Friendship House

My wife and I eat here a number of times each summer. The food is delicious, the French Onion soup…read moreis out of this world. My wife likes liver & onions and they have a special one night a week, she said it was great. The steaks, shrimp and chicken were all fantastic. We truly enjoy along with the supper club experience.

We had a really fun dinner at this old school supper club. The restaurant has beautiful views, and…read morewe had had asked to have a window view when making our reservation because it was our anniversary. Instead we were placed at a table outside of the bathroom and kitchen which was a little disappointing. Service was good and the bartender and waitstaff were all very friendly. The old fashioneds were great! My husband loved his steak and lobster. I think my favorite things were the cheese spread and Parmesan peppercorn dressing. We had planned on having prime rib and twice baked potatoes but unfortunately both were already sold out by 7:00 pm.

Black cherry old fashion must

Twice baked potato

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Huge Shrimp; Shrimp Cocktail

Westsider Diner & Lounge

4.5(24 reviews)

10.8 mi

Great menu, super cute place. And the food was amazing. Trendy art and lovely outdoor seating.read more

The atmosphere is amazing! They have "specialty" drinks that everyone can enjoy! I love the food…read moreand decor.

Entrance

Bleu Burger

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Mint Cafe

4.3(128 reviews)

11.6 mi

5 excellent food and I will often have their Greek salad ( large ) or their hot beef plate.read more

Food and service were great. Don't sit in that section in back by the back door though because the…read moreair conditioning makes it so cold back there that you can hardly eat your meal.

Shepherds pie - special

Cappuccino

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Mint Cafe Entrance

Log Cabin Restaurant

3.9(63 reviews)

15.1 mi

The waitress was amazing and all the staff was super friendly. Love that the atmosphere and music…read moreweren't overbearing but felt homey. The Mac and cheese side was amazing - breadcrumbs on the Mac and cheese main dish seemed to be uncooked and weren't a great addition. The roast beef sandwich and gravy were too salty. Mushroom & Swiss burger tasted good.

This is hands-down, the best breakfast spot in the Wausau area. The service is great. The food is…read morefantastic and they make sure the coffee is flowing. The atmosphere is fun and inviting. Their skillets are wonderful and this place is even kid friendly! You'll see us definitely coming again.

Mexican Omelette. It was delicious

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R D's Diner

4.1(14 reviews)

44.2 mi

Great service, me and my friends were passing through Stevens point as we had had just came back…read morefrom a ski trip and we popped in. Food was delicious as I had the Philly cheese steak and our server Bella wrote a handwritten note on each of our receipts. She was very hospitable and the staff in general were very welcoming.

One of the owners, should never be allowed to do customer service. He came out of the kitchen…read morescreaming at us because there was a misunderstanding over a gift card. That we got from our kids for Christmas. Accusing us of stealing by using a fake gift card. Never went back never will. We were regular customers!!! To be treated like that in a restaurant full of people hearing everything he said. Paying to get treated like that unbelievable.

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Cozy Kitchen

4.4(50 reviews)

41.9 mi

The name of this restaurant is beyond fitting! The Cozy Kitchen is indeed a very cozy, homie, and…read moredare I say nostalgic kind of diner. The staff were as friendly as they can be and made us feel like regulars, regardless of it being our first time in. We visited for a late breakfast with multiple kids (4 years and younger). The staff kept all the adults caffeinated and went above and beyond to make sure the kids had a great experience! (Ie, making sure they had drinks, plenty of napkins, and ever some cookies after they ate) The food was all very good! The table got a verity of options and all plates were left empty. You can really tell that this dinner puts in effort with their food. They even offered numerous HOMEMADE baked goods like breads, pies, cakes and cookies that's to their on-site baker. I will be returning to cozy kitchen in the future whenever I am in town visiting family. I highly recommend you visit if you're looking for someplace cozy to eat.

Small, quaint place downtown - able to park on street. Well…read morerun establishments- one server out front and she rocked it. Tables for 2 or four- and counter service. Solid breakfast- eggs cooked just as ordered- no complaints. Love a runny egg- and dip their homemade toast in it- yum! Mexican scramble was tasty - chorizo not greasy. Hash browns were nicely crisp on outside- and plump inside. Nice portions- in our minds. If I could give it 4 1/2 stars- I would. (And you might run into UWSP hockey players at breakfast!)

Meat frenzy

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Tomahawk Family Restaurant

3.7(29 reviews)

25.1 mi

Coffee flowed constantly! Our cups never got empty. Food arrived promptly, hot and plenty…read more DELICIOUS!Staff was friendly and the place is super clean!

One of my favorite restaurants in the area. The menu is ridiculous in that you can get basically…read morewhatever you want whenever you want it. I always order breakfast so I'm a bit biased towards it but have been with others who have ordered numerous non-breakfast items. I've never have had a bad experience or not amazing food or service. The place is very clean as well.

