We have been coming to this place for 20 years and it has gone through a few owners in that time. Some have been good some not so much, but it's always been a popular spot right on the water with a great atmosphere, decent drinks, and varying quality of food. Visited for dinner 3x this year and the new owners seem to have focused on the food being better. Gone twice for Friday night fish fry and the quality of the fish has been a pleasant surprise. I distinctly remember last year coming in later in the evening for a fish fry and getting a baked potato that was a dried out relic. Ordered one this year and it was fresh and hot. Little things like that make a big difference. Fish seems to be hand breaded and they also offered a broiled option which comes with delicious garlic butter to dip it in. You can get soup and salad bar and the soup is always good although the salad bar can be a bit picked over if you come in later like we tend to... My dad has ordered the drunken captain chicken twice and raves about it. Even the picky eaters in our family are content going there. We had the same waitress on a couple trips and she is so friendly and attentive you never have an empty drink. I would say my only complaint is the old fashioned. They are so small you take a couple sips and it's empty. Bigger Glasses! Overall it seems like they are intent on moving this place in the right direction. It used to be the top spot in town and hopefully it is again! Lots of things to do...pool tables, video games, and they always seem to have music, trivia, karaoke or something going on. We haven't hung out in the tiki bar yet this year I'll leave that for the next review... read more

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So, iv been to this bar once and there was nothing special about it, thats not all , service seemed to take awhile and they couldn't care about you. Iv been doing some recent reading into this business and found out that they treat their staff very very badly, especially this most recent case with someone who had diabetes. Dont go here!! Dont support this business who treats employees like trash! Gilligans inside is just a dump to be in as wel. The food, more worth it to go to McDonald's. read more

Bar/restaurant offering food and drink right on the water. I had the burger which was good. In the evening they offer live music. If you are on the water, they have many dock spaces. read more

Gilligans - Welcome - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

This restaurant has acquired new ownership within the past couple of months, which most likely negates some of the previous reviews. It was busy in the restaurant and on the deck when our party of four (4) went in for an early dinner. My overall review, for those with short attention, is that the food was good and the service has room for improvement. I had a four (4) piece chicken dinner. It came with coleslaw and I ordered tator tots as my side dish. The chicken was crispy and had great flavor. The coleslaw was creamy with great taste. The tots were tasty. My dining partners enjoyed their bang bang shrimp and hamburger. They were happy with their side dishes. One dining partner had the perch tacos. While they looked good, she said the taste was bland. Oddly, they came with a plain cup of white rice. The staff, which may have been affected by the shortages (most likely in the kitchen), could have been more attentive. Specifically, our young waiter, seemed distracted by doing things all over the restaurant. Probably not his fault, but did detract from the overall experience. Having ate at the restaurant several times over the years, I would say it is worthy of a visit. read more

Gilligans - An island theme inside and out. - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

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This place is great! Fantastic food, lake is gorgeous, and always good music! Sherry (the owner), however, is not friendly or welcoming! Wouldn't you think as the owner of an establishment such as this she would talk to the customers and ask if they are having a good time or if there was anything they could do to make your day even better! NOPE.....no smiles, no interaction!!!!!!!!! This takes it down a couple of notches! read more

Let me start with the food was awesome. I had a prime rib hoagie and my husband ordered the Gilligans burger. The waitress was sweet and attentive. Now the bartender was insufferable. Every other word was f@$&. He stated he was the bartender and could say whatever he wanted. It diminished what could have been a nice dining experience and very unprofessional. He needs to mature a bit/a lot. Only a 3 due to him read more

Gilligans - The bar - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

We work outside all day and use our phones and Segways for work. We went here one day last year and charged phones and Segways. This time we walked in and they said it was a liability to plug our phones/segways in. The waiters and waitresses were rude, so we will not be providing business here anymore. read more

terrible service, won't even let you charge your phones because it's a "liability" food was terrible it was half cooked. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE read more

Cold potatoes Luke warm carrots n cornbeef just a bit dry .. the the Ruben meat was real dry plus the sweet potato fry were hard as rocks

