Mavericks Wood Grill

A local place that we truly enjoy, they have consistently good food and the evening specials are always creative and good. They have a bar area and a back room which is more quite. We prefer the bar area as its more lively they have TVs if you want to stay up-​to-​date on sports. Happy Hour is a good deal on appetizers and beer. We hosted a surprise birthday party and the staff and management where really helpful. Everyone at the party enjoyed the food and beverages.

Mavericks is a little off the beaten path, but that shouldn’t matter in this day of smartphone navigation. Apparently it is plenty easy to find because it is always packed, which is partly due to popularity and largely attributable to limited available space.
The bar, lounge, and dining room areas all more or less blend into one. The vibe and décor is neighborhood dive meets country café; less Hennepin County, more Stearns County. This is an aesthetic that appeals to me as I grew up in rural Central MN. Not to mention it is a locally-​owned scratch kitchen using high quality MN suppliers which can give one the warm fuzzies of keeping it local.
The enticing wood fire grill catches the olfactory from the get go and really amps up already simmering hunger. I recommend not overlooking the apps. The Prime Rib Crostini, chicken satay, and cheese curds are a few favorites, with more trips needed to sample other offerings. The Crostini is sliced and lightly toasted baguette, spread with a horseradish aoli, and topped with thin sliced rare prime rib and swiss – so good that you’ll wish you had ordered at least double.
The entrees have all been hits so far. I’ve stuck to the steak in all my visits; steak sandwich, prime rib French dip, and Ribeye steak. All fantastic, delicious, and well prepared. The wood grill adds such a rich layer of smokey flavor. I can’t say enough good about the food. I most recently had the Ribeye, medium rare and topped with melted bleu cheese, served with horseradish mashed potatoes and broccoli. That’s flavor country, Marlboro Man! My wife and friends have had the fish tacos, as well as many varieties of chicken sandwiches and burgers, and all have equally raved about the quality and flavor.
My primary reason for not awarding 5 stars is due to the inconsistency of the service. Too often our waitresses have disappeared for atypically long stretches of time when they were needed to refresh drinks, remove dirty plates, and other basic services that require a relatively minimal level of attention. I am by no means a needy patron or squeaky wheel. At all establishments, I start with a minimum expectation of service and award «bonus points» for going above that level, which I feel is more fair to the staff than expecting the world and then getting overly sensitive when any little thing slightly deviates from a skewed presumption. For what it’s worth.
Overall, I am a fan of Maverick’s and certainly recommend it to anyone willing to listen. Food of this quality and flavor is relatively hard to find in this part of the ‘burbs, so make tracks to Champlin and give them a shot. You won’t regret it.

The food is good, but service is HORRIBLE. They love their regulars, and will pay attention to their tables all day long, but if you’re not in that clique… better send smoke signals to get a server to come to your table. We literally watched our server go AROUND our table with empty glasses to wait on tables next to us. Then she hangs at those tables and schmoozes with them. It was like we didn’t even matter. My wife had to go to the bar for drinks, and the bartender was awesome.
Lesson learned. Go there for drinks… you’re good to go. Go there for food… good luck!

OMG! The food was phenomenal!!! I’m a gourmet foodie kind of gal and was BLOWN away with the flavor of our dishes!
My beau had the Chefs Revenge which was the most tender piece of cod with a delish risotto in a creams sauce with rosemary & red peppers.
I had a steak with grilled asparagus and horseradish mashed potatoes. It was by far the best asparagus I’ve ever had.
The atmosphere was a bar lounge. I never would have expected food of this magnitude from this type of venue– it was absolutely sub par! I look forward to trying other dishes in the future!

Great cozy atmosphere, great food, the burger was juicy and had great flavor. The awesome service made use want to come back. Very personable waiting staff. Great beer selection. This place is a real gem!

