Craftsman has amazing northwoods ambience and is conveniently located in downtown Eagle River, but the diverse menu of upscale tavern fare, high food quality and great service would garner high praise in any setting. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, and accommodate both small and large groups. The well equipped bar also has some innovative cocktails (served with a signature steal spike) and large selection of beers. Our kids love it too because they have a great game area. I like their signature old fashion and Margherita, and I especially like their mint smash burger (no mint in it!) and various tacos, and they also serve a great fish fry. Make sure to grab a complimentary chocolate mint served as you exit the spotless bathrooms. read more

We keep trying .. have been here a half dozen times as we are local. But we are out. A few weeks back we entered a bit before 7pm The look on the greeters face was like "oh not more people" .. but there were only 3 active tables with one other finished. Turned out sour lady was also the server. Very unwelcoming The food was so bad I sent it back. The "smothered" pulled pork (the menu's description) had a squirt of sauce and was not hot - not warm even. As my husband was eating I just cancelled. The robotic manager said he wouldn't charge me !! ... seriously I didn't even bite into the sandwich. I joked he could reuse the bun. He offered a dessert. I'm not going to eat a dessert for dinner. I declined. Such a beautiful remodel of an old bar. A shame the food and service just don't hold up. read more

The Craftsman - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Really fun! We enjoyed the table games & atmosphere and power bowls especially. Unfortunately there was zero flexibility from the kitchen on some things that we guessed would have been basic substitutions. So it ended up feeling a bit nickle-and-dimey. My sister (a vegan) hoped to swap black beans for pork in the quesadillas or something--black beans were clearly listed elsewhere on the menu. The kitchen said no. Then she had her heart set on their dairy free ice cream with a vegan cookie--they said they were out of the ice cream, and no, they wouldn't sub a second cookie.. So they ended up charging her $10, the price of the full dessert, for a single cookie. I would eat here again if it were just me, but not if I had anyone in my party had any special dietary needs. read more

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The fact that this place isn't a solid five stars across the board is crazy. The food was exceptional, the atmosphere, so fun! And the service was also outstanding! The only thing that's disappointing is that they are closed on Sundays so we can't go back tomorrow. Absolutely our best food we've eaten in Eagle River to date! read more

The Craftsman - Kiddo playing games in the game room - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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A disappointing and, in my view, deceptive billing practice. Our bill had an unexplained "Advantage Program" charge of $2.53 added to it. Nothing about the words "Advantage Program" tells a customer that this is actually an additional 3% fee. Even more troubling, the 3% appears to have been calculated on the food, drinks AND sales tax. If a restaurant wants to charge customers an additional 3%, say so clearly and prominently. Call it a service fee, processing fee, or whatever it actually is. Don't bury it on the final bill under the friendly-sounding label "Advantage Program." The amount is small. That's not the point. Customers should know what they are being charged and why before the charge appears on their bill. And while we're talking about unexpected charges: $2.50 for a Diet Coke, plus another $2.00 charge for a Diet Coke, despite the receipt separately showing four "Soda Refill" entries at $0.00. If refills aren't actually free, that's fine--but again, just tell customers what they're paying for. read more

Super mixed review. We were told upon entering it would be a 40 minute wait and they seemed proud about it. This despite 9? Open tables. Bartenders clearly are a cut above and know their craft but the bearded guy is arrogant. Ordered after the wait and enjoyed playing shuffleboard. The grilled chicken sandwich was bad. If there was cheese it was microscopic and the chicken was overcooked. Even the seasoning was not good. Slow forgetful service turned an ok night at the bar into a sh@% show for the food. read more

We walked in at noon and granted it was busy but it took more than an hour to sit, then more than an hour to get our food. The food was mediocre at best. My food in fact came missing a key ingredient that I was looking forward to. Fortunately our servers were kind. They need to get their kitchen staff together cuz this was a disappointing experience. read more

