Slippery’s Bar & Grill

One of our best places to go when boating on the river. Slipperys has been around for years, though high and low water (literally) I have downed many a bloody-​Mary here Sunday mornings in July!

Slippery’s is a Wabasha Icon being of course made famous by the Grumpy Old Men Movies. I have never eaten there (other than the occasional bar Pizza) as this is more of a drinking establishment for me. If you want a cold drink or beer, you can’t beat the view, being right on the water you can have cocktails and view the local Bald Eagles soaring above, even better if you have a boat they have a huge dock to pull up to at no cost.
During out last visit we met the Husband and Wife Bartending team, They were great! Always johnny on the spot to get you a drink and great conversationalist while sitting at the bar.
I would totally recommend stopping in for the view and a drink.

Well, long wait and 5 groups of 2 that came after us were offered seating at the bar… when we were not. When asked why we were not offered that option, «Oh gosh, well they are full now.» Finally were told we have a table ready for us and when we got there, she wiped it down… so not ready in my book!
Pepsi products to drink, YUCK! Food taking over 45 minutes. No toilet paper in bathroom! Had to ask to spare a square from the next stall!
Food mediocre at best.
The waitress was nice and quick to bring more drinks. Poor thing works her!

Walleye pike was perfectly prepared! Atmosphere in town pleasantly quaint with an unbelievable pumpkin patch.

Great hamburger and a fun place to play a game with your granchildren

I take issue with inconsiderate boaters being allowed to bring their wet dog up into the outdoor dining area while customers are trying to enjoy dinner… and then being allowed to stay with the wet dog in the outdoor patio bar. Seems to be more than a one time occurrence as I’ve been told. There are much more considerate owners and better places to spend money on a meal in the area.

Hi! So I’d like my review of Slippery’s to be mostly in response to the few negative Nancy’s posted here.
First, the «National Eagle Center»? Awesome? Hmm. All I know is that any place that inspired a hilarious movie about cursing grandpa’s who romance Ann Margret is actually the thing that is awesome. Eagles are everywhere.
«Horrible service all around»? I can’t recall kinder staff (and I’m from Milwaukee, the city of hugs). The smiling hostess greeted us immediately. And our server, Sara, was attentive, quick, and friendly from beginning to end (which was extra amazing to me since we waltzed in near closing time and I know deep down they probably didn’t want us to linger. Which we did.) But Sara continued to joke with us and treat us with respect and patience the entire time. PLUS! When we asked her to exchange some dimes for quarters so we could buy temporary tattoos she just GAVE us 2 quarters w/​out taking the dimes. What??!
«The bartender and another server were talking 75% of the time»? Personally, I don’t know what they were doing 100% of the time since I was enjoying myself so much.
«The food was not that great»? Bullcrud. The Mississippi Chowder… amazing, the grilled chicken salad… scrumptious, and the famous Slippy Burger… Velveeta-​ntilizing! (Oh, and the Dr Peppers? Just what the pepper ordered!)
«Nor were the portions that large for the prices». As for the amount of food, it was right in my stomach’s wheelhouse. Didn’t leave hungry or uncomfortably bursting. And regarding the prices… well, I’m a teacher so obviously money is no object for me.
And lastly, the name… Slippery’s. Come on. Slippery’s? Who can’t not not smile when saying that name? No one, that’s who.

We stopped in after hitting the National Eagle Center… which was awesome. We entered about almost 3, so it was not close to the dinner rush. We had to seat ourselves because the hostess was sitting at the bar with other employees. No one greeted us or acknowledged we were there even though they watched us seat ourselves. The service was horrible all around… The hostess was sitting at the bar taking her ponytail out and fluffing her hair repeatedly. Thank goodness no one was sitting on her side of the bar. Another waitress was rolling silverware at the bar and was on her phone. This should have been done at a table near the back… not the first thing customers see when they walk in. The bartender and another server… not the one rolling silverware were talking over the bar during 75% of the time we were in there. The bartender’s back was toward the customers on the back side of the bar. It took a long time to get a server to our table… did I mention there were not many people in the place… We had to go hunt down 2 children’s activity sheets and crayons. When the waitress came to take our order… we had to ask for the children’s menu. We had to flag down a different server to get our table cleared from the appetizers and to get drink refills. The food was not that great nor were the portions that large for the prices. 75.00 for 4 adults and 2 kids without any alcohol. Some of the food was cold. After dinner… the silverware waitress was sitting at the bar cashing out and counting tips. I hope this day was random and not how customers are treated daily. We would not send anyone here. We usually tip over 20%. The 10% was a gift.

We went to a wedding in Pepin WI only 8 miles away so we had to pay homage to our favorite movie. We were impressed at the tribute to the movie as we walked in and 2 TVs were playing with both movies. This place is a «Grumpy Old Men» haven for memorabilia. You can buy a Green Hornet just like Max used in the movie.
We ordered the «Putz» burger. This was a burger served with tomato lettuce and cheese. It was a good burger nothing extraordinary. What we liked was the view of the Mississippi river right out the window. Our waitress was friendly and put up with all our quotes of the movie. I was glad to read the local lore about the Grumpy Old Men movie and the souvenir shop was cool. we picked up some things there.
I can’t complain about the food or service, and even if it was bad I’d come back again for nostalgia sake.

