I've eaten here a few times over the years. My takeaway is the place is consistently good. I stop short of great, because there is room for improvement; however, being consistently good fills tables. Overall, slightly nicer than a family restaurant but not pretentious in any regard. High ceilings, kind of noisy environment, but not so loud you can't chat with your table mates. A full bar and a menu where everyone should be able to find something to their liking. On my last visit, I had their ribs. Gotta say they were pretty good. Large portion served with a creamy coleslaw and bowl of Mac & Cheese. I prefer a moist Mac & Cheese and found this to be pretty dry. My dining partner had the bistro melt with a chicken breast. Also tasty and a large enough sandwich to bring some home. Price for a dinner is just slightly on the high side; however, the taste of the food, drinks and friendly service will probably bring you back. If you are into it, they also do Trivia on Thursdays! read more

Wilder's Bistro - Spences Slow-Smoked Ribs with coleslaw and Mac & cheese - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

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Impeccable service and excellent food / overall menu, will definitely come again The spring drink specials are delicious! read more

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Great menu. Service was awesome. Food was very good. Wish menu was even bigger. Airy and open seating read more

The menu was yummy, we tried the sampler appetizer and pick a little bit of everything. Nothing disappointed. I got the gumbo, my mother got the chicken and dumplings and my husband had the sampler bbq and had ribs and smoked salmon. EVERYTHING was tasty, a bit on the spicy side, but not so much that it was too much. Tanya was amazing and we enjoyed her service and knowledge of the menu. We will be making this a staple for our stops in Appleton now. Thanks and can't wait to try something new next time! read more

Very good food and surprisingly good BBQ for a Wisconsin restaurant. Looks nice inside without being overly fancy.. read more

This is genuinely my favorite restaurant in Appleton. I tell EVERYONE I know to check it out. The food is always delicious, fresh, and creative. I daydream about their appetizers and entrees. My favorites are the stuffed mushrooms, dip trio, and the cheese curds. Their chicken and waffle wings are to die for. Their prices are fantastic for what you get, the staff is always very friendly and knowledgeable. It's also a cute establishment with local art! read more

I wouldn't recommend Wilder's Bistro to anyone. The service is slow, the food is subpar and with so many other fabulous restaurants in tow. With delicious food, friendly service and a great atmosphere, don't come here. I've been here several other times and I left so disappointed that I didn't review. I visited on a Thursday night and there couldn't have been more than 4 other tables of people at the restaurant. We were seated at 5:30 and we didn't leave until after 7:30 pm. Our server was inattentive and we constantly had empty glasses and needed refills. I ordered a side salad (pictured) and it had more bacon than lettuce. The size of the salad is deceiving, as it is served in a shallow dish. It was a good salad, but lacking in lettuce. I ordered the Aunt Ida's Mississippi Mac, which is supposed to be jalapeños, onion straws and Mac and cheese with pulled pork and drizzled with barbecue sauce. The garlic bread that is served with it was the best part of my meal. The Mac and cheese was covered in onion straws that had no flavor and the dish wasn't warm. I ate it anyway, as the server did not come back to ask how the food was. The jalapeños were also not included in my dish. The pulled pork didn't have any flavor, either. I took home about half of the meal and reheated it for lunch the next day and if it had been served hot or even warm at the restaurant, it might have been yummy. The rest of my family was not impressed either...so this was definitely our last visit. Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else... read more

Wilder's Bistro - Side Salad - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

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Upscale slightly formal dining area. Food was very good. Not crowded when we were there.

