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    Old Rittenhouse Inn

    4.4 (67 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours

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    The food is absolutely outstanding and plated beautifully. Extremely creative with care taken to include seasonal and local fare. The ambiance breathes history and keeping the story of the house alive. The worst part of the evening is choosing what to eat. Would highly recommend!

    There's a vanity next to my in room hot tub
    Nik N.

    This place is worth every penny!! It is so pretty and elaborate! I highly recommend the rooms with balconies. The in room hot tub totally made my night. My daughter and I slept soooo well. Bayfield is so beautiful in the summer, everyone should come visit!

    Lake Superior Chowder -- excellent!!
    Paul F H.

    It's old. It's historic. It's beautiful. We had an enjoyable evening dining with our friends from Germany at the Landmark Restaurant at the Old Rittenhouse Inn. But I expected much better. Though it was a satisfying meal -- it was far from great or memorable. We all opted for the five course dinner (which I certainly would recommend if you dine here). My only complaint about the five course offering is that it does not include the option to substitute one of the appetizers for the the soup or salad. I would have preferred to try the whitefish cakes -- especially after tasting my salad (which actually cost a dollar more than the whitefish cakes if purchased a'la carte). For me the soup course was the highlight of the meal. I opted for the Lake Superior Chowder. I found it to be excellent with an ample amount of trout and/or whitefish, and an appropriate amount of potato and carrot in a well seasoned, creamy soup base. The local ingredients garnish of green onion and wild rice was a nice touch that worked well with the overall flavor profile and added a textural component to the dish. Next up was the smoked trout salad which was the first miss of the evening. The trout was fine. The mesclun was lightly but adequately dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. Even the use of cheddar cheese was fine (though it could have been older and sharper to my taste). But the under-seasoned wild rice ruined the dish. The blandness of the undressed wild rice literally canceled out the rest of the flavors. And though it brought a bit of texture to the party it was not nearly as satisfying as a proper crispy crouton. The next course was one the most significant missteps of the evening. I like the idea of serving an icy palette cleanser in the middle of the meal. But when you make a raspberry ice or sorbet -- for god's sake -- strain out the seeds! That's why the French invented the chinois. Our main courses were fine though unspectacular. I ordered the "pork chop" which wasn't actually a pork chop in the classic sense but rather a braised pork roast. It was good. But call it what it is. My wife ordered the fish roulade. Normally it is Lake Superior white fish but since the white fish season is closed in October the kitchen used Dover Sole instead -- an acceptable substitution. The phallic slice of bread jammed upright into the mashed potato made no sense -- unless the chef is trying to say something. . . ? For dessert I was served one of the worst slices of cherry pie I've had in recent memory. I doubt there were more than four or five whole cherries in my piece. The rest seemed to be cherry juice congealed with a cornstarch slurry. Even the crust made with lard and the a'la mode scoop of ice cream couldn't redeem the pie filling. The ice cream parfaits everyone else ordered looked much better -- and impossible to screw up. The wines offered by the glass were quite good. I liked that the server offered a tasting before ordering. One of our friends changed her choice after finding the wine she tasted too sweet for her taste. Our server was attentive, kind and patient -- especially since everything needed to be translated for our German friends. Despite my criticisms, the Old Rittenhouse Inn is as good as it gets in the far reaches of northern Wisconsin. In fact I would say it is one of the better places I've eaten north of Chicago and east of New York and west of San Francisco. It's just not perfect.

    Room X (10) old Rittenhouse Inn
    Jim R.

    Certainly one of the nicest B&Bs in the area. We splurged and booked room X (10), the one pictured on their website and in their other marketing materials. It was huge - part of the former ballroom on the third floor and featured a two-sided fireplace, a large whirlpool tub, king sized bed and nice window seat that looked out to the lake. It also had a teeny tiny bathroom - which was curious give the 800 or so square feet of the room itself. The Rittenhouse is in a great location that makes for a nice base to walk and explore the small town of Bayfield, Wisconsin. The inn keepers are celebrating 25 years+ and know how to run a successful inn. We love sitting on the porch with a glass of wine (we usually bring a bottle along) and just relaxing. Meals at the Inn are also a treat - for dinner BE SURE to get the roasted pork loin which has been on the menu forever. It cooks all day and literally falls apart. My wife and I ended up splitting it and it was plenty for the two of us. This is true of breakfast at the Inn as well. The portions are quite large and even the breakfast entrees are enough to share. Very limited cell service at the Inn. AT&T coverage was spotty with only the super slow "E" network available - which isn't all bad. You are supposed to be on vacation after all!

    Damian C.