I've never had an experience quite like this one. The ownership and management are appalling. We ordered one appetizer and four entrees. The appetizer wasn't great but edible, so we ate it along with the wings. The food seemed frozen, judging by its look and taste. The perch tacos were fishy, the chicken sandwich was soggy, the chicken tenders were just frozen nuggets with a gray interior, and the fries were undercooked. After one bite of our entrees, we found them inedible and sent them back. However, the server informed us that we would still have to pay the full bill. When we asked for a manager, we were told none were present--a restaurant without a manager is unheard of. We were assured that the owner and manager would be available the next morning and we could call to request a refund. But when we called, we were once again told that there was no manager available. I've encountered bad food at restaurants before, but this is the first time a place has refused to remove it from the bill. This was the worst dining experience I've ever had. Despite living nearby, we will certainly never return after this experience. After calling we were told that we ate the food even though we had one bite. Upon explanation on why the food was bad we were told it looked fine. I wasn't aware bad tasting fish had a look to it??? Sherry the owner was very rude and insisted that we were wrong even though all 4 of us there agreed. Worst restaurant experience ever read more

We've been to Gilligan's many times during the summer and used to consider it one of the better stops on the lake. However, over the years, the service has just become unsufferable. The food largely hasn't changed, aside from the prices increasing with everyone else, but my god, the service is just awful. We stopped in today and sat in the bar area. 3 of us at our table and the non-alcoholic drinks came out within 5 minutes. However, one beer was ordered, and it took 25 minutes for it to arrive. To note, there was nobody else eating inside and only 3-4 people at the bar...it should have taken 5 minutes at most. Our food order took a full 45 minutes and nobody ever checked on us again after it was delivered. No drink refills, nothing. Worst of all, Gilligan's has now moved to one of those stupid pay-at-the-table POS systems where the waitress watches you as you select your tip. And, if you want something less than 20%, then it's an ordeal to select something less. Going forward, I'll pay cash...at least that way I can leave $3, as that's all the service was worth on a $60 bill. read more

This spot was a the view from our outdoor table on a perfect late summer evening. We were so impressed with Gillian's we went twice during our vacation here. There was live music both nights and the atmosphere was incredible. The staff were very nice and fast. The food quality was also great and above what you might think is bar food! I recommend their chicken wings, volcanic nachos, and shrimp basket. read more

Gilligans - View from our table. - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

Ordered a couple wraps on Saturday evening while out on the pontoon. Pulled in amd found a dock spot. Place was hopping. Picked up food easily and were on our way. Hawaiian wrap was Deeeeelicious. The salsa in it was something I want more of. Always have liked the food. Will be back. read more

Summer Tiki bar entertainment is once again subpar to previous years. Way too loud and not good. Food is not very good. Service is ok but many of the long time employees are no longer there. read more

Drinks good, but priced differently depending on who made them. Wings really good. The deep fried Caribbean jerk slider, not that good. You get no side and pay $17 for 3 little burgers, a little over cooked not worth the money. Waitress was great and friendly. read more

I have been a bartender for over 20 years. Never in my life have I left no tip. Until today. I'm normally the person to leave a 50% tip or more. The bartender on today's shift 9/19/2022 was so rude. If you are having a bad day, fake it. If you have a bad personality, fake it. If you can't fake it, get a different job. Good luck making a decent living as a bartender with an attitude like that. Minimum wage doesn't pay the bills. (Nearly ruined my one day in town visiting family. Definitely ruined what would have otherwise been a good lunch.) read more

We have been coming to the Chetek area for over 40 years. I have to take it the next level. I read Chris K & Amanda L review and can't say anything was any different with our visit. So here I go, rented the house for a two night stay over Thanksgiving weekend 2019. The friends we were going to go with had a family emergency so we had to cancel. Got a gift voucher for the over $300 rental, good. We'll make time in the spring. Well everyone knows what happened then. Frequent attempts to rebook failed. Still making sure our voucher was still good. Fast forward to June of this year. I made numerous calls to make a new reservation. No answer, no call back. So I made the reservation online and needless to say upon arrival "the manager" wanted nothing to do with the voucher...... she said " I should take the previous owners to court." We spent the next couple days in the Fireside room and never spent a dime next door. I dropped off the key when we were leaving. I thanked her for nothing and she told me not to bother with coming back. Just to mention, yes we did eat out and drank while we were in town but I have to say Red's, Caddyshack & Lynda's were the bomb. All in all we had a great time on our 38th wedding anniversary. No thanks to Gilligan's. read more