Things here just aren't the same. Prices have gone up, servings have gone down. We had a 45 minute wait, but ended up waiting over an hour. And then waited even longer at the table for service. Lots of empty tables in the restaurant. Just seems like a functioning problem, like they can't quite figure it out. Lots of employees walking around. So didn't seem short on staff. Just not very efficient. read more

I had the grain bowl, and others enjoyed a selection of items. It's really trendy and fun, but not worth the wait. If you like beers though, you probably would like it more. read more

Group of us stopped in for dinner and drinks before our pond hockey tourney. We were able to make a reservation for 8. Was going to order the brisket hoagie but they discontinued it so I went with the 1848 burger along with the tree juice mule. We also ordered curds and pork belly for the table. Should not have doubled down on the curds but no joke these are the best I've had. Flaky pillowy cheesy goodness with a great ranch dipping sauce. Pork belly was smoky and crispy on the outside and melted like butter in the inside. The burger was delicious and the tots were a nice change to your normal fries. The tree juice mule was vodka, lime, maple syrup, and ginger beer. Something I never had before but now am a fan of. Gave me the old McDonald's honey dipping sauce vibe. Forgot to mention it is also veteran owned! Always support our veterans! Well worth the stop if you're in town! read more

The Craftsman - 1848 burger with tots with tree juice mule - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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This place was excellent, I had the whole crew with me so deciding on a restaurant can be tough with 4 kiddos and we had 2 extras. The Craftsman did don disappoint this hungry crew. They had really fun great cocktails for the older ones and mocktails for the littles. I had the pulled pork, so good! The bun was amazing totally help make sandwich! The totes were super good. We did have a little issue, my sons friend has some food allergies and he started having a reaction, the staff went back and checked the ingredients, they use cottonseed oil to fry everything, he has a sesame seed allergy so the 2 must be related. I was disappointed after checking we were told they would bring him something else he could eat they did not and I also had to ask to have his meal removed from the bill. This could have been handled a little better. Thank goodness his allergy is mild and they did inform us the tots were fried in the oil because he thought it was something in the sand which and he would have continued to eat the tots and had a really bad reaction. So just be aware if you a seed allergy. read more

The Craftsman - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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I really wanted to like it more...fun place with games and free pool/darts/ping-pong, but on a Wednesday night a 45 minute wait for food with no explanation is hard to accept. Couple that with mediocre food (tots tasted like they threw a bag in the fryer, zero flavor, chicken tacos lacked seasoning) and you have a below average experience. read more

We've been here a few times, the food is solid and the drinks are good. It's nice that they have both meaty & non-meat options. There are a lot of game options, a good size bar and plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. read more

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This is always a restaurant that we go to during our vacation in Minocqua, Wisconsin. An easy to get to town and beautiful drive. The service here is wonderful and it's farm to table fresh and high-quality items. read more

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A great establishment that has a mix of city life and the Northwoods. The crowd of locals is always fun. I had the Porkbelly last time I was in and it was beyond delicious. I also enjoy they had meas on tap. A crisp Apple Honey wine is absolutely delicious at the end of a long day. Overall I look forward to my trips to Eagle River and The Craftsman has become a tradition. read more

Another night and another great meal. Zoe our server was excellent and we are ready to go back. Just the best. Everything is great! Thank you read more

I've been here a number of times over the past few years, and I have liked it better than other options in Eagle River. My most recent experience, however, was so bad that I'm not sure I'll go back. This time it took nearly 50 minutes to get our food, even though the place wasn't super busy. And when we the foid finally arrived, my husband's pork sandwich was lukewarm, as if it had been sitting around. Something is wrong in this restaurant's operation. read more

Love Craftsman American Tavern in Eagle River WI. Today was a flight of beer from Blueberry Train Tribute Brewing in Eagle River, Hughes crawler Stout from Fox River Oshkosh & a Campfire Old Fashioned with Smoked Maple Knob Creek Bourbon with toasted marshmallow and cinnamon. Fish tacos and Mint Smash burger with tots were both excellent as well as our attentive server Susan. Fun & delicious visit read more