Enjoyed a Slippery burger… always a favorite!!! Fries on skimpy side (size wise)…reminded me of shoe-​string potato chips. Service was outstanding!!! I would dine here again but order a substitute for the french fries.

Great service! Beautiful views of the river. The ice cold beer was amazing! We were here in the spring but would be even better in the summer with the awesome patio outside. We tried the Philly steak, ribeye, patty melt, and sampler appetizer. All were great!

We went during October. Service was good, walleye sandwich was delicious! ! We can not wait to go back soon!

Slippery’s has gone high tech. Wait staff now carries around an iPad to place your order. ok. they also present the bill to you on an iPad, point out how you can add a tip and then watch as you decide what to do for a tip. NOT OK. Not gonna put up with a waitress looking over my shoulder as I decide what to pay. Gonna slip away from Slippery’s and eat elsewhere.

This was the third time we have eaten at Slippery’s; the first two times we had absolutely no complaints — loved the food, the view and the service. Tonight, a beautiful fall evening, we decided to stop by since we were in the area. They were busy, but we decided, based on our previous experiences, that it was worth the wait. We were very wrong. There were two of us and we had a simple order — beer, water, salad and two baskets. We started to wonder when we saw the party next to us, seated after we put our order in, munching happily for at least five minutes on their salads before our server noticed that we didn’t have ours. We shortly received ours, and if that had been the only problem, I wouldn’t be writing this review! 40 minutes after we had been seated, we received our baskets (someone other than our server brought them to us). We were pleased with the taste, portions and temperature — no complaints there! We just felt like we were an afterthought the entire time to our server. She stopped by to see that we had received our food (quite some time after, but not a big deal. .. yet). She then stopped by when we were finishing up, and I asked for a box. I saw the empty table near us get a party of six seated, orders taken, and drinks brought as well as all the tables around us get refills, etc, brought to them before she even checked back. We had been sitting, not eating, not drinking, for at least 10 – 15 minutes. She never refilled my water (I drank my husband’s). When she finally stopped back, still without the box, and I said, «We’ve been done for a long time», all she said was «Well, you see how busy I am» as she waved her hands toward the other tables and walked away. We had been very nice, smiling patrons until that final long wait for the check. We didn’t deserve that kind of a comment. If she had even said «I’m sorry» before complaining about her busyness, I also would not be writing this review! We are not monsters, we knew it was busy — we just wanted our patient waiting to be acknowledged. Was it because we were dressed more casually than the other parties around us and had ordered inexpensive food? I had to wonder…
We smiled and were pleasant as we paid the bill and left a traditional tip, but I vowed to write a review here as I walked out. It will be a while before we visit Slippery’s again.

This place is good for a beer on the deck over looking the Mississippi. Unfortunately we were hungry and decided to eat. Food is passable. I ordered the linguine alfredo with chicken and my partner had the special burger (forgot what the name was) with Velveeta. We were hungry and didn’t know better. You have to specifically ask for lettuce tomatoes onion etc. Boo. His burger looked like it was slapped together by a cook who had their eyes shut. My linguine was very greasy.
Go somewhere else for dinner. Anywhere else.

Burgers and assorted stuff that are average at best. Never been impressed with resturant.

My Aunts brought me here since I was visiting from Texas and that I am also a lover of the movies.
Staff was friendly and outgoing and the food was great — the scenery was great.

I have been here several times because when you find yourself in Wabasha the choices are pretty limited as to where to grab a snack and a drink and just relax and sit and well — you want to do it while looking at the beautiful water… so I find myself here time and time again… but it is not for the food… it is just okay… and I don’t believe anybody in the surrounding areas make a special trip to wabasha just to eat out at slippery’s. It is certainly full of local flavor as it is all about the Grumpy old men movies down in this neck of the woods… so that is pretty dang neat… it also is a handy spot to meet up with others as everybody knows about Slippery’s and it can accomodate larger groups sufficiently… Typical boring menu of chicken sandwiches, burgers, appetizers… This bar has survived a few floods in the past years and keeps on going so I can respect that.

After reading some of the Unilocal reviews, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but one of my lunch mates had this place on their radar.
Yes, the view of the river was a delight, especially enjoyed the nice breeze on a summer afternoon. Our server was efficient and friendly.
My Bacon Blu Burger was more of a patty melt, but tasty and juicy none the less.

I can’t believe the reviews on this place. OK, we’re laid back out of towners. Maybe we’re easy to please.
But the jalapeño cream cheese poppers with raspberry sauce were to die for. They were SO good. We were actually «uuuuunngh!!» outloud in our booths.
And the view was gorgeous. And the beer was cheap and served and in a perfectly frosted mug. And our server was super sweet and timely.
Got absolutely nothing to complain about.