The atmosphere was great and love the neighborhood feel of the place. Service was great and the drinks were perfect, and all day happy hour to boot!!! But now to my food…
I ordered the pork chop dinner and would have taken a picture but they were to small!!! By no means was I expecting JD Hoyts quality but what I got was not even truck stop quality.
2 small boneless pork chops of the Cub variety… They were so dry (even with the whiskey glaze) that my Big Ginger went really fast. The mashed potatoes were on the cold side and also dry. Well am willing to give it another try but will stick with cocktails and burgers which I hear are good…

Always a fantastic aptmosphere! The staff become family very quickly! Drink Specials every day and their food… out of this world! I recommend highly brunch and going on Tuesday’s and getting one of their $ 5 sandwhiches! I’ve NEVER been disappointed!

My husband and I like the food at Mavericks and like others have said think this is a hidden gem. HOWEVER, service is not good. Twice I have called and made a reservation for the dining room for a special occasion only to be called back the day of the reservation and told that there is a private party in the dining room and we will have to sit in the lounge. The lounge is a dive bar. I love dive bars but not for a special occasion. Since they have waited until the day of the reservation to call me I have been left high and dry without a reservation for my special occasion. If you do get in the service is very slow but they have said it will be because the food takes longer. The service is not only slow but also very inattentive. Bummer. I love a hidden gem but will have to find a different one. I have been burned twice now so won’t try again.

My favorite place to grab a bite in the north metro. The staff is exceptional, burgers are awesome and the drinks are done right. Wish the city of Champlin had more spots like this.

It is unfortunate that I have to write this review because before this, the few times I have been to Mavericks the food and service were great. After my experience on Sunday I will not be returning. My boyfriend and I arrived around 10:45 am for some brunch.
First, we were not greeted by anyone for close to 10 minutes, the staff kept walking around and ignoring us and the other guests waiting. Finally we sit down, and a nice host brings us some water. I asked her if we could order some coffee and she said she wasn’t able to place that order for us but someone would be over soon. 20 minutes later a man comes over and gets our coffee. The coffee was served in the smallest glass you have ever seen. I asked if we could get more coffee, and he said that because everyone keeps order it they can’t keep up and this is the most I could get. I said fine, and told him we were ready to order. He said he was sorry but he couldn’t take our order and we would have to wait. This made no sense to my boyfriend and I, since he was the server that go us our drinks.
The host came around 10 minutes later and said we were behind two others that needed to order before us. During this whole experience the man who got us drinks did nothing but stand around at the bar. The lady behind the bar seemed to be keeping up with about 15 peoples orders and drinks. Finally the «right» server comes over to us and takes our order. We got our food around 1:00 pm. By that time we were starving and finished eating in about 5 minutes. My boyfriend at this point was done and went to wait in the car. I then had to wait for 20 more minutes for us to get our bill back. The server brought the bill right away and I gave him my card. He then proceeded to take 3 tables orders, enter them all in, get drinks, and do a few other tasks before running my card. He never asked the other man working to run my bill over to me, or the host. He finally brought it over, and offered no apology for our services. I have never not left a tip before in my life until Sunday morning. By the time it was all said and done we were there for 3 hours. I would suggest hiring more staff, or not letting the ones you have working stand around for their entire shift. Extremely disappointed.

Hidden gem is the best description! After a few bites, my husband kept saying how he was so glad we found this place — usually I’m the one who gets excited over restaurants!
The service was top notch — offered recommendations, steered us to anything from the wood grill, and was funny. Our server should get a raise!
Food — it was awesome. We were starving as we are later in the evening, so we split the spinach and artichoke dip (pita and chips), hubby had a side salad, I had the Smokin’ Gouda burger (num) and hubby had the chicken sandwich version of the Fire Truck. I could’ve done without the fries. But everything else was amazing. Hands down the best spinach dip I’ve had. And wow– off the grill– anything would have that awesome smokey taste which was too good. And the house made whiskey sauce!!!
Prices were so reasonable– it was a Tuesday night so a beer cans with the burger for a great deal!
The room was not what we expected. We are in the beautiful and intimate dining room with the fireplace and felt transported to a fancier restaurant up north. We can’t wait to go this summer when the patio opens!
I love Unilocal for helping us find this place.
Definitely hit up this hidden gem.

