Dock & Paddle in Como Lakeside Pavilion

Looking here to get some lunch, but sadly, lunch didn’t start until 11 A.M. The Manager was working and he was a very nice guy. They are planning on being open weekends during the winter season and the menu was really cool. I’m excited to come back here.

We stopped for dinner at the Spring Cafe prior to enjoying a fabulous and free Kenwood Symphony concert. Great summertime music was enjoyed by a fairly large crowd. The food was good and flavorful, with spice, depending on your menu choice. There weren't a lot of items to choose from, but everyone in my group seemed to really enjoy the hummus. They serve alcoholic drinks, beer and wine as well. The interior needs updating, but the view of the waterfalls across the street is always nice to look at.

A quaint Cafe and Bar right in the heart of Como park. The menu is small but focused on fresh, high quality offerings with lots of health-conscious options. The tap list and spirit selection is impressive, as are the seating options. There is a huge outdoor patio overlooking the lake perfect for warmer weather, or two floors of indoor seating. A large meeting space makes up the third floor. Service is friendly but not particularly fast, so give yourself time to relax and enjoy a meal or drink.

View was fantastic, go when it's nice outside. Food was just fine, touch more expensive that it should be though. $18 for a few small pieces of fish with a handful of fries is a bit much. The fish were well fried and the tartar sauce was nice, but the fries were below what is make myself from frozen at home. Will definitely go back again after

Service was exceptionally friendly and nice! Outstanding ambience! Went on a late Sunday morning and vibes were immaculate.✨Low and slow music, lots of sunshine streaming through and a lakeside view. The menu is great! I got the nachos, beef slider and a coffee. All exceeded expectations and my experience here amounted to a super start to the day. I recommend stopping here if you’re on a walk in the area. You won’t be disappointed!

DO NOT GO HERE!! This is a ripoff restaurant with horrible food. I paid $9 for a kid's meal that consisted of seven French fries and a slider for a hamburger. The patty was maybe one ounce and dried out. It was served on a dinner roll. My kids refused to eat their meals. And the fish and chips was inedible. Save yourself money and just bring your own food if you are going to listen to music. The restaurant will ruin your experience. To top it off, the bathrooms were in accessible. So we spent over $50 on dinner and couldn't even use a restroom. It honestly ruined our night.

I should start by saying that I would really love to see the Spring Cafe succeed where so many other attempts have fallen flat. The Como Lake Pavilion is a beautiful location, and it would really be a boon for St Paul to have a consistent, quality lakeside restaurant for casual dining on nice summer/early fall days. My visit to Spring Cafe occurred on one such occasion; it was a moderate, late-summer afternoon and the family was trying to think of a nice restaurant with outdoor seating to enjoy the weather for a meal. After some discussion, we decided to give Spring Cafe a try. The restaurant itself is welcoming and well-kept. The design hasn't changed much, with a bar-centric layout and ample seating, with full downstairs and upstairs seating areas. Staff were friendly, and the menu was fairly straightforward. I ordered the fish tacos, while the rest of my family decided on the BBQ pork sandwich. We chose a seat in the pavilion; the availability of seating in the pavilion is definitely the biggest strength of the restaurant, with lovely views of the lake and warm breezes bringing a natural, open air to the experience. The food was served in a reasonable amount of time, delivered to our table by a server. Presentation was simple, but that is to be expected and almost preferable. The portions were a bit small, given the price, with no sides for the entree and a somewhat meager portion of chips for the sandwich orders. The tacos were flavorful and well-prepared, but the corn shells were saturated from the contents and fell apart quickly (as is common with such dishes, to be fair). I would come here again, though mostly for the location and not particularly for the food itself. I think that this is both the curse and the blessing of the pavilion; there is a natural pull for the setting, but it is relatively distant from any other nearby attraction. To attract visitors as a standalone restaurant and build any sort of brand awareness/loyalty, there needs to be something that sets it apart (price, quality, uniqueness, etc...) and that is currently something that I don't quite see.

Not sure what the people that give the place low food ratings are expecting - it's a Lancer Group facility, so it's a food service level food with captive audience pricing place. So in that regard, it's decent food. Fish tacos are good, as is the barbecue jackfruit sandwich. The vibe is very relaxed if there isn't an event going on and grabbing a seat in the pavilion is easy. To be honest, you're coming for the views and the space, not the food. So grab a couple tacos to split with someone, grab a seat out on the pavilion and just enjoy the views and the breeze.