So I Grubhub to earn some extra cash and have had 5 orders here in the past 6-7 months. Guys kindness and respect goes a long way. I've seen you treat other Grubhub drivers disrespectfully and me 3 out of the 5 times. I've eaten there a few times never again remember we are potential customers for you as well. You said they were bagging up my order and two other walk-in order came in you gave them their food while I sat for another ten minutes. You have done this to me before and again I've seen you do this to other drivers. We're just trying to do our job. If you hate us that much, it's real simple, Don't deliver with Grubhub. And also maybe don't have a 17 year old be at the desk. This is just a fact their brains aren't fully developed. Again respect and kindness goes a long way! I've reported this to Grubhub and asked you to take me off of your delivery list please follow through with that. Have a blessed day! read more

WOW! I was overly impressed with the BBQ and the tenderloin. I do a lot of bbq and have been all over trying different BBQ restraints and nothing compares to "T's" (the cooks). Ribs were thick and done perfect, brisket was tender ,and had tons of flavor! The atmosphere was not what I expected for a BBQ joint but it was super nice. Great service and overall wonderful experience. read more

Wilder's Bistro - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

Atmosphere: Huge wrap-around parking lot. The main entrance has a nice host station to bring you to you to your table in Wilder's Bistro or Wilder's Tapas Bar. The inside of the bistro has tables and booths, high ceilings and has a large bar area. The booths are super comfy and they have hooks across from all of them so you can put your coat up and have more room in the booth, I LOVE THIS. Service: Such friendly and professional staff. From the host to the bartenders, they have grade A people working here that know the service industry well. Food: WOW. I seriously can't get enough of the quality of food they have. The Friday perch is a MUST, the slaw that comes with it is great and so is the tartar sauce. They have super crispy french fries which I think they double fry to get them to be that perfectly crispy. The appetizers are unique to the area and I wouldn't even know which to recommend first! The fried avocado bites? The stuffed mushrooms? The mac n cheese wedges? THEY ARE ALL GREAT. This place is a one of a kind gem and I can't wait for our next visit. I'm hoping the next time we have family in town we can bring them here to show what a great business this is and impress them the way we have been impressed. read more

Wilder's Bistro - Mac n cheese wedges - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

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Amazing jambalaya. Fun seasonal drink menu. Good wines. Appetizers so tempting that you may just want to skip a main course.

Service was great at this restaurant. The menu has several interesting and award winning dishes on it. I rated it 3 stars because the waffle coated chicken wings I had were a bit greasy and my wife's salad plate was just so so. We probably will not go back again since Appleton has many great restaurants to choose from. read more

Happened on this place as we were driving thru Appleton, and really glad we stopped! Service was great, and food was outstanding. I had the Shrimp and Grits and my husband had the Saturday Night Prime Rib special. Highly recommend. read more

First time visit to Wilder's Bistro, and it did not disappoint. Old fashions were meticulously made, and in tall glasses. We were a group of 6 and were sat in the main dining room, but we were under an air vent, and it was cold. Our waitress, heard our concern, and happily moved us to a private party room. She was awesome. Salads were huge, and tasty. I had the bistro melt with a chicken breast, it was very good, with a side of greens which i have never had, and cornbread which i really like. For dessert i had a piece of key lime mango cheese cake, it was soooooo good. Everyone wanted a bite of it. Highly recommend it read more

The food was good but it was NOT worth the wait. Picture a late lunch on a Saturday and waiting well over an hour for your food. If you have a special event either figure out how to handle that and your normal restaurant business or close the restaurant for the afternoon. They were apologetic with free desert but should have been up front and vocal before we sat down. read more

Food was excellent. We will be back. Started with the best stuffed mushrooms I've ever had. Then garlic stuffed tenderloin and it was so good. Wife had salmon and was cooked perfectly. Staff was friendly read more

Sat down at 6:17pm and left at 6:44pm. No one is working, apparently. No one offered us waters or drinks or anything. There were multiple other people waiting in the dining room for service which was the red flag for us to leave. Bye. read more

