In town for a craft show, I stopped here for dinner. When I arrived the dining room was empty. That didn't last long! It filled up fast. I ordered the steak and mashed potatoes. The side salad was mixed greens and very tasty. I ended up sending the mashed potatoes back and getting a baked potato ... the potatoes were swimming in butter. They gladly did so. The service was excellent. Downside ... no dessert. Thought I'd take something back to the hotel and nope ... what restaurant does't offer dessert? When I left the place had filled up. read more

Let cal Bar & Grill with great food and service. They have room for private parties. The bar area is a regular spot for many and can be loud and fun, but there is a dining g room if you prefer a quieter experience. Really nice owners and excellent servers. The regulars are friendly to newcomers. read more

After a long day at the Lake Itasca Family Music Festival and a stop at the Clearwater County Fair, we were starving. We discovered Ventures Restaurant and Bar in Fosston. Nick, our server, provided excellent service. They had Alaskan Amber, our favorite amber beer, on tap served cold and fresh. I enjoyed one of the best taco salads ever and my husband enjoyed a mushroom burger, all at a great value and price point. We will be back! read more

My mother planned by dad's 70th birthday party here and it was a total mess. We were promised a space for our personal party and instead we were given a few tables in a loud part of the bar that clearly wasn't even set aside for parties. This place has a private area for parties, we booked in July for a party in January and somehow ended up in the bar. My mom called the week before to make sure we would be in a quiet space for the party because no one in my family is a big drinker so we just wanted to be on our own. We were assured by the owner, Jessie Manecke, that they would set up a divider so we would have our own space. There was no divider, we were right in an open bar where they had overbooked with a giant party of snowmobilers as well. When my mom tried to talk with him after not delivering on any of his promises after the party, Jessie Manecke hung up on her. Despicable man, and business. read more

I give it a one only because the waitress was cute and did her job well. We ordered the share plate for two. It was early so there was no excuse for the fact that they must have been out of things. There mini-corn dogs on the plate, we do not eat meat. There were onion rings but no shrimp. Everything was deep fried. We also order stuffed mushrooms. They were also deep fried. The atmosphere is early kitchen. We went only went because it was about 1/2 way between where we were and where they were. read more

Whenever we are in town visiting family we eat dinner at Ventures. Their service is always friendly and their food is very decently priced and delicious. We always order the walleye dinner! They also have a barbecued ribs special that is really tasty. read more

The person that wrote the other review is a moron. Good food, good service, good prices. Very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. I had the shrimp carbonara, others in my party had wings and cajun pasta. French onion soup looked and smelled amazing. Highly recommend. read more

My experience with Ventures was very bad & I would not recommend giving them any future business. Last July I booked Ventures for a 70th surprise birthday party for my husband on Saturday, January 6. I told the owner there would be 50-75 guests. I booked it early so I would be assured of getting the space that would accommodate my needs. I was very clear about the type of venue I wanted for our party. I told the owner most of our guests are non drinkers & we wanted a quiet area where we could visit, open gifts & present a program. There are 2 areas at both ends of the restaurant which would have accommodated our needs. I talked to the owner Jesse Manecke on several occasions because I was concerned about where he might put our party. I was assured that Ventures was a "family friendly restaurant" & everything would be fine. When my sister-in-law got there early to decorate for our party there was no place to put up decorations. The tables & chairs were crammed in back to back, like sardines, at the end of the bar. It was so noisy we couldn't talk to people sitting next to us. We couldn't share the program that had taken many hours to prepare. There were about 25 people who couldn't make it to the party. There wouldn't have been anyplace to put them!!!! The cake had to be put on a counter in front on a beer cooler by the hallway so nobody saw that. The 1 quiet area was given to snowmobilers who postponed their party from the week before because it was too COLD. They had a band playing & the owner said the sliding door could be closed to cut down on the noise. That never happened!!!! The 2nd area was given to another group who had very few people in their group. They were doing games & actives with their group. I was very disappointed & frustrated with the area we were given for our party. We definitely got 3rd & last choice!!!!! After the party I text the owner that I wanted to talk to him. He called me the following Monday & I expressed that I was disappointed with the area he allotted for our party. I told him we had 25 people who didn't come & where would I have put them. I reminded him that I had asked for a quiet area where we could visit, open gifts & have a program. His reply was "we are not set up for skits & plays. The next time you want to book a party don't book it with us"!!! Then he hung up on me. I know that many groups that have booked parties in the past have had programs so that wasn't the truth. The owner definitely isn't concerned with customer satisfaction & repeat business. None of our group will EVER give Ventures any more business & we are letting everyone we know about the unprofessional way we were treated. This is an owner that does not put his customers 1st. When I was trying to arrange the party it should have been a red flag when my sister-in-law & I each left at least 4 messages a piece before the owner returned a call. CUSTOMERS BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

The last time we were here we were invited by some friends. Many other locals love this spot but I can only speak from our experience that we did not. We had a group of about 8, our family including children under age 5 and 2 other couples. No one ordered complicated dishes and it was not a very busy weeknight. However it took about 30 minutes to be waited on to submit our order after ordering drinks, in that time other couples came in after us, ordered and received their food. After ordering it took over an hour to get it food. When we asked if we could at least have the children's food (as by this time it's 1.5 hrs after we usually eat and closing on normal bed time) the waitress was not apologetic at all and we were treated as if we were a nuisance. During the time we were waiting for our food 3 other groups ordered, ate, left, all while we had yet to receive ours. We won't be going back independently due to the poor service we received. read more