Becket’s is located downtown Oshkosh in the City Center overlooking the Fox River. This location offers customers easy access either by boat or car.  Not many restaurants can say that!  For this dinner out, we were celebrating my wife’s birthday and wanted to try something new.   This review is from a one time only visit.

Atmosphere: When you drive into the parking lot of Becket’s,  nothing  spectacular catches your eye.  Becket’s is nothing more than a small corner of a  large concrete building.  At this point I was not too excited, I snapped a few photos and we made our way to the front door.  As we stepped into the front of the restaurant we both looked at each other and said WOW, this is really nice. It looks modern, casual and a bit hip.  A nice wooden bar with glass shelves on the wall to hold a large selection of spirits, I always thought glass shelves add a unique touch.  In the middle of the bar area is a gas fireplace with what looks like crushed colored glass topped with a stainless steel hood. I really wanted to see this when it was lit,  but we were not so lucky.  As you walked down past the bar there is a contemporary room with a large glass wall overlooking the outdoor seating area and river, every table has a great view.  Teak  booths line the other side of the hallway so you get a little height above the tables on the floor.  The layout of the dining area is very conducive to enjoy the waterfront view.    The ceiling is open so you can see all the large black painted duct work, this really adds to the atmosphere.  We noticed all the references to architecture like a drafting board for a hostess table and random types of art work on the walls.  At this point we were really enjoying our visit.

Food: Before we planned our trip to Becket’s the friend that we were dining with us warned us that she had a bad lunch there a few weeks ago.  Since the atmosphere was so great we blew that off and continued looking at the menu.  My wife had gotten another tip from a friend who lives in Oshkosh who said that the burgers and appetizers are good, but that anything from the dinner menu is completely hit or miss.  Keeping that in mind, the 4 of us each ordered different meals as well as two appetizers so that we could get a good feel for what Becket’s has to offer.   The menu has a good assortment of food but nothing really grabs your attention.  The menu said all entrees were served with a side and a starch,  but  I was unable to locate those choices on the menu.  Salads are an additional nominal charge.  We started our meal with an appetizer, shrimp & crab quesadilla and artichoke & spinach dip.  Both were delivered in a timely fashion and were good.

Then we waited for what seemed like an eternity to place our dinner order.  Not sure if the waitress forgot about us, but when she came back to check to see if we were enjoying our appetizers, we had to ask if we could place our order.  Just a little odd.  When it was entree time , I ordered the mahi-mahi en papiotte and my wife ordered the five cheese lasagna. The friends we were with ordered the lemon chive tilapia and slow roasted ribs. When our food was delivered everything looked great, it was when we started eating that everything went down hill rather rapidly.  My fish was baked and delivered in a paper bag, an interesting presentation, the problem was that there was little to no taste. Luckily I had french fries, asparagus and plenty of wine left for dinner:)  My wife enjoyed her lasagna but said it was nothing more than a prego lasagna that one could purchase in the freezer section as any local Walmart.

Our friends tilapia was the topic of conversation. Although it looked good we could not place what the strange taste was. Was it the seasoning in the breading or a problem with the fish?  We all took a bite and came to the same conclusion, not edible. It tasted as if it was stored in a refrigerator that badly needed to be cleaned.  We mentioned the issue to the waitress who was very nice about asking if we wanted another piece of tilapia or a different entree.  The fourth dish, the ribs were ok.  The ribs had a nice flavor and were very tender but were so fatty that you had to work through every bite to strip out the tendons and fat. They eventually became to much work and he left half of the rack on his plate.

After being thoroughly disappointed with dinner, we saw a glimmer of hope in dessert.  We ordered the key lime pie, which the waitress informed us would be served parfait style.  Again, huge disappointment unless you happen to enjoy key lime instant pudding served over a smashed graham cracker.  Not the dinner we were hoping for on my wife’s 35th, but we can’t say we were not warned.

Conclusion: Because of the great bar atmosphere and the fact that you can sit outside along the river I would definitely go back with friends for happy hour, but I cant imagine us going back for dinner again.  After talking with friends about our bad dining experience we quickly learned that many people have been disappointed in the service and food at Becket’s.  This was so disappointing because the atmosphere was exactly what we like.

Becket’s Restaurant:
address - Jackson and the fox
1 city center, Oshkosh, WI 54901
Phone - 920-233-3333
Fax - 920-233-3334
Web Site - becketsrestaurant.com
Email - welton@becketsrestaurant.com
Menu - pdf
Google Map

Brian $0-$8, $16-$22, Casual