Awesome food, great service, and cool atmosphere. My wife and I decided to have a late night dinner and at the last minute decided on Mavericks. We go there quite often for lunch but always forget about it for dinner. Well they didn’t disappoint. I had the house made meatloaf dinner with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus while my wife had the Coq Au Vin. Both were very good and obviously prepared from scratch with care. Drinks were good as was our dessert. Service was attentive but not overly so and quick. Value was also good as I thought the prices were very reasonable for good food (if the food was less than good I wouldn’t say this). The Champlin and Brooklyn Park area needs more places like this. We will definitely be back and will bring our foodie friends next time.

Servings are HUGE and music over lunch was loud. Not the best place for a business lunch with older clients.

The only reason this place gets 3 stars is because the food is great. Now the problems:
Although it was lunchtime and only two other tables in the entire place were filled, the service was terrible.
Once we got seated, it was almost 10 minutes until a server came to the table, although he did bring water. When I attempted to order the brats, he informed me they were out of them. Ok, the fallback was the grilled cheese and tomato soup. When I attempted to upgrade from chips to french fries, I was told that I could not upgrade that sandwich, although the menu stated that any sandwich could be upgraded. I guess a grilled cheese is some un-​upgradable special sandwich. He indicated that he could get the manager but I declined. Who wants to fight with a manager over upgrading a sandwich?
Now, the server disappeared for long timeframes. We finally had to get up and hunt him down to ask for the check.
All in all, a nice outside patio and great food. All of us were very happy with the quality and taste. Now, if they could get their menu to state things correctly, not run out of food, and get their service together, it could become a great place!

Great food, great people and a great atmosphere. This is our favorite place in the Twin Cities — an authentic wood grill that updates their menu regularly. The brand-​new salads and half-​pound burgers are amazing. If you want to visit a place that feels like home, Mavericks is for you!

This place is a hidden gem! Their burgers are fantastic. Because they’re wood grilled, it takes just a whee bit longer than usual. The ambience is casual and familiar. I love their roasted tomato and goat cheese burger. Their lettuce wraps are also fantastic. Their happy hour drink specials are awesome as well; two for the price of one! Drinks (from my experience) are a little bit stronger than usual. Like I said, this place is a hidden gem so only tell your good friends!

Amazing food and location!!! Super relaxing and kind of hidden in a neighborhood but it is one of a kind place to eat.

I have lived in Champlin for almost two years and I drive by Mavericks every day, but I kept putting this place off. There are already so many «just ok» American restaurants in Champlin that I assumed that this one wouldn’t be any different. I was looking at reviews of all the area restaurants yesterday and finally clicked over to Maverick’s website. Thursday nights are $ 10 burger and tap beer. Burgers are normally $ 10 anyway, so why not go and get a free beer out of the deal?
So I finally packed up my husband in the car last night and off we went. The dining room had a small wait time so we opted to sit in the lounge. It was very comfortable with a slight funky edge to it. Nothing over done, I was mostly relieved that there weren’t Americana signs that you can purchase in bulk plastered over the walls. This is the kind of place that you can bring your in-​laws to, or go to for a cozy date.
Every single staff member was genuinely sweet. The waitress even invited us to stay and watch the band that was just setting up even though we had already paid the bill and implied that we couldn’t eat or drink another ounce.
Since the drinks were essentially free we ordered the cheese curds which did not disappoint these Sconnies. We each ordered a burger (Smokin’ Gouda and Fire Truck) and split them with eachother. They were both very good, and much more satisfying than the other burger joints in town. My only suggestions are to change the buns that are used and to offer a bison burger. Other than that, I look forward to returning for their HH soon!
Definitely a 5 star restaurant for the Champlin area.

