Ox Yoke Inn — Restaurant in Independence

This place is heart-warming. I had been wanting to check it out for some time as I pass through this area a lot. It is situated in a rural stretch of road in Maple Plain/Independence near the Luce Line walking trail, giving it an almost isolated and greater Minnesota country feel. That carries into the atmosphere of the place when you walk in. I agree with other reviews that it feels almost like a throwback to earlier simpler times. It may seem to some like a diner or a dive bar, but everyone there was relaxed and enjoying themselves. The menu is impressive. You would not expect so much variety. You can get basic all-American foods like burgers, or you can try pretty rare things like frog legs, or they also serve prime rib. The range is wide, which is surprising to consider how they are both capable and supplied to do that. Prices are quite reasonable, too. Meals go from as low as $8 up to $30. In short, we were not feeling too adventurous, so we simply had a Northwoods Burger, a Ceasar Salad, and shared a slice of warmed Pecan Pie. We would get it all again. A shout out to our waitress, Leslie, who was a sweetheart and did all the right things for us. If you're looking for a place to just unwind, have a couple of drinks, enjoy some comfort food and the company of others, then you need to...

Was very excited to stop in after hearing about this place for 15 years. Should have done some more research and found somewhere else to go.

First, our server (who was also bartending) was very sweet and attentive and checked up with us throughout our meal.

Speaking of the meal, if you are a fan of Sysco Food, you will love this place, take a look at the appetizer menu (which is extensive) and ask them if any of it is made fresh, or if all comes in frozen. Most of everything we ordered tasted like it came directly off of the truck. My wife's fried chicken dinner was good. My ribs on the Favorite Platter were good as well.

The Au Gratin potatoes were just breakfast potatoes smothered in Nacho Cheese sauce. My chicken tenders were chewy and rubbery. The chili was passable. My wife hated the Reuben Ball appetizer but I didn't mind them.

Again great service but the pricing for all of this was high as well. Oh yeah, they have...

My husband and I frequent the Ox Yoke Inn regularily. The burgers, drummies, steak sandwich, steaks, ribs, chicken, shrimp are fabulous. I have been in the food service industry for 45 years. I learned at a young age how to prepare steaks/prime rib, rare, med.rare, med.well, well. Chefs all over the world say med.rare is warm all the way through and pink in the middle. This is not the case at the Ox Yoke - prime rib prepared med. rare is warm on the outside, cold on the inside and pink. The server argued the point, went into the kitchen to share my complaint (the staff came out looking at us) and then proceeded to discuss it with the other server (who looked directly at us). I refused to send this back to the kitchen to get warmed up since the point was argued, I wasn't sure how it would return. Jessica was the young server amd it was just to sad to be treated with such disrespect and attitude. We...