Pancakes

Sandwiches menu

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Karla's Kountry Kitchen

4.1(23 reviews)

52.8 mi

Cozy, hospitality, service. Food is top notched, made to order breakfast. Always a great place to…read morevisit when my wife and I are there in Townsend.

I'd like to give a small town diner a higher mark, I just can't. Nothing was terribly wrong, just…read morenothing great. The place needs a deep cleaning, servers could have been more attentive and the menu has room for expansion. A friend and I ate there on a day where other local establishments were closed. The full parking lot may have been because of those businesses not being open. My friend had a soda that was flat and tasted off. He was never offered a refill. He had a chicken breast sandwich which he described as average.i had the Cubano breakfast sandwich. It was underwhelming. Here are a couple of oddities; no fries or tots. Hash browns, American fries or red baked potatoes. No deep fryer? No air fryer? For as greasy as the place felt, bringing in a deep fryer would be a good investment. Also, buns on sandwiches not toasted. A small touch like that would have helped the taste quite a bit. Overall, knowing there are better options in the area (when they are open), I'd suggest looking for one.

Eclectic decorations

Potato pancake and bacon

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Dining room and serving counter

hancock family diner

5.0(2 reviews)

68.9 mi

I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food here. We needed an early dinner, and I…read moream a semi-vegetarian and love a good grilled cheese. My mom had a hankering for a BLT, and we needed a place close to I-39, so Hancock Family Diner fit the bill. Once she looked at the menu closer, she chose the Junior Club instead of the BLT (junior denoting the 2-bread option). She said it was delicious. I followed through with the grilled cheese - although there was nothing special about it, it was cooked perfectly, not too greasy, and very classic. I got onion rings, she got fries, and we split. Now, we had a choice between crinkle cut and fresh cut fries, and chose fresh cut. I'm So glad we did! Really fresh, great potato flavor, needed some salt but that allowed us to salt to taste. The onion rings were a great batter and sweet onions - honestly really great. Plus pickle spears that tasted possibly homemade. We skipped dessert but I was tempted to go full diner and have a slice of pie. Maybe next time! Place was pretty empty but definitely a throwback diner (and it was early). I'd go back, for sure.

New addition to the area. The food is very good. The service is great and the prices are fair. The…read morespecials are always tasty. The fish fry on Fridays is wonderful. It's homey and comfortable.

Dixie Lunch

4.1(30 reviews)

23.7 mi

A change in ownership and the food rocks! Wings were great and clam chowder delish! Definitely will…read morebe back!

This was an experience, and one I'd rather forget. The staff were nice enough, but inattentive and…read moreforgetful, and generally seemed overwhelmed. I was about to walk out b/c it took so long for the server to come take our order. There was a regular there whose M.O. seems to be visiting everyone's table (whether she knows them or not), and the servers seemed to use her a buffer. The restaurant was packed, but it doesn't have that many tables. My water arrived with a floater in it, which of course made me look closely at other things they weren't paying attention to. And I didn't even want to order anything else after it took them a half hour to bring us a cold plate of fries.

Chicken noodle soup - cup

Rye toast

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Sem L.

2 years ago

I recently had the pleasure of dining at the Friendship House in Merrill, and it was an exceptional experience from start to finish. The ambiance is warm and welcoming, perfect for a cozy meal with friends or family. The highlight of our visit was undoubtedly the outstanding service provided by our waitress, Ashlynn. She was attentive, friendly, and went above and beyond to make sure our dining experience was perfect. Ashlynn's knowledge of the menu and her recommendations were spot on, and she made us feel genuinely valued as customers. The food was delicious, with generous portions and great flavors. I highly recommend trying their specials, which Ashlynn described with such enthusiasm that we couldn't resist. Overall, the Friendship House is a gem in Merrill, and Ashlynn's service made our meal all the more enjoyable. We will definitely be back and will be sure to ask for Ashlynn next time! read more

Shelby D.

8 years ago

The Friendship house has never disappointed! Clean, fast, generous and delicious! The prime rib is by far my favorite but I have never had a bad experience here! read more

Dave B.

8 years ago

This breakfast was awesome. Very good food. And the price is great. Couldn't even eat it all. Will stop again. Great job to all. read more

Ruthie B.

1 year ago

Stopped by here with two hungry kids, but I forgot my wallet at home. They don't do Apple Pay, so it was a bust.

John G.

5 years ago

This place has great food and is very friendly. Easy in and out. Food price was good and very well done.

Snieprcat C.

4 years ago

very good food servers were very calm even though they were sooooooooooooooooooo busy!!!!!