Gilligans - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

Went here for supper with the whole family. My mother in law lives on the chain and we've been here several times over the years. She had a $100 gift card so it was an easy choice for our weekend. Food and service was decent enough, everything was solid until the checkout. They would not accept the 100 dollar gift card that was issued under previous ownership. I asked to speak with a manager and a tattooed blonde girl came out to talk to us. She was very rude and let us know that they accepted gift cards from previous owners for four months, but couldn't any longer. I asked if there was anything to be done, as 100 bucks isn't nothing and I was told no. I told her that I'd be writing a poor review based on the experience and she laughed at myself quoting "oh yeah like on Yelp or something, hahaha!" Basically as poor as you can get. So, we leave as never again customers. Hope it was worth it for this manager and new ownership. Maybe you'll be fine if you go here, maybe not, but honesty and loyalty does not seem like a priority. read more

We have been going to Gilligan's for many years and before it was Gilligan's. For the first time in our history of going there, service was terrible, actually there was no service. My wife and I sat at a table for 45 min and were not waited on, I did go to the bar and get a drink for us and mentioned this to the bar tender who said she would tell the waitresses, but no service became of it. We have friends and family who have all experienced the same problem within the last 6 weeks or so. While numerous waitresses did walk past us multiple times and the hostess did seat us, no service. We did go across the lake to Pokegema Cantina, which was much busier and were taken to one of the few empty tables and waited on very quickly. Beautiful spot, just no service at all. read more

This evening we had dinner with our family. The food was good and waitress was so kind and prompt. When checking out, my parents (who are retired and were excited to pay for their kid's dinner) tried to use a $100 gift card given to them as a gift for Christmas in 2021 and their debit card for the remainder of the balance. The waitress returned and informed my parents they could not honor the $100 gift card, as it was issued under the previous owners. She was very apologetic which was appreciated. We asked to talk to the manager just to see if there was anything he/she could do for my parents. Sadly, discussing the situation with the manager was extremely disappointing and disheartening. A few of us in our family have been in the service industry for years and would never dream of what the manager did... She said she couldn't do anything for us and nor would the new owners. She also laughed when we said we would leave a review. I feel saddened for the new ownership, that they have manager(s) that A. Do not believe in their ownership B. do not have a manager with creative problem solving skills C. Doesn't give genuine apologies D. Have many day to day obstacles to deal with but have to put out fires due to a manager(s). I left a 1 star as you cannot leave a zero. The new ownership is more than welcome to connect with me as I would be happy to talk about how their manager belittled him/her. $100 now is thousands later with local loyal customers. I would hate to see that money lost for the new owners due to one manager but we will not be supporting Gillian's if this is not remedied. read more

We have been coming to Chetek for many years during the summer. We have always stopped at Gillian's for a couple of meals during our week. Tonight we went because their Wednesday special is wings... one of my husbands favorites! Last year he was disappointed as they were overcooked and dry. This year they were perfect. The bar was crowded, but the service was fast and friendly. Our waitress was adorable. I ordered fish taco's and they were close to the best I have ever had! It was an enjoyable visit, the patrons were friendly and we enjoyed our entire meal. read more

Wait staff was great. Short blonde behind the bar was nasty and quite frankly not good at her job. If she doesn't want to make the drinks they advertise she should probably find a different job. She complained to her boyfriend in front of me about my kids ordering virgin drinks. And was caught after that bad mouthing our group. My advise if she's behind the bar go somewhere else. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. We were on vacation and went to Gilligan's for drinks and bar food to celebrate our parents' 60th anniversary. Female bartender was short tempered, loud, impatient and very rude. She swore at us and threatened to physically hurt (punch) one of our family members over a drink order! We all left and went to another establishment where we were told they see lots of ex-Gilligan's patrons who were offended by this female bartender. We were then bullied into paying for the food we never received and told that if we didn't pay, they would take it out of the waitress' paycheck!! Tried reasoning with the owner the next day and were told not to bother because he doesn't care, nor did the manager on site when the bad behavior that happened. Shame on you, Gilligan's, the big loser here was the nice waitress who missed out on what would have been a very nice tip (she apologized to us by the way for her bartender's bad behavior). Don't bother with this place, they apparently don't need any more customers . . . read more