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I love the food here and some of the employees are very kind. However it is always at least a 40 minute wait to get food if not longer. If you sit outside it will certainly be 50 minutes. Staff don't refill drinks frequently and aren't helpful with questions about the menu. We keep coming back for the food hut would love to see some more initiative on the part of the staff or a better kitchen flow to get food out. read more

We thought about leaving to get McDonald's across the street. Arrived around 1:15-1:30pm and got told it would be a 30 ish minute wait. So we hung out at the bar, which the drinks were very good. Around 2:05pm I went up to check on our table since we had seen other people get sat. The hostess had that "oh great you again" look. After seeing people who just got in the door get a table right in front of me, I was told that we were next on the list and that they just needed to clean the table. Which then took them about another 10 minutes. After waiting almost an hour we finally got sat. We had hoped it would be better since we had a table, but it was almost worse. Asked for water once seated but did not get it until about 20 mins at the table and one of the glasses had a very visible crack around the whole glass. The waitress walked past our table, with menus and were very ready to order, to another table with no menus and they said that had ordered about 10 minutes before. It seemed like they had little to no organization of sections for the waitresses. We ordered at 2:18pm and did not get our food until 2:55pm and this seemed to be a problem amongst other tables. This is when we thought about just leaving a $10 bill and going for McDonald's but unfortunately decided to stay. Some of our food was hot but the rest was room temp like it sat there for a while. The burgers/sandwiches that were supposed to have sauce had little to none. The food was okay but nothing to wait over a hour for. Saw and heard many other tables ask/pay the bill right after getting their food like everyone just wanted to get out of there. We eat and tried to get out of there as soon as possible as well. Normally, we are the type of people to give the benefit of the doubt, especially since we had no other plans for the day. Although, the lack of communication and being there for over 2 hours and only being at the table for 50 minutes, drove us crazy. read more

The Craftsman has a very nice vibe in downtown Eagle River. The large bar is great with games in the back. There is also a nice sized seating area for dining. The menu was very good with a variety of options. Our server was knowledgeable and friendly, offering recommendations on the menu. We had the cheese curds as an appetizer and I went with the Tipsy Pig (pulled pork) with tots for my main. Caroline had the Mint Classic Smash Burger and felt it was very good. This place does a great job of mixing small town bar with a touch of class and will certainly be a place we look to try again on future visits. read more

Went tonight at 8:00. Sat at bar to have drinks and dinner. 30min later, still waiting to place an order for dinner and my glass of wine. So I asked the hostess if I could talk to the manager and the manager said the bar tender was busy. I mentioned, as a manger, if he was that busy maybe she could help him out so that customers could be taken care of. She told me she didn't need to be told how to do her job, she had plenty of things she was doing and walked away from us. We left $10 for my husbands scotch, and left. Extremely poor customer service. If your employees are too busy to take an order for food or a drink, help them out or don't seat people. read more

We are from out of town. We were seated right away, it took a little bit to put our drink order in. I ordered an alcoholic beverage and that took a little bit to get to me. Our server was sweet but she was running around every which way. We finally put in our order (at this point the inside had a lot more empty tables). It took close to an hour for us to get our food. She did come over and say that she checked and our food was the 2nd order in line but it took what seemed like forever. The food comes out and I wasn't impressed with mine, but my fiancé's food was better so i ate his and he ate mine. My curly fries (which are $2.50 extra) were not hot, and the burger was just ok. I loved his chicken sandwich and the tater tots were nice and hot. I thought it was going to be a lot better. Looking back i wish she would have taken my fiancés coke or something off the bill for having to wait so long. read more

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Nice space. There are games like ping pong in the way back and games you can bring to your table. Food: recommend the cheese curds and the 1848 burger. Prices are moderate so expect to pay about $100 for 4 people without drinks. Service was okay. read more

Great good, service and atmosphere. Drinks, curds and salmon were amazing!!! A gem in Eagle River. read more

