Volstead House Whiskey Bar and Speakeasy, Eagan

I was excited about a higher end, yet quaint bar in suburbia. What a let down. Great ambiance, cool décor, nice servers… drinks suck (except for the Old Fashioned), food sucks. I won’t bore you with the details, but a ‘martini’ served in a lowball glass? WTF? …and at room temperature?! I give it a star for ambiance (I’m envious… wish I owned it!) and another star for the pleasantness of the servers. But that’s as far as it should go. The people who give it more should get out more and experience real dining and drinking emporiums across the city, state, country, globe.

Went to Volstead House last Friday with a friend. As you walk into Burgers and Bottles, look for the red curtain in the back. We were pleasantly surprised to the décor of this back room!!! They also have an outside patio with fire pits that were on which made the ambiance even cooler! It was jam packed, but we found a place at the end of the bar and ordered Apple Manhattans. We both had never had one before, but I was really happy that I tried one. Very strong but delicious. The bar tender was great and a lot of fun watching him make all the different drinks. We also ordered the chicken/​Alfredo flat bread, which was amazing. Cannot wait to bring my husband back with me as he is a bourbon fanatic! Come and check this place out, you will not be disappointed!

Went here last night (12÷27÷15) for the first time with my boyfriend. We didn’t know what to expect, but had heard great things about this new whiskey bar in the heart of suburbia. When we walked into the store front of Burgers and Bottles, we were quickly greeted by a host. He asked if we would prefer sitting in the front or back for dinner, and I mentioned it didn’t matter, whichever was faster. He took my number for our reservation, and I was notified I would be texted when my table was ready.
We stepped into the back bar during our wait, and was the atmosphere like night and day! I am obsessed with the décor and ambiance in the Volstead House. It was so beautiful, cozy, and felt like a great place to relax.
I ordered a Blinker (rye, grapefruit, and raspberry syrup), and my date ordered an Old Fashioned. I WISH I had ordered the old fashioned, too. Don’t get me wrong that the Blinker wasn’t good, but that is by far the best Old Fashioned I have ever tasted. And I don’t particularly care for those drinks.
Only feedback is that the bartenders and wait staff aren’t super attentive to those ordering at the bar. Instead they are more concerned with drinks coming in from those guests sitting at tables and expo-​ing them to the waitstaff. But other than that, I loved this place.

Terrible service! I was excited to go to this particular speak easy and so I went there after work. I had a few buddies meet me there. I gave the hostess my phone number and the number of people I was with. She told me it would be about a 20 minute wait. An hour later I went back and they still were not able to seat us. She (the hostess) said there was a standing table we could wait and drink at. So we walked in back and the standing table was full. So here we are standing in the middle of the walkway and being passed by waiters and bartenders who could care less we were there waiting to be served. We stood there for an additional 30 minutes being passed by waiter after waiter with nobody even saying hello to us. So we walked out and went to a different bar. Not what I expected on a Tuesday night. I will probably never go back to this establishment and I will never recommend it to anyone! I was extremely disappointed to say the least.

Worst service i have ever had! Waited 2 hours longer than quoted. Over priced and rude. Eagan deserves better! We will clearly share this with our friends! Go to tavern or lone oak for sure!!!

Well this place is interesting in a good way. It is a very urban, semi secret cocktail bar behind a typical suburban burger place in a strip mall. It’s sort of like a food mullet; burger business in front cocktail party in back. The burgers are above average but not up to the Nook or Parlour levels but admittedly most places aren’t. The fries were nicely crispy. My brisket bacon burger was tasty. Burgers, a few sandwiches, a few salads and some flatbread. The cocktails are well done, again not up to Parlour/​Marvel level but still nicely done. I had a nicely complex and slightly smokey Manhattan that the bartender crafted for me. Drinks are all about $ 10 which isn’t bad for the quality. If you are near here and want to avoid the drive into downtown give this place a try but remember you need to enter and walk through Burgers and Bottles to find this place.

I can’t believe anyone would rate this place a 2. The place is drop dead gorgeous (inside and out), the drinks were perfectly prepared and unique, and service was outstanding (Alison was our bartender). For less than a week open, I’m blown away by how seamless our experience was. The good was great too (spinach and artichoke dip and an over the top decadent brownie).
I’d welcome more high end food options as well (and am excited a new menu is in the works) but think it’s a bit odd that someone would bash the menu… there are plenty of great non-​burger options to try until they expand further.
In my opinion, the only critique of merit in the 2 star review was the confusion about checking in at the bottles and burgers hostess stand. But that was easily remedied by asking them… and now we know. It certainly doesn’t warrant a star reduction though in my opinion.
Keep up the great work, we will be back soon!

We have been to the Volstead House a couple times since they opened. I want to start out by saying their cocktails really are quite good and a worthwhile venture if you are in the Eagan area. They are strong, flavorful and generally well put together. The atmosphere is great and the service is good. There are some pretty fatal flaws, however, that drag my rating from a five down to a two.
The most glaring oversight is the food. It is an absurd juxtaposition of classy bar with sports bar fare from the adjacent Burgers and Bottles. Why pair a $ 10 cocktail with a $ 7 greasy burger? One just feels dirty ordering food. There is something absolutely shameful about eating chicken wings with a classic cocktail in the high-​end atmosphere they have crafted.
The flat breads are mostly flavorless. Their stuffed mushrooms are entirely lackluster — essentially a mushroom cap stuffed with Alfredo sauce. Their wings lack any real flavor, but are decently juicy and crisped on the outside. Really really disappointing. It feels like the food is coming from the gas station next door or reheated from a box, definitely not complementary to their drinks or the brand they are trying to craft.
The second concern is how they stop patrons of the Speakeasy at the Burgers and Bottles podium to seat you. It is not clear that they will ACTUALLY seat you in the Speakeasy and makes for a very awkward interaction with the host. The Speakeasy should be an entirely separate experience from the fast, greasy, sports bar experience of Burgers and Bottles.
Given the fantastic food and drink options near by (see: Townhall Tap, Pats Tap, etc), there is barely a reason to want to go to Volstead House, other than you live in Eagan. That is really a shame as they have obviously taken a lot of care to craft a fantastic atmosphere and cocktail list. I really hope they drop the burgers and sport bar fare for the Speakeasy and focus on their strengths — the cocktails and the mood.
It’s immensely disappointing as this is one of the first establishments of it’s kind in Eagan. When we heard it was opening, we were ready to be instant converts, but our experience has really fallen flat. We will likely return for cocktails every so often, but we would go to great lengths to avoid the food until it improves (if it ever does).

Just came in tonight for the second the first time and i was astonished of how classy this speakeasy bar/​restaurant is. Not only do they have the same amazing food as burgers and bottles but have added on flavorful appatizers and desserts. I live in lakeville and if i lived closer i would be a regular. The food is always spot on and always my picky customized suggestions are never an issue. They are knowledgeable about all drinks and the atmosphere is astonishing. This is my new go to place to eat and drink. I even met the owner tony and he was very pleasant to speak to. Nice to eat somewhere where the owner put his own hands to build this amazing addition and its classy
All i can say is this is the best place to eat drink and relax in eagan. I will make the extra trip from lakeville to enjoy this amazing place. Thank you for adding such an amazing atmosphere to relax and eat after a long day
Thanks tony