Landmark Restaurant At Old Rittenhouse Inn — Restaurant in Bayfield

Zero stars.

Let’s start from the moment we walked into the restaurant, the atmosphere was extremely uncomfortable. The place was oddly quiet and it seemed like no one was enjoying themselves. So many couples weren’t talking to each other or even smiling. Our server was very sweet though. She was very attentive and kind. Probably the only good thing about our dinner that night.

We ordered their specialty cocktails, the bourbon one was great, however the other one tasted like a cheap drink I’ve had in college. Our French onion soup was extremely salty, nearly ruining the flavor. My prime rib was the worst steak I’ve ever had. I ordered it medium and it came to me only with a hint of pink. There was no flavor to it AT ALL and the entire thing was difficult to chew. I ate what I could because I was hungry. I can’t believe they’d serve that for that price. The chef has to know that this was not a quality piece of meat.

My husband’s NY strip was decent though. Thankfully he shared a few bites of that with me.

The worst part… we wanted to have some Riesling with our dinner. The server opened it all fancy and such, only to take a sip and realize this was nothing like the Riesling were normally enjoy. It was tart and sour. It wasn’t very sweet like we’d expected with a Riesling at all. We googled the cost of this bottle and realized it could be purchased for $7.97! The restaurant charged us $38 for this!!!!

Needless to say, we didn’t finish our meal, our cocktails or the full bottle of wine we were forced to purchase because just a glass wasn’t an option. We decided that since everything we ordered was a disappointment, we’d pass on dessert which is usually our favorite part of going out to eat.

One and...

We've been to the Rittenhouse Inn for many years, it's been part of our annual trip to Madeline Island and I've recommended them to many friends. I was surprised when my friend, who was in Bayfield last month, said she was very disappointed with the meal. After last night, I am no longer surprised. First, the menu is far less complex than in years past; I was disappointed in the lack of creativity and range (again, compared to past years). Both of us "settled" for the surf and turf. While we waited, we were entertained by a fellow diner giving detailed feedback to the server about everthing wrong with his meal (he wasn't mean or rude at all-in fact, he would always preface his remarks by first stating how good it tasted-and then offering 5 minutes of very specific critique). Our server then told us that the kitchen was behind (there were maybe 10 couples in the entire space), later she relayed to us that the chef was concerned that our steaks were not done enough (even though we specifically stated we prefered them under-cooked) and so he was "cooking them further" under the heat lamps. Not sure what that accomplished for the ribeye, but it completely destroyed the shrimp, asparagus, mashed potatoes and the light cream dipping sauce. While the staff is wonderful and the location ideal, I think there's a serious issue in the kitchen that needs to...

Don't eat here. We tried out this restaurant as my ONE fancy meal for my 30th birthday vacation getaway. The pictures looked amazing so I was excited. I have travelled around the world and this is the worst steak I have ever had. My meal of surf and turf was around $45 so I was expecting quality. Both of our steaks were CHARD, like burnt to a crisp. It was gross. My boyfriends was supposed to be well done- it was burnt on the outside and red in the middle. I was also not sure if we were eating boxed mashed potato's or not.. For that price it was a major disappointment. I figured because of COVID and people not being able to find works, the cook is probably inexperienced but I still don't find this as an excuse for that price- the owner should really consider ways to fix this. The atmosphere was beautiful and the serve was great. As a foodie tho, I would not go here again. I don't like to be "that person" but as the one fancy meal we had on our 4 day vacation for my birthday I had to. I mentioned this to the server and she gave us $20 off. Still, we paid around $100 and nothing was worth it except my boyfriends bourbon cocktail. I would...