Northfork Fin & Filet — Restaurant in Town of Arbor Vitae

The only reason I am giving this restaurant 1 star is because the decor is beautiful. It gives the feeling of finer dining mixed with some great woodsy elements. Unfortunately, the experience and food did not even come close to matching the quality of the decor. Starting with food, the mushroom appetizer sounds delicious but unfortunately was overtaken by cheese, 1 out of 4 of our filets were cooked incorrectly, the strawberry/asparagus side was not $7 worth, and the Oscar steak add on didn't have any flavor.

The most trouble came with ordering a drink. I am from out of town but have worked in the hospitality industry as a server/bartender for over 15 years and have drank old fashioned drinks all over the country. Old fashioned drinks consist of simple syrup, bitters, and whiskey topped with orange and cherry garnish. So, I ordered a blood orange old fashioned I thought it would still be mostly whiskey with blood orange flavors. But when I took a sip it tasted like straight juice and other people at the table agreed. The reason I order old fashioned drinks is because they aren't sweet. I told the waitress that it wasn't something I could drink (especially with some type of soda mixed in and I can't drink carbonation) and she offered no apology or solution. Which also unfortunately seemed to fall in line with how we percieced her attitude and tone from the beginning of the meal- somewhat snotty and a little judgemental covered by a fake smile. She said to let her know if there was something she could do to make the drink more "up to MY standards".

I decided to approach the bartender and ask about the drink and try to find a solution or compromise and was met with more attitude and was treated as if I was out of line. She proceeded to try to convince me that "in the Northwoods", this is how old fashioned drinks are made. Well, if that is true (which I highly doubt) then state on your menu how drastically DIFFERENT they are from actual old fashioned. I sent the drink back after 1 sip and it still ended up on the bill. I know the customer isn't always right but I was very nice and happy to find a solution and was met with judgy-ness and cold service.

Would not recommend going here- especially if your an out-of-towner. So many other great places to spend your money.

Don't...

Buckle. Up.

We had a reservation at 8pm. We were seated at 8:15 after being told it would be 5 minutes. No biggie. We sat at our table without a server for about 15 minutes, but they were busy. We placed our order for both appetizers and entrees at the same time. We wanted an hour for our appetizers with out being updated by our server, finally we approached the hostess ( because we could not find the waitress) who was drinking at the bar. Our appetizer came out and was delicious! We waited another 40 minutes for dinners. When they came they were great!

Our server told us she would comp our appetizers and order us a dessert because the cause of our wait was a “glitch” in the ordering system.

As the night went on we noticed several other tables were suffering the effects of this glitch as well.

At about 10:30 a table next to us asked to speak with a manager about the situation because they had been waiting for an hour and a half for entrees. Our server left that table to get the manager. When she returned she said that the manager was busy and couldn’t come speak with them but had said that they would receive 50% off their ticket. Victims of “the glitch“ .

We asked for our check, we paid, and as we walked through the parking lot we realized that we were charged for both our appetizers AND THE DESSERT WE DID NOT ORDER OR WANT.

My husband went back in to have this fixed and could not find a manager. A server said that there was nothing she could do about that and said that our server didn’t have the authority to comp anything.

We felt like the ordering glitch was a fictional scape goat used to diffuse tense situations with costumers (who can typically be a little impatient) when things get backed up. It seems like if there really was a frequent glitch you might just go back to writing down orders for a night, or start double checking that they went through. But what do I know?

We are happy to support local businesses while we are in town. We genuinely enjoy being out and about, even when it is the busiest time of year. We know that this time puts a lot of strain on locals , and we are happy to wait for good food and good drinks.

We will be happy to visit fin and filet again when there is a sign outside that says “we...

My girlfriend & I arrived after 8 with no reservation! It was packed but fortunately we were able to obtain a couple of stools at the bar! A bartender came over & I orders a Moscow mule to which she said we have many fruit flavored ones to I asked what she recommended to which we play the strawberry rhubarb Moscow mule! OK and she gave it to me. I took one sip and it was not to my liking at all then I just let it sit as all 3 bartenders were busy. We ordered the seafood stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer and they were delicious! Then another bartender came and I told her I did not like that first drink and could I by just a regular Moscow mule, She said I am sorry and then proceeded to give me my regular Moscow Mule!. We then ordered dinner my girlfriend had a 6 oz steak fillet can I get seafood over mashed potatoes both meals were very good! We then received a bill and much to my dismay head to me for the first drink that I did not like nor did I drink it! With a question bartender told me I ordered it so then I had to pay for it but and I said but I didn’t drink it and I didn’t like it and I attempted to send it back but you were all busy! To which she replied oh but most restaurants to do we played you are incorrect about that. Then my girlfriend had had 2 Wines supposedly same kind but the 2nd one was five dollars more than the first! After much discussion and disagreement they finally took five dollars off for their mistake of the 🍷 but left cost of the drink that I had not wanted! The food was very good and service was OK But I thought the food was over priced and was upset over being charged a drink never drank! Do not think go back for...