I don’t offer this rating lightly. A place has to make me happy at least a few times before it gets a good rating outta me. I know how to cook, I know what doesn’t work, I get annoyed when something is sloppy and I can tell when management is lazy. I’m a tough crowd.
I have been to Mavericks several times over the past few years. They’ve made me happy. The least I can do is gush in this review and offer insight into said gushing.
Mavericks has two parts — the bigger dining room and the bar. I’ve been in both. The dining room is nice — I’d go there with my husband and/​or kids. The bar is where it’s at. There are booths and tables. My husband and I like to sit at the actual bar and order dinner. We have done this a few times.
As far the food goes — it’s great. The burgers are awesome. The Smokin’ Gouda burger is one of the better burgers I’ve ever had. I order mine medium and it has not been over or under-​cooked once. It has always been perfect. I’ve had a few of their burgers — all great. Good flavor fusions on all of them. I’ve had other items from the menu as well — sandwiches, entrees, etc. The food is consistently good. I am consistently pleased.
Atmosphere — it’s awesome. We went for the 6^th Anniversary party last month and had a wonderful time. It was packed and there wasn’t anywhere to sit. Quite frankly, I didn’t care. They had SURLY DARKNESS on tap so I would have stood outside on a brick to guzzle that if I had to. They always have Surly Furious on tap, which mama likes. Great beer selection, which I appreciate. Good drinks. Really good martinis. The bartender is fantastic. He’s personable, entertaining and attentive. The ambiance works well for the area. It’s casual and laid back, yet it teeters on hip a little bit. Just enough. Not so much that it’s pretentious, but enough to make it, well — a little hip. I know if I wear heels with skinny jeans I won’t feel out of place, and I know if I wear a sweatshirt I won’t feel out of place either.
The thing I like most about this place is that every time we’re there we meet some new person or couple who also frequents the bar area. We always end up chatting and exchanging recommendations about the menu. Looking around the bar — you will see a total motley crew of patrons. You’ll have the middle-​aged trucker who sounds like Norm from Cheers and has 1,937 awesome stories about the calamities of trucking, you’ll have the hipsters with well done (usually) tattoos and eyebrow-​raising piercings, you’ll have the husband and wife who are shoving burgers and beers down their throats (us), you’ll have the singles, you’ll have the people who have been coming there for years and years who you’ll later learn actually perform live music there once and a while. The crowd is diverse and I love that.
In reading through the other reviews, I have to admit I’m pretty surprised. Someone said something about the staff being more concerned with their plans or something. Hey, whatever. I’ve never had any bad experience with any of the staff. They have all been customer-​oriented and professional and attentive to us every single time we have been in there. So I feel like if someone had a bad experience with one of them, maybe it was just a misunderstanding or a fluke. Or maybe someone is just a butthead. Customers can be buttheads. Regardless, my feeling is that it isn’t a good representation of the staff overall. We have had nothing but good experiences with the staff — consistently.
Be advised, this 5 star rating is not trying to say ‘this is a fine dining establishment that is fancy and you’ll be wowed with filet.’ No. This is a local place that has a lot to offer and they do a great job. I could not be happier with what they offer — they do it well every time. I leave really happy every time. So, they get a 5 for sure.
This is a fun place with really good food and a great vibe. We are thrilled that we’re only a few miles away because this has definitely become our favorite place to go on our date nights. Give it a try!

OK, I admit this is a unneeded update and I have been back to this place but only for drinks so to add stars is maybe off a little. But after my last experience and review which was not great (my experience, hopefully my review was rock solid) I received an email from the owner with questions and concerns about my experience.
He said nothing of my review and didn’t fault me at all for writing something pleasurable but more asked for feed back and was willing to talk about what I thought was wrong with the food I had.
I must say, living in the suburbs where most chains care very little for your feedback once you have left their establishment it is very refreshing to hear from someone that wants to make sure, and is concerned that someones visit live up to their expectations.
For this reason alone I will continue to frequent this nice little neighborhood hangout!
KT