The Northern Lake Tavern & Grill

Sis and I took a last-minute Thursday late afternoon roadtrip up Hwy 8 due to a FB Marketplace pickup. It was dinnertime and I asked the Seller a restaurant they recommend in the area. She told us The Northern and to make sure to order the cheese curds. Looking at the menu before hitting the road again, sis and I knew the place was for us: burgers, sandwiches and wraps.Pulling into the parking lot was easy. Even though looked full, we were still able to find a spot. I want to note the gorgeous view of the red barn/farm across from the pond when pulling in. I noticed a patio on the North side of the building, which would put this farm in your view. We did have about a 20 minute wait for a table for 2. The restaurant looked busy from what I could see. Once we were brought to out table, I then noticed that the bar seating was pretty much open. Had I known, we might have elected to just sit at the bar. However, I asked for menus right away so that we could at least ponder it during that 20 minutes.We were sat at a high top right near the kitchen door. Being able to see all the food come out, I changed my mind on what I was going to order almost 10 times. We asked for the cheese curds as soon as we were greeted by our waitress. OMGosh! They were in the shape of cubes, deep fried to golden perfection. The outside had perfect firmness from the fryer. The inside was gooey, salty white cheese. Perfect just by itself. It did come with a ranch dipping sauce that was just so yummy. It reminded me a seasoned sour cream. The waitress didn't know the brand of the cheese curds (ie. Ellsworth) but did say the ranch was homemadeSis ordered the Great Northern Burger with French fries. She's a fan of BBQ sauce, bacon and onion rings on a burger. Fries were nicely seasoned, long, soft and semi-skin-on (not crinkle or steak fries). Burger was huge and worth the $15.99 price tag.I settled on the BOTM, the Nacho Burger, with tator tots. Toppings included nacho cheese, Fritos chips, bacon, diced/sliced jalapenos. The tator tots were one of the best I've ever had. Again, seasoned nicely. And the perfect ratio of hard outside crunch to soft inside potato. The Nacho burger was huge too....and messy with the nacho cheese. The Fritos did get a little soggy at the end. The bacon was under the melted cheese. And there were plenty of jalapenos hidden under the meat patty. Those were easy to discard so I could control how many fiery peppers were in my mouth at one time.Was service slower than normal? Yes. Was the service friendly? Yes. Was it worth the wait? Also YES! I would definitely recommend (I already have to my coworkers.) for anyone who loves gourmet burgers. They also have a nice variety to the sandwich, wraps, tacos and flatbread menu. I will just have to take the 40 minute drive again to try something else.

Solid place to go on highway 8 if you are near the Chicago lakes area. It's a fun always friends place with great food and drinks. I've never tried their dinner servings as I always go for sandwiches or burgers. My go to sandwich is the pastrami dip. It's house made smoked pastrami that is delicious and comes with fries or tots (go for tots). On the burger side I like the Sasquatch as it's a fun burger with truly a bit of everything including pastrami, onion strings, fried eggs, and baked beans. I also suggest the belly buster fish sandwich, Cuban, Korean tacos are delicious, and the pulled pork sandwich.I also love that their corned beef, pulled pork, and pastrami are all done in house. Very good sandwiches and burgers.

Food was really good, but they were busy tonight so a bit slow on the food. If this happens to you, please ensure you're blessed with someone who can talk the entire time. If you don't have that special someone, contact me and I'll send my wife to join your party... She's a professional talker.

Date night! My husband and I love trying out new restaurants for our impromptu date nights. We stumbled across this place and thought we'd give it a try! The atmosphere was rustic and typical for a country bar. It was busy for a Tuesday night, but we got our drinks right away. Took a bit longer to get our food (almost 30 minutes), but it was perfectly fine with me as I got to use up my 20k words per day allowance on my husband. Overall the service was good, food was pretty good, and the cocktails were delicious!!

I was in Minnesota for a family thing . Being a lakegirl now living in Texas, I was able to meet up with a friend or two while here and found myself at The Northern for breakfast. We were seated immediately and our server was on hand quickly to get that morning coffee rolling in at our table. Good coffee at that. Good coffee on a snowy morning always starts my breakfast experience out on a very high note! My dear friend from high-school (class of '79!) and I both elected for breakfast boats (deconstruct ed) which means we didn't want our items stacked. I am sure its perfect as made, but I am one of those picky eaters that doesn't even want my toast touching my eggs. Sorry! Just my preference! Our server ( and the kitchen) was completely on board with that request and a short time later, my boat (less the boat) arrived piping hot to our table. Eggs were good. Hashbrowns crispy (that's how I like them!) and I opted for rye toast which was amazing. I didn't get a picture of the food because we dug in so quickly, before I thought about pictures, my plate was clean (less a few crumbs). Oops! I tend to get forgetful like that. I noticed when leaving they have an assortment of t-shirts and apparel. I wanted a zip up hoodie but didn't see one so I didn't grab my souvenir from there. I would definitely return if and when I am in the area again. Their main menu has a ton of options... appetizers, burgers, salads... something for everyone really. Oh! They have a patio ( was not patio weather that morning) and you may even have a close encounter with BigFoot ;) We did! Families to friends. Stop in and get out of the snow (or rain or heat or mosquitoes), sit down and have yourself a nice meal with good friendly Minnesota food, folks and hospitality.

The Northern is such a rare find in Chisago City, MN! If you are heading to Wisconsin you need to stop and check this place out. Super famous among locals! Parking is super easy and there is a huge patio overlooking a lake (sunsets are beautiful). They get pretty busy on some weeknights when they are having karaoke with a lot of regular guests so good to call ahead. The food is mostly your typical bar food but with some amazing finds. They have the best square cheese curds, really good fried pickles but their wings and cheeseburgers are where it's at. The wings are full size HUGE wings with regular sauces but also some really hot sauces such as melt your face off that has such great flavor with insane heat. The burgers are also a must with so many different unique options you don't usually find up north with different toppings such as eggs, cheese curds, fried pickles, pulled pork- so many options! And they come with either fried or tots and who doesn't want tots? The only negative is sometimes when we go there is a little longer wait for food depending on how many fryers they have running. Most of the food is fried food so sometimes the orders can get a little backed up.

This is by far one of the best restaurants just north of the cities! A very cozy friendly atmosphere. The food is phenomenal you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Some my favorites include the hot pastrami, cream cheese wonton burger, wings, and the cubed cheese curd's seriously the list goes in. Its definitely a busy place but the service is always great! It's sooo worth the drive!

Good food, servers are great. Outdoor patio could use some work, only picnic tables which is not comfortable.

Good food and atmosphere but the the wait was mismanaged.... There were literally 9 tables open. Yes, you read the correctly. ..... and multiple families still waiting to be seated. I guess they were holding tables open, on the weekend mind you, for people that called in that weren't yet there?? Bit of mismanagement getting tables filled and the flow of customers. Great food and servers tho.

The Northern Lake Tavern is a great place to eat! The service is fast and friendly, and there is a large full-service bar area with ample seating. The Northern has great salads and sandwiches, too! We eat there often, and the service is always fast and friendly!