Elba House

We have been eating at Elba House for many years . It was a favorite place . We moved from the Elba area some years ago . Now the place is called whiskey Hill Grill. It had new owner . Same owner as Tony's across the street . The food was excellent . Menu was greatly reduced . More of a burger sandwich place except on Friday and Saturday, then a full menu . We stopped on Sunday . I would recommend it , if in the area .

We stopped across the street at Tony's and Ashley was so great to tell us that we could order food from the Alba house and they would even walk our order to us from across the street! They have great food and timely! Prices are great on the pocketbook, as well. They not only delivered our food, but she also brought us extras that we didn't even order, such as, cantaloupe, potato salad, and cottage cheese! Wow! They go the extra mile! If you're nearby, they are worth a stop in!!!

For a little over two years now (2018) there has been a new chef in Elba. He is the son of the owner, a recent graduate from an Oregon culinary school and an absolute expert chef. I've visited the Elba House many times over the past 30 years and had come to rely on a better than average meal. Now however you can expect an expertly prepared five star meal that simply can not be beat. It is every bit as good as the old Hot Fish Shop in Winona was. I took my parents there over Thanksgiving 2018, mom had scallops, dad had shrimp and I had the most beautiful piece of batter fried Walleye you can imagine. All the food came at the same time and could not have been prepared better. Everything was fresh and perfectly cooked. I remembered seeing a sign on the door saying happy hour M-F, so I took my parents there again, only to learn they're closed on Monday. Being that I needed a Walleye fix, we drove out to Orinoco's Fisherman's Inn. What a sad disappointment! Not only did it cost more, but instead of one large piece of fresh Walleye expertly cooked, they had sliced an old piece in two lengthwise and then over cooked it! Their shrimp special was an obvious attempt to get rid of their old shrimp. I almost told them to trot on down to the Elba House for cooking lessons and tips about procuring fresh fish.

They have great fish on fridays and a great small town vibe. Perk we live like two blocks away! Fast and friendly people who work here.

Yikes. We ended up here on a Sunday morning for a breakfast with a group and paid for the $10 brunch buffet. Included meal items were wet scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese melted on, non-crispy pre-cooked hash browns, sausage links and bacon, french toast sticks, wheat bread to toast yourself and a fruit platter consisting of cantaloupe, grapes and pineapple. It was pretty bad. The coffee was worse, weak, with the subtle undertone of bleach or some other source of chlorine. Our waitress was kind and obliged in filling my water bottle. She kept us full on bad coffee, too. Two stars for this sad restaurant, 1 for the minimum and one for good wait staff and because it's the only game in town. I won't be back.