Let me start with this, I have been going to Eagle River since I was in grade school, with my buddy and his parents (40+ years). A lot has changed since then. Somehow, I never was here. The rep and other reviews intrigued me, so away we go. We walked in on a Wednesday, and it was pretty busy! Good sign. I heard all about the horseradish and I had to try it. Greeted, by a fine young man server/bartender, and he was very helpful with what we were looking for. We both got the double smash burger. She had the chips and I got the coleslaw. We both had a Bloody Mary, and I say they are right up there with the best I had. The burger sauce was delicious, the garlic mayo was delicious, and everything was fresh and skillfully made. The coleslaw was excellent and I know this is weird, but I'm a coleslaw fanatic. All the tap beers we had were fresh and tasted so good, it made you want to keep on sippin". Awesome time and experience. Horseradish and Mustard: these two items deserve their own review. Both are sold in house, along with the burger sauce. The server brought us over both with some pretzels. He did warn me, but I never listened to such words of wisdom. Being a horseradish junky, I tried a little fork full on my burger. Well, HELLO! It was good/spicy/hot/and all that. I wanted to try it on the pretzel, to see how it was alone. Took a good chunk and put her on there....took a bite....and ooooh shit....the check engine light came on in my body. I felt like I was being poisoned by toxic mustard gas in WWI. I didn't know whether to cough, puke, gag....I was in the weeds for a good minute. I seen my life flash before me, teleported to the third dimension. I know this sounds like I am a wimp, but I am no such thing. All i can say is, try it for yourself!!! It was a ride I will never forget. The mustard is along the same lines. Kind of like a Chinese mustard. The Bloody Mary was horseradish forward and I tell ya, this is a horseradish junkies paradise. Again, a great time, the Hamm's was the beerefreshing, and I can't wait to go back to the third dimension again. See illustrations for more. read more

See all

Highly recommend this place! The smash burgers were excellent! We tried the double smash burger and trashy cuban smash burger loved them both. Potato salad and onion rings were also very good. Wait staff was friendly and setting was warm and inviting. read more

See all

I've been coming to Eagle River for years and never stopped in till now. I'm calling Smugglers a "Dive Bar". Not at all in a bad way! It's just your typical local joint that happens to serve some really good burgers. Stop in and grab a Smash Burger or a Pastrami sandwich. Their sauce is delicious. Don't forget to have a Hamms on tap. Nice and friendly folks. Don't be scared. read more

Smugglers - Hamms on tap - American Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

A self proclaimed dive bar, which is basically true, but had a great vibe and was pretty crowded when I got there. Decent variety of tap beers available and not too expensive. The food was quite good and my only problem was not being able to get a second tapper because they were too busy. read more

Food was so fresh and good, service was extremely prompt at the bar, great atmosphere for Saturday night read more

Smugglers - Smash burger - American Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Amazing food and even better service! The double smash burger is beyond excellent. It was easy to tell that it came right off the grill because it was very hot. The burger was a little bit too greasy and the chips were a little bit too salty but they were still overall superb. The service was perfect. Multiple waiters/waitresses came around constantly to check in on us and they were very friendly and welcoming. The chef even came out and personally asked how our food was which just goes to show how amazing their service really was. The atmosphere was also amazing. I would highly recommend checking this place out if you get the chance to. read more

Best bloody Mary's, great service! They truly know how to make it perfectly. It's worth stopping while shopping, or just stopping in.​

Best Smash Burger EVER!! Everything on the menu is amazing and perfectly executed by Renee!!

Forget any review more than a year old. New owners Mike and Renee are wonderful people. Best burger of my life, their double smash burger. Worth a huge detour to get one. I'm so lucky it's a 20 minute drive for me. Easily worth 5x that distance read more

Just here trying to help out others that may have been ripped off by these guys. Last year a friend sent me a jar of their extra hot horseradish. Very small jar but the best and hottest horseradish I had ever had. This year I decided to bite the bullet and pay the high shipping costs and order 2 jars for Christmas prime rib dinner. Cost me $50.00 for the two tiny jars with shipping. When I opened them they were mild I mean super mild no heat whatsoever. No better than the same horseradish you buy at any local grocery store. Very very disappointing especially for the hefty price tag. Anyway I sent them an email and told them that the product was not even close to being up to par or what they say they are selling. Not even a reply. I had thought mabe they would make it right but nothing not even a simple apology. They couldn't even be bothered to hit reply on the email. Do yourselves a favor and do not order this product it is not the least bit hot and they don't care about their customers at all. Terrible experience terrible customer service . If I could rate below 1 star I would give an absolute zero. Thanks for ripping me off smugglers have a mediocre year to go with your less than mediocre horseradish read more

