The Boathouse

Just had a very memorable dinner at the Boathouse. The décor was so cozy– Christmas lights, candles and boats mounted to the ceiling. Add in the dueling pianos, and the setting is perfect. The food is classic supper club, down the the cheese spread and basket of breadsticks — and we loved it. We had the pork chop, salmon, ahi, and crab cakes and everyone raved about their food. The house wine was good, great beer selection on tap, and the service was quick and attentive. We can’t wait to come again next time we are in Minocqua!

I’m relieved to find that the old Bosaki’s is thriving…
For years, I’ve resisted the urge to walk through the doors of this place, long lamenting the bygone era Harlan Bosaki drove right into the ground. So many memories… But hell if The Boathouse hasn’t taken everything this place once was and built upon it exponentially!
I’ll start by saying their beer selection is better than most dining establishments in the Northwoods. Of course there’s plenty of other options too, from wine to liquor, served up from their well-​appointed Brunswick bar.
Their Hungarian Mushroom soup was exceptional… A must-​have! The walleye, albeit a bit pricey, is actually some of the best I’ve ever had up here. It’s no match compared to the walleye old Hick’s Landing in Fifield used to serve up, but get it blackened and it’s flipping amazing! Side note, their already expensive walleye ($ 28) is another $ 2 to get blackened– would have been nice if they’d have told me!
Service was friendly, but a bit slow; they’re clearly understaffed for the time of year, but then, business up here in the off-​season is all over the place, and the weather isn’t conducive to snowmobilers, so I’ll give them a pass.
In short, I think they’re on the right track (finally), and I’m positively relieved to see the inside of the place looking not only as well-​maintained as the exterior, but the entire dining area bustling, with nearly every table occupied. I’ll always miss Bosaki’s, but at least the new place is on track and paying homage to everything this once was!

Stopped in to watch the Badger game. Great Bartender and awesome Bloody Mary’s. Cheese curds were good but the bacon wrapped shrimp were amazing. Will stop again.

Had a great time listening to the owner play the piano while having a nice cocktail and a wonderful meal. Their soup is amazing can’t wait to go back and eat there again.

The Boathouse is an average place, nothing bad, nothing really outstanding except possibly the view. If you are lucky enough to get seating near the windows facing the lake it’s pretty good but you can get that same view from just about anywhere in town. If it was great food and a great view it would warrant more stars. It was a bit overpriced for the quality of the food served.
On the other hand, I was just in town for the weekend and I only ate at one other place so maybe The Boathouse is really exceptional for northern Wisconsin.

This past time we decided to eat downstairs on the deck where the old ice cream place used to be. I’m happy to say that I received outstanding service from my waitress. I got up here late Friday on labor day weekend and missed out on the Northwoods Friday fishfry. So Saturday when no one is willing to serve any fish in all the restaurants and I had just about given up, my waitress was able to modify a fish sandwich and even add on a piece just so I can have my fish fry. She was so easy going and pleasant about it I tipped her extra and couldn’t stop thanking her enough. Thanks for going the extra mile for the customers! The only reason why I’m giving it 4 stars and not 5 is because they didn’t have the fish pond working inside. Get it fixed so I can toss pennies on the fish like I did when I was a little kid lol.

Probably the prettiest bar I’ve been to in Wisconsin. Good selection of tap beer. But really it’s all about the atmosphere. Have not tried the food, would like to, it’s just been too late when I visited. But beautiful beautiful bar.

It wasn’t perfect but pretty close! Joked we would like a table by the window to watch the sunset (who wouldn’t.). We got one! Asked waitress Jody for suggestions since I am not a huge fan of fish fry. Said the ribs were award winning. OMGosh! The ribs were out of this world! My husband had the fish fry and was just as happy. Hungarian Mushroom Soup also got two thumbs up from my husband.
Décor-​so fun! Vintage boat motors everywhere. Row boat-​S hung from the ceiling. Other vintage boating paraphernalia throughout the restaurant. Gorgeous back bar!
When you are in the area check it out!
(Why didn’t we give it 5*? A bit of a wait for the food. Sunset was pretty…)

We met up for a family reunion at my brothers summer place and he suggested going here for supper. Made reservations for our party of 7 adults on a Monday night. Sat in the bar a total of an hour waiting for our table (two different stories of why our table was given to another party). They have a policy you can’t eat at the bar if you’ve made a reservation, even though they had clearly made a mistake with our table.
After finally being seated, it was like a comedy of errors. Poor, slow service. Young staff needs to be retrained on bussing (removing dirty dishes, refilling water…). Dishwasher for glasses leaves soap chunks on inside of glasses (table next to us also brought it to owners attention). Bartender laughed it had been like that for a while.
Food was for the most part excellent. When three people wanted the walleye, they were told they were out of it. Suggestion of swordfish cooked expertly but twice the price. When the menu said sweet potato fries were one of the side choices, later found they were an additional $ 3. Fettuccine Alfredo fantastic, but addition of chicken undercooked. Thick Pork chop very good. Grilled Caesar salad fantastic. Big miss…½# burger raw in center. Prepared first and sat under the warmer while other food was prepped. Very disappointing.
First time for most of party and agreed we wouldn’t be back, even though piano playing owner apologized and gave us money off our bill. We were there a total of about 3 hours. Just poor front of the house practices. Too bad. Kind of a neat place with good food.

The ahi tuna appetizer was amazing!
Great view of the lake as well as the water ski show. For dinner I had the filet oscar prepared perfectly. Can’t wait to stop in again… we also filled out pontoon up and had no issues. Highly recommend and you will need a reservation.

This is a phenomenal place. The new shrimp scampi special is to die for. The food and cocktails are top notch. You couldn’t find better food in the city.
My wife and I always visit right before Christmas. The atmosphere is gorgeous. The Christmas music, piano, and if your lucky, Christmas carols, makes this place one of the best in the north.

Awesome spot right on the lake!
Really tasty food, friendly and attentive service, nice beer selection.
Had the blackened walleye which was fantastic.
Antique boat show going on outside on the dock featuring some really cool wooden boats from early-​mid 1900’s. Great option in Minocqua!

In August we visited Minoqua to do some kayak fishing and celebrate our wedding anniversary. As any fisherman would, we wanted to get the most out of our day and fish until sunset. The first night of our visit we asked everyone we could where we could find a good dinner after 9pm… crickets. We ended up with a cardboardy frozen pizza from a local bar… on our actual anniversary. Little did we know that just a block away our eating dreams were coming true. The next day we knew we had to scope out our dinner early. Before we got on the lake we left no stone unturned and stopped in all of the nearby restaurants. This is where we found the Boathouse who served until after 10pm on the summer weekends. When we walked in that evening we were taken back in time. A lovely hostess at the door, a beautiful bar with exquisite wood work serving perfect cocktails (you are going to want to try an old fashion) and a talented piano player with admirers around him. We were seated at our table and the server acted as if we were the only ones that mattered (even in a crowded room). Our food couldn’t have been better. The meal started off with a Hungarian mushroom soup. Amazing! We both had the juiciest tastiest steak and buttery perfectly done lobster. The visit absolutely made our trip, our anniversary and we will be back!