Very cute place our server was flighty and forgetful forgot our drinks and brought our appetizers and main course at the same time then ran to get our drinks which we were given to cans of Luke warm soda, the food was awful yuk! read more

First time visiting Chetek and stopped here as I head it's known for their tornadoes. The food was pretty good but the waitress took a little bit of time to come on check on us (only reason for the 4 stars). Other than that, the environment was super fun and drinks were really good. Highly recommend you stop by for a tornado or two! read more

Bartenders great. Wait staff not so much. Bad attitude and no service. Even if your busy an "I'll be with with you" goes a long way. Workes in the service industry for over 20 years. read more

Had dinner here 2 times last week and just wanted to shout out our waitress both times - Kaitlyn (not sure of the spelling!) She was so friendly, helpful, and funny and she should know she is appreciated! read more

New Year's Eve after a long cold day ice fishing my son 15 popped in for dinner after many locals said this was the place and glad we did. We sat at the bar that was staffed with very efficient and funny server. The fried chicken from scratch was delicious served with you choice of fries soup whole made or salad. I'm sure I'm in the area I will be back read more

Gilligans - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

What a lousy way to run a business. We come up having booked a room since Sept. for our anniversary and they "double booked." Of course the huge hot tub room is given away. Of couse I stand in a hallway over 30 minutes waiting for someone to come and "apologize" and say we can rebook for the third time. Oh they will get us a room in the podunk town. What about the hot tub in the room? Oh, there's a pool in the hotel. ARE YOU KIDDING?? Last time we tried we had their food and it was nothing special. What a waste of time. Yeah I want to spend my anniversary driving 2.5 hours one way to turn around. What a joke. It doesn't deserve the one star I am forced to give it. read more

Great place on the chain of lakes outside of Chetek. Tiki Bar on the water with plenty of dock space ( you can drive there also), plenty of indoor seating also. Pretty typical bar food, good beer and resort type drinks ( including some with six shots of flavored rum). Side feature - great Crappie fishing at the bridge in the morning. Have to say, a sure stop in every time we are in the area, especially when boating read more

This place is really a diamond in the ruff! From the outside it doesn't really look all that great! But that's the great part of all of this! We stayed in the room with its own private waterfall hot tub room for my 40th birthday! The room was simply amazing! We fished right off the docks that are right outside our room! The bar is right out our other door and they had some really really amazing food! Oh yeah and the little store they have in the front! It has all the stuff u might need while away from home! All the workers were super nice! The atmosphere was so laid back and inviting! They had gambling, pull tab, n a lobster claw machine! Yep I said lobster claws machine! U can for real play to win a lobster n then they will cook it for you! We had a blast in the hot tub room! I didn't take many pictures with my phone but I was too busy enjoying myself! The room itself was pretty nice! You would never think that this hotel room/apartment would have such beautiful decor on the inside! The bathroom was what I call an upscale bathroom! Don't get me started on how awesome the shower with the 8+ shower heads! Bbbaaaaabbbbbyyyyy it hit all the right spots and was big enough for more than 4 people or 2 big people and a little! this room also had a kitchenette! The room was big enough for the big bed that was already in there with the two big recliners and three extra queen size blow up mattresses which came in handy, so none of our peoples had to drive home drunk! We stayed a whole weekend so we really got good use of the room and the outside fun! Did I mention that u can rent pontoons here? Omg yes you can, and if they are all rented out, u can go down the street and rent a pontoon n kayaks for the day or weekend! This place is about it when it comes to having a wonderful little gem that's hidden away from all the hustle and bustle of all the other resorts! read more

Gilligans - Hot tub room - Hotels Near Me - Chetek, Wisconsin

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The go to spot in chetek! Pull up by boat or land and get good food, drinks and some entertainment! Definitely recommend

