Rhinelander Pub — Restaurant in Rhinelander

My daughter and I went on Saturday especially because she wanted prime rib. Reservation was at 5:00. They weren’t busy at all. Stood for several minutes at the hostess stand before we were greeted. Then it was just to have someone say someone else would be with us soon. We were finally seated. Waitress eventually came so take our drink order. Out of tea (what kind of restaurant is out of tea at 5:30 on a Saturday?). Got a Diet Coke instead. Came in a cracked glass. Asked waitress for another glass. Had to remind her twice that I still needed my drink.. Prime rib was tough, dry (ordered medium rare so should have been very juicy), lacked flavor other than overly salty and much fattier than normal (yes, I know it’s a fatty cut, but this was a ridiculous amount of fat). The waitress wasn’t sure if it came with horseradish sauce. Daughter asked for extra butter, sour cream & cheese on her potato; she only got a little butter. Took several minutes to flag down server to ask for more and several more minutes to actually get the butter. By then the potato was barely warm. Side salad was a bit wilted and uninspired. I had the Sea Bass. Thin, dry, bland, filet was served skin side up (I’ve not had it served that way before), with lots of artichokes, etc. My guess is that was to make the meal appear more substantial than it actually was. A sauce might have helped it a little. The risotto was so salty it was inedible. I ate a few bites and pushed the plate to the side. Server never asked if everything was OK with my food,, even seeing 3/4 of the food was left there. It wasn’t worth ordering something else. Too many disappointments already. My French Onion soup was average. Never did get served bread. We ordered a Lemon Berry Cake for dessert. Waitress brought a slice of something yellow but there were no berries. When we questioned her she looked like a deer caught in headlights. She stood there for a few seconds then took the plate and said she would check on it. Came back with a slice of cake that matched the menu description but it was frozen!!! Crumbly, frozen cake. Yuck! Got our check. We were charged for my daughters side salad ($5.00) even though the menu said was included with the meal. Questioned our server about the charge. She said it didn’t come with her meal because if it did she wouldn’t have had to enter it separately. By this time it wasn’t worth $5.00 to prove her wrong (we did double check the menu on our way out and it’s quite clear that the Saturday Prime Rib special comes with 2 side choices and a side salad is listed as a choice). Paid our check and will remember this as one of the most disappointing experiences we’ve had at a restaurant in a very, very long time. I don’t know how or why this place...

We've been coming to this restaurant for years now and it never disappoints! Many of the waitstaff have been there for years and the food is outstanding! It has the Northwoods vibe going with a great selection of beers for those who like beer and a tremendous menu of sandwiches and entrees. One very nice surprise we found yesterday was the addition of a salad bar, which had disappeared during the pandemic. But it is back and kept fresh and well stocked! All of the salad dressings are home made and delicious! Everything you would expect from a great Wisconsin restaurant was there and you really could make a great meal with just the salad bar if all of the other food was just not so darned good! We had the Pub Special sandwich and the fried Haddock - NOT Cod - which was done perfectly! The beer batter was light and fluffy and not at all greasy or overwhelming. It let the true flavor and texture of the haddock come through which was absolutely delicious! The Pub Special, which has always been one of our favorite items on the menu was, as usual, outstanding in every respect! Great flavor, great combination of shaved beef, onions, mozzarella cheese, and mushrooms. Just outstanding with the au jus provided that brings it all together. The thing that this restaurant does SO well, besides the terrific waitresses who make it a total Wisconsin experience with their humor and good nature, is that pay strict attention to some of the little details that separate a good restaurant from a GREAT restaurant. They heat the dinner rolls, which, to me takes some effort to get right, but they get it completely right with the crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside! Perfect! Also, another little touch that is wonderful is that, with a baked potato, they provide a sour cream sauce that has chives infused into it! Makes the final product exquisite in flavor and texture! Your glass is never empty and the waitresses are totally wonderful! If you are in Rhinelander or anywhere near, this is one of the best Northwoods restaurants in the area and shouldn't be missed if you are looking for a pure Wisconsin...

Fine dining prices without the fine dining experience. Enter in the back door and had to walk through the dining room to get to the host stand. One couple was already waiting for someone to come and seat them. Acted annoyed when they asked to sit at the bar before ordering. Had to wait several minutes for a table to be cleaned so we could sit. (With reservations). Valentine's Day, full dining room, 3 wait staff. Got there at 7:30. Was almost 8 before our order was taken. Did not offer specials or recommendations. Now I have lived in Rhinelander for 17 years and this is maybe the fourth time I visited the pub. Every time before I have gotten the blooming onion. Oh we got rid of that a couple of years ago. We mentioned seeing it on the web and the waiter basically made excuses for the owners to not update or be able to take down the previous owners web presence for lack of a better term. They didn't want to pay the extra fees is what it came down to. I'm sorry but if you charge $50 a head give or take you can afford whatever charges they give you for a website. The menu had three pages for drinks, and 3 pages for food. We ordered the Ribeye combo special. For $58 we were supposed to get a ribeye of course, two bacon wrapped scallops and four butterflied shrimp. We also ordered the stuffed mushrooms. Got salads first, after at least 10 minutes. Another 15 to 20 minutes later we got our stuffed mushrooms. Four good sized mushrooms, crispy on top, chewy bottom. Flavor was okay. Finally around 8:45, we finally got our entrees. Plate was crowded with baked potato, four "butterflyied" shrimp, piled on each other, shells attached. 3 scallops, no bacon. The outside of the ribeye was so dark you couldn't tell if it was a ribeye or a strip. Was cooked medium, but was very tough and the cheap steak knives could barely cut it. Waiter checked on us one time after serving our food. The crafted drinks were good. 1919 root beer with funny names but tasted good. The waiter did make note of how it was "nice to be busy for a change." We will not...