The Bayfield Inn: Apostle Islands, WI

It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon when my wife and I finished up our cruise around Lake Superior to visit the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. If you missed it, you can read about it here. Since our cruise started at 10 AM, and it was about two and a half hours long, it was a bit after noon when we got back into port. The time on the water had made us quite famished, so we decided to see if we could get a table at The Bayfield Inn.

We had noticed the inn the day before, but by the time we had gotten there they were no longer serving food on the outside deck, it was drinks only, which didn't help us because we were starving then as well. The Bayfield Inn is actually separated into four distinct sections. There is the hotel, then you have the fine dining restaurant, which isn't the type of thing that @mrsbozz and I generally go for. They also have the lounge, which is drinks only, and then the rooftop deck which does both food and drinks depending on the hours.

You can see the Bayfield Inn in the photo above. It is straight ahead at the end of the pier on the left hand side of the road.

I had been directed to the inn by a colleague who had visited the islands a few years ago. When I mentioned we were visiting this summer, he said to be sure to check out the Bayfield Inn and at least have a drink on the deck.

So we did.

We expected the deck area to be packed full of people by the time we pulled back into town on the boat. After all, it was close to 1 PM, and we figured there would be a lot of tourists and vacationers whiling away their afternoon with some drinks and socializing. As we got to the top of the stairs, we noticed that they were moderately busy, but there were still quite a few tables open. The hostess informed us that the bugs were pretty bad, so a lot of people were opting to skip the outdoor seating.

@mrsbozz and I are campers, so a few bugs are not really a big deal for us, we gladly accepted a table with a view of the harbor.

I'm actually a bit surprised that we didn't get an appetizer here, but we did grab some drinks. My wife got a vodka lemonade, and I went with a Maker's Mark on the rocks. It was pretty delicious, and it was nice to just sip away and watch the boats in the harbor as we waited for our food.

Which was delicious by the way! I got the panko breaded Lake Superior Whitefish and though it wasn't quite as good as the fish I got at the beginning of our trip from The Cut River Inn, it was still really good. It was by far the best coleslaw I had all trip, and their homemade tartar sauce was pretty exceptional.

@mrsbozz got the Thai Chicken Sandwich which consisted of grilled chicken breast, arugula, thai peanut sauce, and pickled red onion. She said it was probably one of the best chicken sandwiches she has had in awhile.

Unfortunately, that's where the good things ended for our trip to the Bayfield Inn. The bugs weren't much of a nuisance, but neither was our waitress. In fact, after our order was taken, she was pretty much MIA for the rest of our visit. However, it's not that she was just gone, we could see her the whole time standing at the rooftop bar flirting with the guy behind the bar.

You would think that when you income relies on tips you might be a bit more attentive to your patrons. We did notice that many of the workers at the restaurant seemed to have thick accents like they were from an Eastern European country. Which isn't a big deal, it's actually quite similar to the migrant workers I have talked about in the Northern Michigan area. Again though, your job is to serve people, not get laid. Pay attention to your patrons!

All that aside, I would definitely recommend The Deck at the Bayfield Inn. The food was pretty amazing, and the views are absolutely stunning. Hopefully if you make a visit, you get better service than we did.

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