Riverstone, Eagle River WI

For my parent's anniversary this week we went to dinner at Riverstone in Eagle River.

Riverstone Website

Riverstone is what I would consider one of the higher class restaurants in the area. It has a very advanced menu in my opinion. I LOVE this restaurant, and we have eaten here a few times, but generally as a "special occasion". It is a bit pricey, but worth it if you are looking for something really great.

They have a great appetiser menu, and we had what might be considered lame mozzerella sticks, but they were not like any you've ever had around here. They were hand breaded perfectly and the cheese just melted in your mouth. We also got a new item on their menu which was a ginger chicken wrap with sticky rice. Very yummy. And not something you see in this area. In the past I have had their french onion soup which is DIVINE.

We also had salads - I desperately wanted to get this 12.00 salad they have...It is their "Reserve" salad - who has ever heard of a reserve salad? It sound very good though, but it was big, and nobody would split it with me, so instead I got the butter blue salad. Absolutely great with a terrific dressing and blue cheese crumbles, walnuts and great butter? lettuce.

For an entree I got the pork tenderloin with butternut squash ravioli. WOW!!!! Next time I will just get the ravioli only as an entree - they do have that option. This is NOT the ravioli with the blue cheese sauce - I had that once and although I enjoyed it, the flavor of the blue cheese was too much for me. But this is a different sauce and to-die-for. The pork was good too! Kevin got the strip steak, which he said was good, but I dont think it was "amazing". My mother got the flat iron steak, which she said was absolutely wonderful. My dad got the shrimp which he also loved.

Although we were stuffed, we also shared a tiramisu dessert. It was PERFECT! I could eat a ton of this stuff, thank goodness we were so full!

Definately go here if you are looking for a special dinner out - expect to pay a little more, but it is totally worth it.

Fireside, Rhinelander

Last night we ate dinner at the Fireside:
http://www.firesidesupperclub.com/

We have not gone here in over a year, due to being unhappy with the service & food. It was a culmination of a couple years bad service & food, including a "bad tail" (lobster), that put Kevin off lobster entirely for almost 2 years (his favorite food!). Anyway, the Fireside has a habit of seating you at the bar first, then offering you a menu at the bar, and continuing to keep you at the bar until you've ordered, and they've placed your salad at your table. This really bugs me. I go out to eat to sit at a TABLE and eat a nice meal, not sit uncomfortably at the bar, eyeing all the empty tables wondering why I have to order from the bar.

Anyway...So we gave it another shot last night. 1st of all, they did seat us at the bar while a table became available, which is perfect accepetable. 10 minutes later the hostess came to us letting us know our table was ready, but handing us menus asking if we'd like to take a look. We were quite adamant that no, we'll go sit down. Weird.

We ordered as an appetizer the "Brewhouse Combo" which is basically a little bit of all the deepfried appetizers they have (that is ALL they have..deepfried appetizes...) It was okay.

I ordered the southwest tilapia, which was tilapia encrusted with tortilla chips and served with salsa. It was alright. You also get a nice salad, AND soup, along with a starch side. I got the twice baked potato, which was yummy. My friend Jennifer got a filet with scallops. She said the scallops were good. The filet was okay, but she was just happy to have not had to make dinner herself! Kevin also got the filet and it was dreadful. He asked for medium to medium rare...and it came practically well done. I tried a bite, and almost spit it out it tased so horrible. He ate "some" of it. His fries were good.

Our server was good, but the wait in between our salad & soup was about a half hour, and then again for our entree. I am all for a leisurly meal, but this was out of control. I think we were there over 2 hours.

We wont be going back, and I do not recommend this at all. Ever.

Bugsy's Bar, Rhinelander

A few weeks ago a friend of mine and I met at Bugsy's for Pizza on a Thursday night. Bugsy's has recently undergone a bit of a change - they've moved out most of the pool tables, and opened up most of that previous pool area for actual seated dining. Menus, waitress and all! They have also extensively changed up their menu, and added all kinds of new things. I really suggest anybody who hasnt been there in awhile go check it out. It was a nice change, and fun to be able to watch people walking by out the window as we ate. The pizza was good, as usual!

http://www.bugsyssportsbar.com/Bugsy_s_Menu.html (website not current)

Holiday Acres, Rhinelander

We ate at Holiday Acres this past Saturday night. We havent been there in over a year I think. Here's a link:

http://holidayacres.com/3coins.html

It is sorta way out in the boonies of Rhinelander, and is a resort, so there are large groups usually eating there, also it is on the snowmobile trail and popular with them.

The service we got was very good, and we really enjoyed the cute little crispy breadsticks with cheese spread. Our bread & salad were both very good as well - we really liked the cranberry vinegrette and the bread was YUMMY with some sort of garlic butter on top! Plus it was warm.

Then it happened. The wait. We waited, and waited...and waited. We looked around, and the other 5 or so tables were ALSO waiting, or eating a salad...We were concerned. It took MUCH too long to get our entree. When it finally did arrive, we were very impressed with the presentation of our meals. Everything was very tasty as well. I had the smoked pork chop (not normal for me, but I dont care for much on their menu) and really enjoyed it. It came with this chipotle sauce that was great. Kevin got the filet with shrimp. He figured the shrimp were microwaved, but tasted okay. The filet however was very good, well cooked and flavorful.

However, the wait, and limited menu for me, makes this a place we wont visit again soon.

Crimson Cafe, Rhinelander

I got a salad from the "Crimson Cafe" yesterday for lunch. It was VERY good. They also have a variety of intersting Panini sandwiches, and feature soups as well.

This is a tiny little place that is somewhere across from like the bridal store, and Arby's area, in those little businesses that are also houses, etc. ? If you are heading out of town towards Kohl's, this would be on the right. You have to take a quick right, then another right to head down an alley, and park behind the house. Sorta strange, but I recommend it! There were about 8 small tables inside, and almost half of them were full.

It is also a coffee shop...and the sign said lunch is served 11-2 Mon-Sat.

Kid's Corner Soup!

Yesterday was at Kid's Corner in Rhinelander again for what has become my Friday lunch....Today they had a Tomato Bisque soup, which sounded good so I got it. WOW! Talk about delicious! I am now very excited to try some of their other soup. I wonder if it is homemade. It was very very very delicious. Highly recommended!

Added: Lasagna Soup - TO DIE FOR!

Kid's Corner Subs

I used to eat at Subway about once a week, but got irritated by little things here and there, and the prices just seemed to go up & up & up. So, I decided to scope out one of the local sub shops in Rhinelander - Kid's Corner.

I am EXTREMELY happy with the subs I get there. Generally I get a 6" whole wheat Packer sub. It has 3 kinds of meat, and whatever else I want. I LOVE their bread. It is super soft and just overall yummy. On top of that, they have a very tasty "house dressing" I get on my sub that I love as well. The BEST PART is that this sub is like, $3.50!!!!! It's so cheap I can hardly stand it. I could get a 12" for the same price as a Subway 6"!!!

Kid's Corner also has pizza, and various other items. I get some fancy cheese from here as well when I make mac 'n cheese...it's reasonalbly priced and you can get just a small amount.

I highly recommend Kid's Corner!