This is a must visit for us in Eagle River. We have been going here since the previous owners were runnings it. This trip was our first visit since the new ownership. The great drinks and service keep vacationers and locals coming back for more. We love that they kept the name and overall feeling just added a new logo. We were a little hungry so split the fish on a Friday lunch time. Our meal came out super quick! The portion was huge, so were glad we shared. The fish was not anything super special, but was freshly made to order and good bar food. The real win is their horseradish. We buy multiple jars every visits. This isn't any ordinary horseradish and isn't for the faint of heart. It's the real deal and worth the trip and the money. They have plain horseradish and horseradish mustard, both are available for sampling. Just make sure you have a drink ready! read more

First time at Smugglers was outstanding! Loved the atmosphere, great music and friendliness. My wife had the pizza and I did the Smash burger. Both meals topped the list as best in Eagle River. Natalie the bartender does a great job. We'll be back! read more

The first bar maid was very friendly, mixed our drinks and politely set them on the bar for us to retrieve to our table, took our picture with one of our phones and was generally friendly. Then came shift change, Lassie had quite a different attitude. We asked for another drink and we're told she would mix them as soon as we brought them to her and told her what we wanted with the attitude of a female pit bull in heat. Enough said time to leave. read more

This little whole in the wall bar was a two time stop for us in our 1 week vacation in the Northwoods! The new owner is very friendly and gave our son a free Green Bay Packer hat. Nice little place. Prices are great and the drinks are cold. What more could you ask for. Must try the All You Can Eat Cod on Friday's for $7.95, it's a great deal! read more

Smugglers - American Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Where do we begin? Should I talk abut the horrible service first? How about the rudeness? I know, we will talk about the food...wait, I can't because we never ate. So, on yet another weekend trip to Eagle River we decided to head out for lunch and try somewhere new. So, while walking around town we decided to try Smugglers. I had been told in advance the owner makes his own mustard and horseradish and also has a unique sense of humor but after a hour we had to just leave. Trust me, we were not the only ones. So we arrive at Smugglers and sit down at a table. It is my wife, me, and our 2 year old. Well, we sat and sat and finally after 10 minutes or so had to go ask the bartender/owner if we could get service. His excuse was he did not see us enter and honestly he probably didn't while he was chatting with his friends. So he slowly walked over to our table to get our orders and slowly is the key word there. Upon taking our order we were welcomes with some dry and terrible humor. All I want is a draft beer dude, I do not care that the 1lb bottle is cheaper than the 16 oz draft. I just want to order a beer. Seriously? Anyway, we order an appetizer of Jalapeño Poppers and out meals. I got the Philly Steak Wrap, a Hot Dog for our daughter, and them my wife order a French Dip. Let the waiting game begin. Honestly I did not even think about the wait very much until we started hearing rumblings from the table next to us who had gotten there before us and still had no food. We had been waiting for 45 minutes at this point but they had been there for at least a hour and 15 minutes they said and they had tables waiting for food ahead of them still. As time kept going by we noticed people leaving and more complaining going on. One lady, who had kids with her, had received a hot dog for one of her kids but not the others and was in the process of leaving. She confronted the owner and he told her to "just go eat at McDonalds." Honestly, I loved her response of "maybe I will." The table next to us we're still waiting and wanted to cancel their order after being there for 1.5 hours. Did I mention we still have not gotten our appetizer of poppers yet? Well, one of our table neighbors got her salad and the owner came over and told them the food was in the process of being made and they have to have patience. Patience? Really? They had been waiting for 1.5 hours. Well, I have had enough and it is getting well past nap time. I asked the waitress to please bring my bill for the beers and cancel my order. I am sorry but we cannot sit there forever with a 2 year old. So as we waited 10 more minutes for our bill the arrive our neighbors got their food. Most of their orders were wrong, the food looked disgusting, and the "wraps" we're a tortilla with stuff in them like a taco instead of being wrapped. Most of them did not stay to eat and the one who did take a bite said is was gross. So in a way...the wait was a blessing. So, when in Eagle River do not go to Smugglers. What's funny is they had a sign up saying the are a 5 star reviewed restaurant on the Internet. Well, that is true (1 review for 5 stars about his homemade horseradish) but not for long starting with this click.....now. read more

Hands down great place in the Northwoods. Bartenders were super friendly. Clean bar, and cool pictures around the bar.

