room. Feel free to sit in the bar" as we can several vacant tables in the dinning room with a view of Lake Superior. We sat at a high top table for 10-12 minutes without one person to acknowledge us. Decided to leave and go to the brew house still the Fitgers building. Was treated the opposite way. It was great. My wife and I travel at least four times a year throughout the globe and we know when we are getting fucked around by a hostess. My recommendation: don't go to the Boat Club at Fitgers unless you want to fucked around by a teenage punk that would rather be somewhere else. read more

Ate here for brunch on my birthday in the summer and the outside seating is beautiful - right on Lake Superior. Breakfast was delicious and our server was very friendly. Highly recommend the outdoor seating in the warmer months as you can't beat the view! read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - a plate of breakfast - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

We thoroughly enjoyed the boat club for Saturday brunch, it was so good we went back on Sunday to end our weekend trip in Duluth. The dining room and bar are beautiful with that amazing lake view. The servers and bartender were so friendly and attentive. The food was delicious, such high quality ingredients perfectly prepared, and delicious coffee. read more

The food and service was fine and probably rated a 4 star but the bill included a 20% gratuity that was not clearly disclosed. We realized that we had double tipped and called the next morning and we're told that they would do nothing about it. Was reccomending to all my out of town visitors. No more. read more

My wife and I had a great meal on Wednesday, July 30th. I had the clam chowder and my wife had the siracha cheese curds and both were very good. We both had the ribeye and they were cooked to perfection and were very good. We were also able to sit outside and the weather was perfect. The night was topped off by the excellent personal service provided by Kristina. Make sure you ask for her. It was like having a close personal friend serve you dinner with great suggestions. We will definitely be back! read more

I brought some out of town friends to the Boat Club because it has nice view of Lake Superior. But, the hostess was having a bad day. I asked if we could sit with a view of the lake and she said no, we don't have any tables. I told her I made a reservation to be able to sit overlooking the lake. She ignored me and pointed to where our table was, at the back of the building. Not five minutes later, two tables got up and left from the elevated seating area. We would have waited but she apparently didn't care. Nice service. We did have a great waiter and the food was good, yet expensive. But our evening was marred by and not so friendly hostess. read more

The food was excellent and the view was amazing! The service was relaxed and not overcrowded.

The view was just as amazing as the food. We had the stuffed mushrooms, walleye, chowder, and popovers. All delicious and we will definitely go back. read more

"BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT IN DULUTH " Great setting and ambiance, beautiful view of Lake Superior. Very nice place for a casual lunch or a nice intimate dinner. Try The Purple Reign Martini. Our server Christina was OUTSTANDING!! read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

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The four stars is going to our nice waiter who after we were seated and got our food, helped us all (including our tiny dog) get a table inside when it started raining. We had dinner here and some of us have had lunch here before. Lunch seems the way to go for more diverse options I get that it's on the Lake but most of the options were fish fish and more fish. So salads had to do for some of us. Of course the view is stunning so we made the reservation for "Outside" When we checked in and asked to be seated up on the deck over the water, the hostess told us we needed to specify that next time in the reservation. Hm well it's an app and there wasn't that choice. Regardless, it was a gorgeous night until the rain. read more

We loved it here! The view was incredible. Food was delicious. MIL and I both got cocktails and burgers. She had the famous clam chowder as well and while it was my first time trying chowder, it was delicious and I'm sure gives others a run for its money. The burger was juicy and flavorful with smoked gouda and caramelized bacon. The brioche bun was toasted with butter as well so everything was decadent, down to the base. Their house made Old Bay chips were really good, only shame is that I couldn't buy some to go! read more

Boat Club Restaurant & Bar - lemoncello martini and purple reign - Seafood Near Me - Duluth, Minnesota

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Had a lovely glass of Cabernet and a Lake Superior Breakfast after walking around the lake. Their outdoor seating is beautiful on a not-so-windy day. The menu is comprehensive with some surprises such as the aforementioned entree consisting of walleye and eggs 9.5/10. My one gripe is that service to the outdoor patrons was a touch slow and we waited a little longer than we would have liked for things. read more

Service every time we went there we had a reservation and for some reason they did not have a table for us. The last time we went there we asked to be seated outdoors. They said there was no outdoor seating and then we saw them seat three other couples outdoors strange place wouldn't go there. read more

Lunch is NOT good here. Dinner is better. Dinner does not start until 4pm. Clam chowder is yucky.

Make a reservation or wait forever. The breakfast and dinners are delicious. Desserts are really good too but the only thing disappointing were the popovers. The popovers came out microwaved and soggy not even warm and crispy. Breakfast is really really delicious. Some of the staff is very professional but a couple of the girls are snooty. They can have 12 tables open but they won't seat you because they said they were all taken by reservations. We got there when they opened and had to convince them to seat us. In the 45 minutes we were there they only seated 4 tables for brekky and turned people away when there were tables open. They should save some for walk in's only. The bartender was super nice and helpful. read more

Great view, food was good. Not spectacular but good. The service was pretty good but there was an air of discontent, kind of weird. But the view made it worth it. We could see a ship waiting to go into harbor and the water was lovely. read more