I cannot vouch for the food since we never got that far but the service was horrendous . After calling first to find out about the outdoor eating availability so we could bring our dog with us as we traveled by boat, we were told it was allowed outside in the dining area. Upon our arrival around lunchtime, we were told by the first waitress that they would not come out to serve us. We needed to place our order for food and beverage inside. When my husband went in and finished placing our order, a second woman identified as the owner said we could not eat outside today. We had no other option at that point but to leave. I wish I could have given Gilligans's negative stars. Very poor customer service and the worst experience I have ever had at an eating establishment read more

Gilligan's is one of our Chetek favorites. They have the best on-water location, a large bar area inside and out, and great deals and specials. The menu is large and features the famous "Wing Ding" Wednesdays! They also have great chicken, fish, and burgers. The atmosphere is energetic and fun. read more

Went there by boat to sit outside at eat at the "Tiki-Bar". No one came out to wait on us and so I went inside was told by the inside bartender that no outside service today and we would have to order food inside and if we wanted to dine outside we would have to carry it outside ourselves. After confirming what we wanted to order I went back inside and made our order with the owner, who was now behind the bar. She put the order into the electronic ordering system, gave a total due, and asked where we were seated. When I told her outside she canceled the order and said "no outside eating today" Attitudes of the bartender and the owner seemed like they were trying to run patrons out of the establishment, both were constantly frowning and gave no greetings. We got lucky and got to leave. There's probably 2 poor bastards out there that have to go home to those 2 crabby women, (the bartender and owner) every night. read more

Wow was having a drink someone told me who the owner was so I asked why the chairs were bolted to the floor and he and his wife went off about how much these colored bar stools cost and ask me to leave Was I from mi or Il so I guess tourist are not welcome !!!!!!!!!! They told me were not welcome because I wasn't a business owner and had no clue I do own several business and treat my customers with respect!!!! read more

I'm not a big bar goer, but this seems to be a pretty popular place. They have a neat tiki bar out back. You can dock your pontoon and come aboard for food and drinks. The treasure chest was a delicious combination of fried foods. If your from out of town and looking for a local bar to hang out at, try this place. read more

We visited Gillian's twice over the long weekend. High points: -being able to roll in straight from the water -fried green beans. Crispy, crunchy, generous portion -gilly burger- their specialty. 1/2 lb burger cooked perfectly (medium!), smothered in cheese and topped with onions and bacon. I was disappointed that the 'crispy onions' in the description were actually just sautéed onions. I thought they would be fried. -waffle fries- crispy and delicious Low points: -Cajun burger- I didn't really find anything Cajun about this one. It supposedly had Cajun seasoning, but tasted like a normal cheeseburger to me -cheese curds. For flavor, good. For temperature? Nah. They were lukewarm at best. -one side of the dock where you pull in/tie up is way shorter than the other. Makes it challenging to tie up anything bigger than a little fishing rig. Dock boy available to help tie things up, yet the front of the boat where he was tying to the dock is where the boat cracked against the dock and broke the light Lots of beers on tap. Drinks are a bit inconsistent. Seating and games available outside. Overall- a fine place to go and welcome bite to eat. read more

Great atmosphere! There is outside seating with a stage for a band and outside bar. Ability to boat with a dock boy to assist on busy evenings and nights. Bags game outside. Fun place! I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because we visit Chetek one week in summer every year and have had issues each time we come. We are usually crammed in middle table inside feeling like we are in everybody's way. There are usually 5 of us or more so I would suggest smaller groups or not sitting together. This year we decided to go to Wing Ding early to avoid the crowd (4pm). We had an 18 year old waitress. There may have been 4 other tables in the place and waited 45 mins to order! Literally 45 mins. She didn't know what kind of beer was available and didn't ask to refill our drinks. We asked about sauces and she told us "it's in the menu." Great food though! read more

This place has definitely taken a dive in the last year. Slow service, slow food, rude servers, rude bartenders, rude managers, etc... they take the cake here. My family used to love it here, but the last few times have made us decide to spend our money at the other places in Chetek. I would stay clear of this place, as we plan on doing! read more