Kimball Inn — Restaurant in Town of Kimball

We were on our way home from a week of camping on Madeline Island, looking for a casual place (being a bit grubby from camping) with good food and decided to stop at the Kimball Inn based on the Google reviews. We were not disappointed! It was 6:30 on a Friday night and the parking lot was full, but we were seated almost immediately. The service was friendly and prompt. The atmosphere was very Northwoods and there seemed to be lots of regular customers enjoying themselves: older couples, parties, families and bar patrons. The dining area, bar and restrooms appeared clean and well-maintained. A bus-person kept tables cleared and water glasses filled.

We started with an appetizer of steamed mussels, which arrived perfectly cooked in a flavorful butter and wine sauce. For entrees, I had a "Pick Two" option and chose the house sirloin and broiled Alaskan Cod; my husband had the ribeye; our teen daughter had the large sirloin and the youngest had the 1/2 pound burger. We all had house salads, which were a mix of leafy greens with carrots, cucumber, tomato, red onion, radish and delicious dressings. The ranch and blue cheese dressings were excellent.

The meats and fish were all well-seasoned and cooked as ordered. The steaks came with onion rings and the add-on mushrooms were freshly cooked and well-seasoned, as well. We eat low carb, so three of us got the vegetable, which was a large side dish of fresh, steamed and seasoned broccoli. I requested cheese or a cheese sauce on mine and it came with a heaping pour of what appeared to be the gooey, tasty cheese sauce for their Spaetzel & Cheese. The burger was ordered with just American cheese, which was white cheese (indicating it wasn't cheap, processed cheese) and it came on what looked to be a chewy, homemade roll, with lettuce, onion, tomato and pickles on the side; and with a large pile of skin-on French fries.

The portion sizes were quite generous. Two of us were, sadly, unable to finish our entrees! The total for 1 beer, 1 cocktail, 2 sodas, an appetizer, 4 salads, 4 entrees and special requests was $107, plus we left a 20% tip.

We don't know if we will ever get back up that way again anytime soon, but if you're in the area and hungry for great food in a welcoming, casual atmosphere, we definitely recommend the...

When we pulled up they weren't open yet and there was a line. We got in line and waited for 15 minutes until opening time. We were eaten alive by mosquitoes. The door opened and we were part of the first 20 people in the door. We were in line waiting to be seated. We were next to be seated when we saw the bar was open. We knew we were ordering take-out so instead of taking up table space we went and sat at the bar and waited for menus to order. The server walked over to serve the couple that was sitting at the bar next to us. She told him that we were there first. We told him we were just ordering take-out and he brought us over some menus. Eventually he comes back to take our order when the bartender speaks up and says "there will be no take-out tonight. All it does is clog up our kitchen with orders and takes away from the people who actually came here to eat." I explained to her that we had never eaten there before and we didn't know that. At this point there are 0 tables available and an hour long wait for 1. We gathered our things and left. The website is messy. I saw nothing that said there was no take-out. We drove 30 minutes, were eaten by mosquitoes for 15 minutes. We waited patiently along with everyone else. They could have at least been FRIENDLY when they turned us away. Delivering a disappointing message in a rude tone isn't going to produce happy...

We had a pretty unfortunate experience at this restaurant while briefly visiting town.

• Aggregious Wait Time: The party of over 12 ahead of us was promised a 30-minute wait. We were given no wait time, but I guess 30 minutes? We weren't seated for an hour due to some sort of mix-up. This meant we arrived at 6:30 and weren't seated until 7:30. • Late seating causing low inventory: I was kind of a wreck that I wouldn't be able to get Prime rib, but I came in right under the wire and got the last one. Crisis averted. • More waiting: While my salad came almost immediately, we waited quite a long time for my husband's wings (an appetizer), my glass of wine (I had to ask for it a second time), and watched two tables seated after us get their main entrees before we did. • Unprofessional atmosphere and management: To top it all off, as the restaurant closed around us (again, we arrived at 630), one employee (manager? Owner?) sat down with some family also in the bar area, and they all loudly and raucously carried on for somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes.

Bad luck for us tonight at Kimball Inn, it seems. If you're not a local, you'll feel that. It had "opening weekend" vibes and corresponding sloppiness, not what you'd expect from an established restaurant. As you can imagine, all of this...