Horrible experience. I would give no stars if I could. Not being from the area we had no idea that they close between lunch and dinner. It is Easter and wanted to take our girl who attends UMD out for an early dinner. When we got there they informed us that dinner doesn't start and place closes in between 3 and 4, our reservation was taken for 2:30. The waitress advised of this and apologized, who then told us there was many other people there today who were disappointed and not aware of this and wanted us to talk to the manager BEN. Ben came over and said without introduction or apology, so you want to make a later reservation for dinner? We proceeded to explain the situation and that nothing was told to us as we made the reservation or nothing on the website, he said and I quote "We should just know and they assume people do." Ben then proceeded to ask if we were staying or leaving and then walked away. He was so flippant and rude. There was no customer service coming from him whatsoever. THEN the waitress came over and said we had to order right away so they can get kitchen closed. THEN we received mixed up meals. THEN when we left and got home 2 people in our party got FOOD POISONING. So long story short, horrible customer service, messed up orders, rushed through meal, and food poisoning. Hope this helps people not from the area! read more

The Boat Club's 3.5 star yelp rating inspires the fight in me. Not only do I believe the place easily merits 4 stars, but it also happened to be the nicest restaurant I dined at during my visit to Duluth. It's classy and casually elegant and though every seat might not host a view of Lake Superior (mine didn't), the ambiance and service were so refined and pleasant that it didn't matter at all. You might enter the Boat Club following a walk through the Fitger's complex, featuring a hotel, shops, and a brewery. Assuming you do, make that hotel your final stop before entering the Boat Club. It has an old world feeling that you'll carry with you into the Boat Club. A Dirty Martini enhanced my mood, not just because of the price ($9), which would easily have been twice as much back in San Francisco. The olive brine and blue-cheese stuffed olives made the martini an ideal entry point to the meal that followed. My Crab Cobb Salad ($18) was rich and filling and paired nicely with the martini. The Walleye special was scarfed up in its entirety by someone who doesn't usually do that. A Specialty Pasta, shared by two others, looked tantalizing. The Boat Club was the place my friend had wanted to take me to on the evening of my Duluth arrival. When she was unable to secure reservations for that evening I snuck a peek at yelp, noticed the 3.5 star rating, and had a "dodged that bullet" moment. But later during my visit, she made sure I got here and I was really glad that I did. I ate other good meals in Duluth but the Boat House was in a class of its own for the overall feeling it inspired, not just from the surroundings, but also the excellent service, cocktails, and food. This is a great place to celebrate any of life's special occasions. Don't be fooled by that overall rating; the Boat House is far better than that would indicate. read more

Ambiance is great. It took 1.5 hours to get food on a Sunday at 7:00 so we didn't eat until 8:30... and one of the guests I was with was cold. Just saying. I think it was okay.............. but I will not be coming back. Please get faster service read more

So disappointing. No one was at the host station (and that should have been a sign). Had to go to the bar to ask to be seated. My ribeye was dry and on the driest bed of wild rice I could ever imagine. One of my companions ate maybe three bites of his scallops and said it was the worst meal he has ever had out. My wife's pasta was OK. Just an odd vibe as far as atmosphere. Didn't really feel welcome or settled-in at any time. The Fitgers Pub down the hall is MUCH better. Go there. read more

We came here on a whim. On our Minnesota trip, we didn't realize the restaurant we picked beforehand didn't open until 3 and we did not realize Duluth was having a massive marathon this day. A lot of restaurants were closed or blocked off for the marathon. We noticed it because we were at the dog shop next door. With a name like "Boat Club", I was a little intimidated but after viewing the menu I liked what I saw both price wise and food wise. In Minnesota we did the Juicy Lucy, had coal fired pizza, and ate Mall of America food (okay that doesn't count), but this was hands down our favorite place we ate at: 1) The view of Lake Superior was unreal. We were seated right in front of the lake and it really was something special. I'm from South Carolina, so I'm use to dining by the Atlantic Ocean, but this was something else. 2) The house red wine was $7 a glass. You can't really beat that anywhere in ANY part of the country. 3) The food. I got a grilled chicken sandwich with fries. I've had chicken sandwiches all over the East Coast (I don't eat red meat) and this one stood out. It was marinated herb, had a sweet jam spread that worked perfectly with the goat cheese. The bacon was perfect on it and it was one of the better buns I've had anywhere. 3ish) My wife had the Boat Club Walleye sandwich and it was delicious. 4) We had a cocktail called The Minnesota Old Fashioned. This perfectly went with our trip and tasted really good. This place is up there for me. Really, really up there. It was just...romantic and the food didn't suck. The food was excellent. The view was unreal and the whole place didn't break the bank. From someone from South Carolina who eats in Charleston, Savannah, and Charlotte monthly; this place is in my top 5 of all time and I've been doing Yelp for over a decade. I mean, come on...my wife had a Juicy Lucy in St. Paul...claimed it was the best burger of her life and then we ate here and both agreed it was our favorite of the trip. * Southern tip. When you ask for hot sauce and your waitress brings you Tabasco you know it's the real deal. read more

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Dirty dining room. Spotty service. Grizzled steak. Overall disappointing for the money. Breakfast is somewhat better than dinner.

Brought a friend here for his birthday and had a walleye sandwich and a salmon melon salad which were thoroughly enjoyed. When we told our server Chris about it being my friend's birthday, he asked if we were interested in a birthday dessert and we said sure! He disappeared for a while and came back with the most beautiful platter with perfectly symmetrical circles of chocolate, happy birthday spelled out in cocoa powder, two different slices of cheesecake crossed over each other with dollops of whipped cream around them, and a bowl of ice cream! It was beautiful, delicious and amazing and so unexpected. It made the lunch just so super special. Thank you Chris! read more

We were in Duluth and staying at Fitgers, we decided to just have dinner here and all 4 of us were disappointed with our dinners. We didn't want to say anything because our waiter was so attentive and just so sweet. We paid our bill but definitely won't go back. A beautiful restaurant with potential but so off the mark. read more

If you want to take a trip down memory lane, enjoy fine hotels rooms at a fair price and great dining, go to Fitgers and dine at the boat house. read more