I've been here many times and apparently have never written a review. WOW. Every time. You should definitely put this on your list if you are in the area. This is one of the top 3 places in my restaurant rotation, and hands down competes for "best food in Appleton" of all the places I've been this far. I was on my own so I ate at the bar. I ordered some stuffed mushrooms and Damiens Smokehouse Melt. The mushrooms came out quick and hot. So hot in fact that I probably burnt myself a few times and had to cut them all in half and let them cool for a minute or so. If you like mushrooms you should definitely order these. If you don't like mushrooms: you should order these. They are just great (I got mine with the tomato sauce). Also, unless you are a big eater, I'd recommend bringing a friend to split these with. They are BIG. Right as I took my last bite of mushroom, a server came from the kitchen with my sandwich. So I basically just kept eating! Talk about a perfect transition. I've had this sandwich twice before, and I still had to take a moment in my first few bites to appreciate how much flavor is packed into this thing. It's just so good. 11/10 recommend. The bartender was friendly, and the environment is always pretty low key. Come here, you won't regret it read more

Wilder's Bistro - Damien's Smokehouse Melt - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

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A co-worker of mine frequents Wilder's and constantly raves the food. I had ordered a burger for takeout once, prior to my first visit, and it was pretty good. While in the area the other evening a small group of us decided to try it out. The restraunt wasn't busy at the time since it was late in the evening, greated by friendly staff and seated promptly. We had ordered the Lobster Mac, jambalaya, and a catfish po boy with fried okra (pictured). The food was all great, and we will definitely be back. The prices for the quality and quantity of food is very fair also. It was our servers first night so she struggled a bit, but the manager was very polite, professional, and stepped in to help make our experience smoother. Overall a great experience. And I'll admit I'm very picky regarding food & staff experience. read more

Wilder's Bistro - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

Went to Wilders bistro with a few friends and all enjoyed our meals. we received good service. Love their sweet potato tater tots and their prime rib sandwich. The server was attentive and friendly. Unfortunately, the restaurant was very quiet not many people there. I don't understand why it is not busier they have really good food. Definitely will keep going back! read more

Good Food, comfort food. Lots of room for dining. Gabe's Ghetti is my favorite & Judy's Lobster Mac & Cheese is also good;)

First time dining at Wilder's and I'm extremely pleased with my experience. First, our party of 4 were seated in a cozy corner by ourselves. The high dividers between tables made for a more private space. Now to the food--outstanding! We all ordered something different and everybody loved what they got. The portions were a good size, served hot, and very flavorful. Our server was attentive and checked on us frequently. After we ordered, it took a little while for the food come, maybe 20+ minutes but it was absolutely worth the wait. Good food takes time. We would definitely come back when in the area again. read more

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Wonderful food! An exciting variety that you will not find on other menus. First class service by a staff that genuinely appreciates your patronage. read more

We love Wilder's. Last time we had the Friday fish combo. It was excellent. We have never had a bad meal or bad service.

Wanted to try it. We ordered guacamole which came and was spinach artichoke dip we asked our server and she said it's creamy house guacamole?? After eating it we all said it's no where near guacamole. The lobster Mac had good flavor but the pasta was obviously cooked held and re heated and very gummy read more

Have been waiting for our order for 40 minutes. Still not here. Checked with server 10 minutes ago and we were her " next order up". There are very few diners in this main dining room. read more

What a surprising good experience! I didn't expect much originally but I fell in love with everything we ordered! We came here around noon on a Sunday. There was only one table of people. Not sure it was too early or because of the construction. So we got seated very quickly. The waitress was very patient and nice to recommend their signature dishes. I got wings and blackened fish taco and my husband got the burger which were all yummy! I will definitely come back in despite of the annoying construction. Tips: Blackened fish taco can be too spicy for people who can't tolerate the spiciness, which the waitress warned me ahead of time. But I love spicy food. read more

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2nd time here Due to mental health issues I prefer to be seated isolated as possible owner refused To sit me in the off beaten path were sat last time so I dropped my review from 5 to 2. Refusing to make such a simple accommodation shows incredible lack of customer service read more