    ****Landmark At The Rittenhouse part 1****It's been awhile since I've posted anything. Not to get until too personal of details, but I was in a downward relationship for years with someone who did NOTHING, but pull me down and make me feel worthless. Also, my dad passed away in December of 2017. I'm now with someone else who I really didn't expect to come into my life, but I've have been extremely blessed and thankful. It's great to be back to reviewing!! So supportive, caring, and loving, and we were exactly what each other needed!! My awesome partner and I went on vacation to Bayfield, WI to bring in the new year. Let me first start off by saying, if you haven't been there, you NEED to go!!! We had plans to drive directly across Lake Superior, but the lake wasn't frozen. We stayed in a beautiful condo, and had the BEST 4 days ever to ring in New Year's together! I will be making a few reviews of places, so be on the lookout for the other ones. FINALLY, let's get to the review. This review is of the Landmark At The Rittenhouse, located inside of the Old Rittenhouse bed and breakfast hotel. This was not where we stayed. My partner surprised me with an amazing meal here and it was unbelievably good!! There was a special menu for New Year's and yes this is fine dining with chef's from Alaska who cooked our meals. They have a normal 5-course menu, but for New Year's, it was a 6-Course meal! It was nearly 70 something each for our meals. The first course I had Scallop Crudo. It had hints of mint, soy sauce, jalapeno, micro basil, Korean chili and black salt. It was soooo GOOD! First time having scallops and this dish made me a fan! My partner had seared duck, and it was delicious too! We tried each other's meals if we had something different than one another. We only had 2 meals where we chose different things, and that was the 1st course and the last course, which was dessert. The seared duck was fantastic! Did not taste gamey, and had almost a beef flavor to it...perfect! My first time having duck too! 2nd course was either a Spinach and Garlic Bisque, or a Lobster Bisque. My partner thought he ordered the Spinach Bisque, but he got the Lobster Bisque too, but he was completely fine with it and said he was glad he made that mistake! We LOVED the bisque. Plenty of chunky Lobster, creamy, buttery, and just completely flavorful! 3rd course was Charred Dates and Smoked Carrots. We couldn't get over how tasty this dish was. It had beluga lentils, lemon panna cotta, roasted hazelnuts, and a cedar vinaigrette! You can fathom the idea of how incredible this was. I'd have an easy time being a vegetarian if I could eat this everyday!! All of the flavors just work, and having the charred dates and the smokiness of the carrots...unbelievable!! Who would think to char dates?...YUM!!! ****This review will be continued...too long to post it all*****

    Ana C.

    Ive been wanting to stay here for years but as a poor college student it was always a bit out of reach. Came back for a girl's trip and it was as enjoyable as I had thought it would be: quiet, comfortable, cozy. Breakfast was delicious and the staff was just the right amount of friendly and helpful without interrupting our friend time. (Only giving 4 out of 5 because the bathroom was small with only a shower and I would have loved a bath. I'm sure if I had asked they would have moved me but we checked in late and the staff was gone for the evening.)

    Lily C.

    It's my first time in Bayfield, so a friend recommended to come here for dinner. I'm so glad I listened. When first entering the inn, I wasn't sure we were dressed nicely enough to go in, but Wendy made us feel very welcome. She seated us right away next to the window with a beautiful lake view. My boyfriend and I both decided on the 5 course meal which btw, is their specialty. To start off, you get a choice between their fish chowder or soup of the day. Now I'll tell you that I'm not a huge fan of seafood, but I got the fish chowder anyway. It was SO good! Amy, our awesome server, said there were big chunks of fish in it. I was a bit intimidated by that, but the chunks really weren't big. At least they were not not the 1/2" chunks I was envisioning. The next to come was the salad. We both chose the spinach with bacon dressing. This is THE way to go. - so yummy! The blue cheese comes on the sides of the plates, so your choice to take it leave it. I'm not a big fan of blue cheese but this was pretty good. The third dish is a pallet cleanser. It was a lemon ginger sorbet. At first taste, it's sweet and lemony and then you get a mild kick of ginger. I would have taken a gallon of this home if I could. Then the main dish came. I chose the pork chop while my boyfriend chose the steak. The pork chop was a pretty big portion. The sauce was so good the meat turned out to be a bit on the dry side. I got the rice pilaf which I liked, but my man got the garlic mashed potatoes and said those were better. The final dish was dessert. I chose the lemon pie with ice cream. I should have gotten ice cream instead. The pie was very lemony and sweet. It was the texture that got me. Overall, I highly recommend going here and may actually ask about going back tonight. Service was AWESOME. Both Amy and Wendy were very hospitable and made me feel welcome.

    Prime rib medium rare

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    5 years ago

    Our server was amazing! Her name was Katrina. She was patient and attentive. The food was great.

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    8 years ago

    Lovely place and the staff is very welcoming! The grounds are beautiful, also.

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    Review Highlights - Old Rittenhouse Inn

    Hayes could come strolling in at any moment (not sure why I picked him, he probably never visited Lake Superior...).

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