Keller’s

First, the good:
The view is spectacular and the service is good. We don’t usually order food, but what we have ordered was good.
Now, the bad:
They don’t turn off their music when live bands are playing at the Lone Wolf? We sometimes like to sit on the glass and look down at the band, but the sound is horrible because the Music from Keller’s just blurs together with the music from below. If the point of having it open right there was to enjoy the music, then they make every effort to counter that.
Also, sometimes the bartenders don’t make the drinks like they are described in the menu. For example, the Bourbon Street Tea is described as being made with four different bourbons, yet when they make it they just use one (usually Maker’s Mark).
However, the worst part about Keller’s is the management or whoever runs their hours. Some weekdays they don’t keep the hours they have posted. I understand if it’s not busy that you would like to close, but don’t tell paying customers that they will have to go downstairs because the bar is closing an hour and a half early

The food is pretty much what I expected. It’s a casino. It’s not ground breaking but it’s fair. My main issue with the experience was the service. Having read previous Unilocal reviews, it seems pretty consistent in how distracted or overwhelmed they are. And it’s been like this for 2 year, then to me the problem in the management and the training (or lack thereof) of the staff.
We take a seat at a table outside overlooking the river. It took too long for them to come and wipe down the table after the previous guests. A server approaches after a while and engaged in a strange exchange that clearly was meant to establish his territory and stake his claim. We were indeed «His» table. This took far too much time and the subtext was very clearly «that’s MY tip, back off.» My question was, do the servers not cover certain zones because It did not appear that way.
Then as we asked questions or made special requests, etc, everything was met with a sort of deer in headlights level of confusion and thorough but ultimately confusing explanations. Again, this took far too much time.
Drinks arrived at a glacial rate and when another round was ordered, every single time, they did not take empty glasses with them when they want off to place the order with the bar tender. At one point when a server returned and I asked if she could take an empty glass with her, she was obliging, but in a way that made it seem like what I was asking for was unique, something that isn’t normally done. But SURE. She’ll take it, she assured me with a smile.
Food finally delivered, set on the table. «Is there anything else you need?» We did. We needed several things. 2 refills of water, some ketchup, mustard, hot sauce, a couple of small share plates and what would be most helpful — forks, spoons, knives and napkins. That deer in headlights look appeared again. Many, if not most of these things could/​should have been taken care of PRIOR to the arrival of the food.
He said he’s be right back. Passage of time montage. Food starts getting eaten. There no place to wipe one’s hands or mouth. Then the server breezes by with plates of food, cutlery and napkins for another table. He assured us he’s be right back, explaining that a lot of orders just came up. Don’t care. We just want our forks and napkins.
Moments pass and he doesn’t return. I finally get up and walk to the bar to see if I can get some my damn self. The nice waitress inside said she would bring us some. (I’ve heard that before) but surprisingly she did. And everything else we asked for.
Then the waiter returned and again explained that a bunch of food just came up and needed to be taken out. Sorry. Still don’t care. If this guy is overwhelmed with so many tables then either they need more people staffed or they need stronger staff who can handle multiple tables.
Upon the delivery of our check and then the delivery of the credit card receipt also came accompanied by MORE explanations about how a bunch of orders came up and had to be taken to tables. As if to try and get us on his side, he invited us to look around and pointed out that it’s been like this all week, or at least since Thursday (this was a Saturday). Just so we are all clear, it was not crowded. Each table was taken but there was not a crush of people.
A good waiter is attentive but stealth. This experience was the opposite of that.

I am a bit puzzled by the prior reviews of Keller’s. I have visited this establishment multiple times since it opened and have always found the appetizers and drinks delicious. The views of the Mississippi are also quite nice. Be sure to sit fireside and enjoy nice views of the bridge. I recommend Keller’s if you are in the area.

I decided to try a cocktail from the bar… big disappointment… stick with wine or beer :)

Fantastic view of the river. Excellent place to have some drinks and overlook the Mississippi. Just don’t order anything to eat. I ordered the shrimp and Cajon nachos. This is a «fancy» place. Given the fact that its on the fancy side, you’d think they would use real cheese, but no. Expect gas station nacho cheese on top of chips. Waitress told me it was the best thing on the menu. Major disappointment.

I gave Keller’s at Isle Casino, the only ‘rooftop’ bar/​restaurant with sweeping views of the Mississippi River in Cape G a second chance because I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather.
We started with drinks on the patio. The stylish, modern outside décor was reminiscent of my years in Phoenix, AZ where I was spoiled with plenty of al fresco restaurants with spectacular views. Comfy, lounging chairs with gas fireplaces in the middle of the tables to keep you toasty while you sip on drinks and dine on small plates. At this point, I was a happy camper.
We sat and waited for over 15 minutes for our server to come and take our drink orders. Finally, she came over and removed the drinks and food from the previous patrons and gave us a half apology for making us wait and took our drink orders. I was slightly disgusted that the table was not wiped. Meanwhile, the ladies across from us explained to the server that they had been waiting for a long time and still no cocktails or food. We waited another 15 minutes for her to come over with two Bud Lights. She didn’t have the wine I ordered. We waited another 10 minutes, still no wine. We decided to move inside since it was getting cold and windy.
Alas, after waiting a total of 40 mins, my wine arrived! My husband ordered a second bottled beer and we waited 20 mins for it to come, we saw it sitting on the bar so we just went and grabbed it ourselves.
We liked the chips with beef cheese and the smoked shrimp cocktail was mediocre. It was very nice that they upgraded the size of their teeny weenie martinis to an actual martini sized cocktail from our last visit four months ago. I thought the cocktails were overpriced before, but now that it is normal sized, the prices are reasonable.
When I visited Keller’s four months ago when the casino first opened, I was forgiving about the spotty, slow service namely because of the ambiance and view, AND because we had a server who was cordial, attentive, and genuinely apologetic about the long wait time. Our server on the second visit lacked enthusiasm and overall, customer service skills. I understand being understaffed and a server being swamped, but it is how a server handles it that counts. Unfortunately, she did not handle it well.
We tried to give Farraday’s, the fine dining restaurant downstairs, a chance. We arrived and no one was at the host/​hostess booth at the entrance. We waited for almost ten minutes. No one came and so we left and went to Celebrations restaurant where we knew we would be given the fine dining experience from beginning to end.