COV Wayzata
The bar seats face open water, and lake views over Lake Minnetonka are the draw as much as the appetizers and cocktails coming out of the kitchen. It works as a full sit-down stop or a quick snack for boaters docking nearby. Outdoor seating fills fast in warm weather, and the room reads as one of the better looking spaces on the water in Wayzata.
What to orderCocktailsAppetizersLake views snacks Restaurant Reservations Call DirectionsFull review & visiting detailsRead the full review & visiting details
Lake Minnetonka Views Carry the Bill
The cocktail list carries the room, built for slow sipping rather than a quick turn at the bar.
Appetizers here are built for sharing before the main event, not a meal on their own.
Lake views come with a snack menu light enough to order twice while the sun sets over Wayzata Bay.
COV sits on Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, and the room is built around that fact. This is a cocktail bar first, with appetizers and lake-facing snacks positioned as the meal, not a full dinner program. The signature draw is the combination of the drink list and the outdoor seating that puts Lake Minnetonka directly in view, which is the entire case for the room. In a metro where waterfront dining options are limited to a handful of towns ringing the lake, Wayzata holds a particular position: it is the old-money anchor of Lake Minnetonka, and COV plays to that identity rather than against it. The cocktails carry the menu.
Appetizers are built to pair with drinks rather than stand as entrees, which fits the room's actual function: a place to sit outside, order a round or two, pick at snacks, and watch the water. That makes COV a pre-dinner or post-dinner stop as much as a dinner destination itself, and the upscale pricing reflects the view as much as the food. The romantic-spot framing and the outdoor seating point to couples and small groups looking for a specific kind of evening rather than a fast meal. Wayzata's dining scene runs small and seasonal, tied tightly to the lake calendar, and COV fits that rhythm: better in warm months when the patio is the whole point, less distinct in winter when the view loses its leverage. Anyone driving out from Minneapolis or St.
Louis Park should treat this as a destination built on scenery and drinks rather than a kitchen chasing ambition, and price accordingly. The appetizers earn their keep as bar food done with more care than a typical happy hour, but nobody is coming to COV for a composed dinner. The lake view is the dish.
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Wayzata, MN 55391
Go for the patio seating directly, order a round of cocktails first, and treat the appetizers as shareable extras rather than a full dinner plan. Warm-weather evenings are when the outdoor seating actually earns the upscale price tag.
