Birchwood Grill — Restaurant in Bristol

I was here for a reception recently. It looks like a cross between an old lodge restaurant and a Cracker Barrel. There is plenty of parking all around the place and turning in off the main road was a harrowing adventure as Wisconsinites think that every road is like the Autobahn.

When you walked in, there was a nice front host stand and a claw machine opposite as you walked out. It reminded me of homey type restaurants when I was a child and got to pick a crappy "treasure-toy" from the treasure chest as I left the restaurants with my parents. It was a treasured gift that I enjoyed from the main entrance to the restaurant until I got in the backseat of the car with my siblings to find that they found treasure too and their crappy toy was somehow better than my crappy toy.

Anyway, our reception room was immediately to the left of the host stand and felt private despite windows looking out upon people walking to and from the restaurant to the windows on the other wall looking into the host stand/waiting area. And where there wasn't windows for people to look into our fishbowl of fun, there was wood paneling.

Despite the 80s feel of the place, the room seemed quite sound proof and we could have our fun without hearing the rest of the chatter from the restaurant.

The meal at this occasion was their Friday Fish Fry and buffet. Now, most (and when I say most, I mean, every other buffet place except this one) buffet places have parallel lines for tables and patrons can line up on either side of the buffet and help themselves to food. Not Birchwood Grill. They said, hold my beer and made it circular. And while you may think that this is the end of the conversation, Birchwood Grill again said, "Hold my beer" and put two openings directly opposite each other in the circle so patrons can just jump in front. of one another without a care in the world. And that's exactly what happened...numerous times. And then I got to watch the frenzy as the restaurant tried to refill some of the food bins with fresh food. People didn't take to kindly to having to wait another four whole seconds to pile mounds of fried fish on their plates. They just inched closer to the people in front of them so the workers couldn't "budge" in front of them.

While it was fun having the unintentional comedic entertainment; I, too, got in line for food. The cream of chicken soup was quite tasty and not too salty. The salad bar was fresh and had a ton of options that put Zupas to shame (wait, not a Zupas, they suck and don't have a lot of options). It would put a buffet style restaurant like Golden Corral or your local grocery store's salad bar, to shame. Besides all the fried fish, they also had fried chicken, which was flaky and not heavily fried, which was totally unexpected. And there were more items than I simply couldn't get to. There simply was just too much food (alas, the sad truth of a buffet: so much food, so little stomach space).

The food and service was really good. Not a complaint to be had...though I do know that they messed up a little on the desserts and forgot coffee service altogether, but these things happen.

I just wish patrons would decide if plaid shirts are good with shorts and Teva sandals or not (I would say not, but it...

A Heartfelt Thank You to Jenny – A Server Who Truly Cares

We were in the area visiting the outlet mall and decided to give this restaurant a try based on its strong Google reviews. They offer both a buffet and a regular menu. For the number of options available on the buffet, the price is honestly unbeatable. Unfortunately, there weren’t many gluten-free choices on the buffet, so my wife, who is celiac, opted for a cheeseburger since they offer a gluten-free bun. I went ahead with the buffet myself.

My food was ready right away, but my wife had to wait a bit longer for her burger to come from the kitchen. When it finally arrived, it looked great—especially the bun, which looked almost identical to a regular brioche bun. My wife was happy, but something didn’t sit right with me. I asked the server if the bun was indeed gluten-free, and she assured us it was. Still, I had my doubts.

So I asked another server to double-check with the kitchen. This second server immediately said, “That doesn’t look like a gluten-free bun,” and went to correct the order after we explained my wife’s condition. She returned in just three minutes with a new burger, but it was clear that only the bun had been swapped, not the entire burger remade from scratch. That really upset my wife, since cross-contamination is a serious issue for someone with celiac disease.

She brought it up to another server named Jenny, who not only acknowledged the concern but also apologized sincerely. My wife was visibly upset and declined a replacement, asking instead to just cancel her order. She was sad and hangry, and when that happens, she doesn’t make a scene—she just shuts down and won’t eat.

Jenny noticed her crying and returned to our table to apologize again. She said, “I’m getting you a fresh burger. Don’t be sad.” Despite my wife saying she was fine, Jenny insisted, “I’m not letting you leave hungry. I’m getting you a burger on the house.” This time, the burger was absolutely perfect, freshly made, and safe for her to eat—and she genuinely enjoyed it.

After we finished eating, Jenny returned and told us the entire meal was on the house. I was stunned by her kindness. I insisted on at least paying for my buffet meal, and after a bit of back and forth, she agreed and only charged us for that.

Jenny truly saved the day for us. Anyone with celiac or food sensitivities knows how stressful eating out can be, and unfortunately, not everyone in the restaurant industry understands or takes it seriously—even in 2025. But people like Jenny give us hope. She went above and beyond, not just as a server but as a genuinely compassionate human being.

The food here is fresh and tasty, and as long as you're being served by someone like Jenny, you're in excellent hands. Thank you, Jenny—you made a difficult situation so...

I made a reservation for Easter brunch for 20 people for 2pm. Upon arriving we could not find parking anywhere! It was a mad house! We had to finally park in the grass where some other people were parked. We stood shoulder to shoulder with people once entering the restaurant. Again it was a mad house! We waited 30min past our reservation time to be sat. Once sat we had to stand in an insanely long line to get sub par food. There was absolutely no organization at all! Many other customers were commenting on how over crowded it was and the lack of organization as well. This was definitely not only my opinion. The restaurant DEFINITELY over booked! You could only partake in the Easter buffet with a reservation, so the restaurant certainly had control of how many reservations they took and rather than care about customers comfort level and enjoyment, they cared about profit instead. I paid over $200 for 4 people to be smashed in like sardines and honestly for the money spent the food should have been better! I won't be back for any holiday buffets again!

Editing because the response to our bad experience is basically for the management to make excuses. Reading other review this is how this establishment handles ALL holiday buffets. Pack them in, over charge, serve subpar food, oh and also add gratuity for a server you're lucky of you see maybe 3 times throughout the entire meal.i forgot that part. I had to go up to the bar for a soda refill cause our waitress disappeared.....but i don't have a say in what I tip because gratuity is added. Then when you voice your displeasure the response is basically "sorry you feel that way." 😆 I edited to take one star away for the "we don't give a crap" response. If an establishment doesn't care enough to rectify what they did wrong then it's probably best to simply not...