Wilder's Bistro - Wilder's salad - Seafood Near Me - Appleton, Wisconsin

We have been here 2 times now when visiting our son. I had the Mac and Cheese which I highly recommend, Smokehouse Melt is good as my son had that. My wife had the salmon BLT which she couldn't finish but was excellent. Our 2nd trip my son had a Burger which he loved, I had the Smokehouse Melt, and my Wife had the Jambalaya which is loaded with Shrimp. Both times we ordered the Breaded Avocado which is to die for. Can't wait to come back as I told my wife I don't think there is a bad thing on this menu. read more

Food was good, atmosphere was dull. Waitress good. Deep fried deviled eggs were good. Filling.

Great place to go if you are craving ribs!! I have had my share of ribs in my life and Terrance has them on lock!!! They have other great choices too such as the Gumbo or Jambalaya, you cannot go wrong with either. If you need some crab cakes just one word de-Lisc-ious. Full stocked bar to with a good selection of drinks. Don't forget to check out the monthly specials. Terrance is always up to something. This month for cinco de mayo try the shrimp tacos and a Don Julio margarita!! Happy place!!! read more

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The food here is wonderful! The breaded avocado is amazing! I could make a meal of this. Smoked beef was delicious; out party had brisket, filet and prime rib. All so tender and flavorful. The lobster Mac n cheese was out of this world. Service was perfect, didn't even have to ask for soda refills, food was brought out quickly. Prices were fair. Appleton's best kept secret. Try it, you'll be happy you did. read more

Fantastic! One word is really all you need to explain dinner at Wilders Cutting Edge Bistro. I went tonight with some friends for drinks and dinner just to catch up. They and been before and highly recommended it. We started with appetizers - Spinach and artichoke.dip, Breaded avocado, and Lobster cakes. The breaded avocado had a nice crisp texture on the exterior and a soft flavorful avocado inside. The lobster cakes were also equally delicious and worthy to be served as an appetizer or an entree. For entrees we tried Uncle Jesse's jambalaya, the March special dedicsted to the Irish with corned beef and cabbage and the ribs which we're smoked with a Savory BBQ sauce. The service was fantastic with a very attentive waitress and a special visit by Chef/Owner Terry Wilder to complete our visit. Be sure to visit and enjoy! read more

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I had lunch at Wilder's the day after opening, and dinner 2 weeks later. Both times, the quality of food was excellent. Prices are reasonable and do not differ much between lunch or dinner. Service was exemplary. The lobster cakes was a very good start for lunch. I recommend the mahi tacos however it maybe a tad spicy for someone's taste. During dinner, we ordered the breaded avocados as appetizer which my daughter loved. The smokehouse melt and surf n turf burgers stand out. I feel that anything you order from the menu would be a good choice. read more

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We went to this place on a whim, and wow were we not disappointed! The service was prompt and very helpful, and when the food came we were blown away. We went at around 7:30pm and sat in the Bistro section, and when we got there the place was very quiet. The atmosphere inside was excellent, and the food was even better. My only regret is that I could only order one thing from the menu, as so many of them looked amazing. Suffice it to say that we will definitely be coming back. read more

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I always have great food going here. This time I had a kind of bbq sampler platter, with ribs, andouille sausage, and prime rib. A lot of food! Very good, even the Cole slaw, and I generally do not like Cole slaw! read more

Food was scrumptious. We ate ate the bar and JS served us with excellent service. Appetizers Spinach and Artichoke great starter! Pictures below! read more

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Wilders is a bistro with a southern flavor to there food. Our meals were good but nothing that would scream I need to come back. The decor is nice with comfy booth seating for virtually the entire restaurant. Our service was suitable but not outstanding. She seemed a little gruff at first but did warm up a little as we went along. Next time we'll try the neighboring / adjacent lounge & tapas restaurant and hope for better results. read more

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The new steak sandwich is awesome. The deep fried deviled eggs are great. Unique spin on a scotch egg.