Tattersall Distillery - River Falls

Published on 12 February 2023 at 11:33

Tattersall Distillery opened a new location in River Falls, Wisconsin in 2022.  They took over the old Shopko building and repurposed it for their distillery and restaurant.  It's not just that, it also boasts an event center, store, tasting room and offers tours of the distillery itself.  It's actually an impressive facility.

My first experience was mixed, but only because it was so busy we had to sit at the bar to eat unless we wanted to wait for an hour.  The bartender was great and took care of us, but it didn't make for good conversation as some of our party were far enough away I couldn't talk to them.  I can see why it was busy, as the atmosphere was hip and new, the bar was large with seating and tv's all the way around and the store and tasting room make more than just somewhere to grab lunch or dinner, but more of a somewhere to explore.

The menu was pretty balanced, but I had it in my mind from the outset that I wanted the sausage and smoked mushroom brick oven pizza.   The crust was what I was looking for it to be, but the center of the pie was just barely done, so you couldn't hold a piece in your hand without the tip and the cheese falling.  Not the end of the world, but annoying.  It tasted good, but the tips of each piece were only warm when the rest of the slice was much better.  The menu had some decent appetizers, hand-helds, burgers, salads and entrees.  You should be able to find something that will interest you, including kids.

I personally thought the prices were on the high-end, especially for the beef and the apps cost as much as the sandwiches and burgers.  Of course, they try to set themselves as a highend establishment, kind of like you'd expect a distillery to do.  Distinct people drink and eat distinct things, so I get the marketing of it all, but it was a little surprising for River Falls to have Minneapolis pricing in such a small market city.

However, most people would think about the spirits, not the food when reviewing a distillery, so I'll finally get to the good stuff.  They do have a wide selection of their own products, especially noticeable in their store, where you can buy everything they make, among other things.  They had a pretty good bar menu with a variety of gins, vodka, rum, whiskey, Aquavit, and brandy drinks.  Of course, there is beer, wine and sodas available.  Our party tried a Bloody Mary made with Aquavit rather than vodka, a Cosmo and a Shoebill, which had barrel-aged rum, coffee-infused bitter orange, pineapple, hazelnut, and lime.  The Bloody received mixed reviews, but the drinker is a purist and Bloody enthusiast, so the Aquavit wasn't as much of a hit as vodka would've been.  The other drinks went over well, including the Surly coffee-bender beer.

Tattersall has an app for your phone that included a ton of drink recipes for you to try and they do have some canned drinks that might be worth a try as well.

All in all, we agreed we needed to come back to the tasting room and try a few more drinks to get a better feel for all they offer.  I walked around the facility a little after a trip to the bathroom and my overall impression is Tattersall is worth checking out.  They also have a pretty good-sized patio, which for a mid-February visit was not viable, but should be fun in the summer.  Give it a go.

 

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