Best bar in Eagle River.. we are from Tampa, not locals. Our girls go to camp here, and we spent two days here.. exploring the town and killing time and this was the best place we visited. Awesome customer service, cold beer, and the food was great. Clean bathroom and the place was super friendly/welcoming.. skip tiny tap and come straight here! read more

I was at Smugglers Lounge this past weekend and to sum it up the service was atrocious and the bartender/ owner was a disgusting slob. I ordered three pints of beer from the disheveled barkeep and he had a hard time pouring the pints because he was shaking like a rattling snakes tail. After pouring the three pints he stuck his thumb and fingers into my pints to hand them to me. I looked at his fingers nails and it looked like a beaver gnawed on them. He had a arrogant attitude towards the tourist in the bar and seemed only happy engaging with the locals. read more

A group of us visited Smugglers Lounge over the weekend and the service was awful at best. When I went to the bar to get a round, the owner was sitting down in the corner of the bar doing nothing. He took my order and continued sitting there. After standing at the bar waiting for a while, I heard him say "I guess these FIBs want service." If you don't know, FIB's is a term that means F'in Illinois Bast.... I was appalled. At that point I sat down and waited for my 3 beers. Another patron went up to the bar to order while he was still sitting in the corner, they made eye contact with the owner, placed their order and he didn't acknowledge them. They repeated their order politely and he responded "YEAH, I HEARD YA!" At that point we walked out. The service sucks, the owners attitude also sucks, so don't waste your time here. read more

The service was slow and we found the owner rude and my husband and I felt he was insulting when I gave my husband a bite of my fish. He was busy talking to his friends at the end of the bar. No one was really tending to the bar.The food was good, but the wait was long. I would prefer to pay for good service, as well as good food. We are frequent visitors to the Eagle River area, and I would not recommend this place to any of my friends and family. read more

Smugglers - American Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Nice little bar. The food is alright, I got the fish I didn't care for, my wife got the big smuggler it was really good. The service sucked, the bartender was slow and rude. read more

The best horseradish I have ever had. It may look like a humble dive bar, but it really does have the best horseradish in the world.

Drinks are great.. Have to try the horseradish and mustard!! Have a water handy!!!!

A nice little place labeled the "Horseradish King of Eagle River", this hole-in-the-wall bar has pretty standard dive fare. Their horseradish mustard is truly delicious, and they have Point root beer on tap. Their local Smugglers Brew seems to be a nice golden wheat microbrew. read more

I only ate there once. I ordered a burger and politely asked the guy to cut it in half. He says "do you want me to eat it for you too?". Then he got mad when I asked for an extra napkin. Oh, and the burger was average. read more

Stay away if you don't like bars with a lot of character and I mean the facility and the staff. Good drinks, food, and excellent horseradish. read more

Crusty doesnt begin to describe the owner or the bar. Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else. No a/c, the worst service i have ever had!! People in the northwoods are usually great but not here. 1 star is to many read more

The owner was very rude. I asked if I could try a beer that was on tap and he said no. Then asked if I go to the gas station and ask for a sample. I have never been to a bar in the Northwoods that doesn't let you have a taste of what they have on tap. Also he grabbed a handful of pretzels with his hands an put them in a plastic cup for us to try his horseradish and mustard dips. No thank you! That is just so gross. I will never go back there. Matt D I really don't think he likes women. I feel he is intemedated by us. read more

Wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Very rude help/owner? Bloody Mary tasted like it was made with bad tomato juice couldn't taste any spices. The wrap was ok. Not sure how they stay in business. I am 53 and this is the first time I felt compelled to write a review it was that bad of an experience. read more

Smugglers Lounge is our favorite hangout in Eagle River. You gotta try Rich's famous homemade horseradish sauce and HOT mustard!! If you're a total heat freak, ask Rich for a drop of his chili pepper oil. The homemade soups and the chili are awesome (gotta get a side of the garlic cheese bread!!) . Loved the tenderloin steak sandwich as well as their various burgers. The Friday night fish fry has generous portions at a good price. I also recommend the Point Root Beer on tap. Good Wi-Fi connection. read more