Serum's Good Time Emporium - Anoka

Our waitress, Kate, was like a superhero, truly! It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and she was managing the entire patio, which had around 15-20 tables. I'm not going to comment on whether she should have been responsible for that many tables, but it’s important to the story. My wife and I watched as she handled everything flawlessly, and my wife remarked that Kate was literally running around. This made me realize just how sedentary my own job is, and it’s disheartening that she has to physically sprint to keep up with her workload, especially considering how rude and impatient people have been over the past few years. But the main point is that she was fantastic—she deserves a cape for her efforts! By the way, the food was a solid 10/10, making for a wonderful day overall.

We really appreciated our waitress; she was fantastic and a great asset to the staff. However, that's where the positives ended. Our food took about 45 minutes to arrive. When it finally did, my club sandwich was completely cold and made with whole wheat bread instead of the advertised Texas toast. The bacon was soggy and undercooked, the mayo was almost nonexistent, and the coleslaw had an unidentifiable chemical flavor that made it seem unsafe to eat. I had to send my meal back and order something else. My next dish came with onion rings that had a strange refrigerator taste, and the ham sandwich was far from appealing—it desperately needed mustard, which was nowhere to be found. Overall, I hardly got a meal. The fried mushrooms we ordered as an appetizer were delicious, as were our drinks. Unfortunately, we’ll be avoiding this place for a while. Hopefully, they can improve their kitchen staff because the cooks really missed the mark this time.

When we seated ourselves, it took quite a while for our female server to acknowledge us. We chose a booth right by the door, and she passed by multiple times, serving her other tables instead. She even took orders from guests who arrived after us, and although she promised to return, she never did. We ended up watching her interact with other customers while we were ignored. Eventually, we decided to move upstairs, where it still took a while to be greeted. Fortunately, Brent eventually came by and provided decent service—typical for a bar environment. However, the food itself was underwhelming and felt like mediocre bar fare, far from the hype I had heard. The wings were dry, lacking any real heat, and the house-made bleu cheese was just as disappointing as our initial server. The extra crispy flats turned out to be soggy rather than crispy. I'd rate each dish two stars, and that feels generous. Our homemade wings are far superior to what we had at Serums. Overall, my experience was disappointing, and I can’t recommend it.

Clean dining area and bathrooms. Although busy, we were greeted right away, got drinks right away as well as our order taken and food arrived hot and promptly and all 4 orders at the same time. We were checked up on shortly after. Drinks refilled. Plates taken, check arrived and payment was taken. Wait staff were courteous and friendly. Delicious food and good portion sizes. Prices anyone can afford, appetizer dish with a side of fries filled me up. Lots of Midwestern specialty plates.

Owned by just the greatest Anoka couple you can find. Gary and Lori Serum, If you want the best wings north of the metro and a fun place to have a cold beverage and hangout, don't miss out out stopping by this hidden gem. You will have to most likely park in the parking ramp so expect that but it's a 1 min walk to get inside. Also they have a fun patio during our Minnesota season. See u there.