Friendship House - tradamerican - Updated October 2026

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Mint Cafe

4.3

(128 reviews)

5 excellent food and I will often have their Greek salad ( large ) or their hot beef plate.read more

Food and service were great. Don't sit in that section in back by the back door though because the…read moreair conditioning makes it so cold back there that you can hardly eat your meal.

Blue Willow Cafe

4.0

(96 reviews)

The service here is amazing. Even though we went during the Sunday after church rush, we got served…read morefast, the food was great and the staff was friendly and efficient. Best of all they kept my coffee hot and my cup full.

As far as local dinners go, this one does a great job. Excellent (and huge) menu, with breakfast,…read morelunch and dinner is available. Pretty sure breakfast is "all day". I had a meat lovers skillet and I loved it! Plenty of food (couldn't finish it all) and was really loaded with toppings. The whole meal sat on a bed of great hash browns and was topped with two or three eggs (can't remember how many). My wife's sandwich was also good, but she thought the Split Pea Soup was only average. It was different, made without any thing in it (but peas), no ham, no potato, just a thin soup. Flavor was okay, but a little ham or another additive would have made it pretty darn good. We didn't save room for dessert, but the large selection of pies look sooooo good. Might have to stop in again just to try the pie!

Dixie Lunch

4.1

(30 reviews)

A change in ownership and the food rocks! Wings were great and clam chowder delish! Definitely will…read morebe back!

E.J.'s Diner

4.8

(9 reviews)

I heard great things about EJ's diner Today was my first…read morevisit and it for sure will not be the last. I ordered the BBQ Wrangler burger with fries the burger was amazing. The fries were hot and fresh and there was a lot of them! My waitress was super friendly and very attentive. The restaurant is a very nice open retro design I do not think you can find a better burger and fries for under $15 anywhere in Wisconsin I returned for my second visit to EJ's diner was even better than the first time which is hard to believe!

Stopped in for a late lunch and glad we did! Clean, comfortable restaurant with both table and…read morebooth seating. We were greeted and seated quickly and our server, Jackson did a fantastic job with our orders. We had a patty melt, chicken cordon blue patty melt, and mushroom burger. Each order was slightly changed from the menu and delivered to the table exactly as requested. The food was delicious . Our orders was a little less heathy (read greasy) due to choosing comfort food, except one order substituted a salad for fries. The side salad was a generous size with fresh ingredients, including heirloom tomatoes. I very much enjoyed the chicken cordon blue melt and all entrees were good portions. The breakfast menu looked good, so we will be returning to try that out in the future.

Eagle's Nest Restaurant

3.8

(28 reviews)

My family stopped at the Eagle's Nest this morning and we had never been there before. All I can…read moresay is that the food tasted phenomenal, the proportions were huge, and the prices were very reasonable, especially for what you get. So if you want a small town restaurant that has big proportions and good quality food at a decent price, this is a place to go. Although a quick warning, they do not accept credit cards. However, they do have an ATM on location and frankly, the food quality is so good that you're not going to care. At this point in time though, I am going to safely say that it is probably my favorite breakfast place in town.

Should've known it was a bad sign when I walked in and saw a kid pouring water all over a chair and…read morefood scattered on the carpet. Waited 40 minutes after being served drinks and getting our order taken. Finally flagged down the waitress to let her know we were still waiting after watching several tables around have their order taken and be served. When she finally did being us food, it was the wrong order. We decided to leave. When we asked to speak to management about our experience, the owner was conveniently too busy and another staff member came out. She apologized for our experience and told us they were busy. And that they had no control or say over who gets their orders placed and served first. No I do not recommend this place unless you're willing to take a gamble on your meal placement.

Ballyhoos

3.8

(41 reviews)

Great service I had the prime rib sandwich with provolone,…read moreand au jus. I also had really good french fries The sandwich was great, but could've used a little more prime rib Nice old-time bar restaurant

I had seen the bad reviews for Ballyhoos so I was hesitant to go there. When I walked in the place…read morewas really cute and one of the waitresses told us to sit anywhere. I ordered the prime rib sandwich, which when it came, I was happily surprised. The sandwich was huge with a lot of meat and a lot of cheese with great tasting mushrooms. This was the best sandwich I have had since I moved to Merrill three years ago. I also had the sweet potato fries, which I dipped in their ranch dressing, which also was exceptional. The waitress we had was incredible, so on top of everything and so kind. My friend who was with me also had the Western burger with sweet potato fries and she loved it. I definitely will be coming back.

Tri-City Family Restaurant

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As ALWAYS service and food were amazing! They ruined it for me because I can't go anywhere else!!read more

New Pine Ridge Restaurant

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(26 reviews)

Excellent service & food! Highly recommend to anyone!…read moreWent there on the 4th of July not expecting much but ended up loving the place!

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The Red Apple Family Restaurant

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Awesome place!!! Food was great!!! If you love mom and pop cafes, this is the place for you…read more Delicious!!

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