The Craftsman - Bog Mule & Jubilee - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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Place looks amazing but food isn't :/ we got dessert here and it was very disappointing with the price we paid for it and the very small amount they gave us I could make it at home for less and I will be doing that next time read more

Very very good food. Cheese curds are a must! They will melt in your mouth. Helluva beer / drinks selection. Over 20 beers on tap. The only negative experience was they do not have pull tabs. I expect every Eagle River bar to have some sort of pull tabs. Btw the waitress was a darling, they didn't have the beer I wanted so she gave me a free one We're back and we got the mushroom po boy! Holy cow, excellent excellent excellent sandwhich! Their tots are phenomenal as well. The service here is absolutely incredible. Very nice and conversational workers to chat with at the bar. This establishment also has very cool vibes and the decor is amazing read more

The Craftsman - Mushroom Po Boy with a bite down the middle - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Wow! What a wonderful place with a terrific menu and friendly, professional staff. Our food was incredible- fresh and much of it locally sourced. We also loved to see local distilleries represented here - Timekeeper and 45th Parallel among them. Comfortable atmosphere. Lovely wine selection too. We will be back. read more

The Craftsman - Smash burger with cucumber salad - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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Savannah was a wonderful server! Attentive and great recommendations ! The best grilled shrimp we had - top 3 ever, easily! Great look inside, and ...purse hooks at the bar! We are looking forward to returning. read more

Husband and I were in the area on vacation. We don't go to Eagle super often- have always thought Minocqua had better bar/food options. The Craftsman changed our mind! Very cool industrial pub setting. Friendly staff and great food. We played a game of shuffleboard while waiting and they have ping pong and pool. Stopped by at Andy's Pontoon Saloon for outdoor music and drinks after. Great to see Eagle River stepping up their game! read more

We like The Craftsman but years of being short staffed tells me it's more a management problem than available help. We had a long wait with many empty tables but played shuffle board until our table was ready, so that was fine. We were seated outside on a warm night (some ceiling fans would be nice) but our waitress seemed to prefer staying in as we rarely saw her. 45 minutes for 4 smash burgers. I ordered one with blue cheese, a $1 upcharge, but was given a cup of flavorless blue cheese dressing instead. They were out of blue cheese. Why not tell me that when I ordered so I could decide if I wanted something else?? Overall, a disappointment for service and food. read more

Everytime I've been here the food gets better! Each time I order something different and have always been happy. Service is great and the ambiance is well.....love it! Veteran owned and just a different place to go to whether it's for one of their many delicious cocktails, appetizers or dinners. Love this place. read more

The Craftsman - Their shredded pork sandwich with tater tots. Delicious! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

We had such a great time at The Craftsman! The wait staff was incredibly helpful and friendly, which made the whole experience even better. They helped us with drink and food recommendations, which were spot on! The food was absolutely delicious--classic meals with just the right twist to make them special. We loved everything we ordered (curds, tots, chicken sandwich, tacos, flatbread) and the drinks (mules, margarita, lemon lavender drink) were just as impressive. Highly recommend checking this place out--you won't be disappointed! read more

The Craftsman - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Great vibe, super crowded during the summer and great drinks! Service was okay and food was just fine.

The food was great, service was solid, and they even found our baby's silverware that we accidentally left at the restaurant a few hours earlier. Had a family friendly lunch (smash burgers were popular) and later came back for a delicious cocktail date, drinks topped with fresh fruit and herbs. read more

Craftsman is a great looking restaurant and would be a blast to go and have some drinks with friends. Our group of 8 had several different dishes and there were mixed reviews. We would suggest the burgers and chicken sandwiches, but we would suggest skipping any type of seafood. Service was friendly and on top of things. Service/Aesthetic: 5 Food: 3 read more

The Craftsman - Salmon Sandwich - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

Food was s amazing, drinks were perfect. It was pricey but worth it for the atmosphere. read more

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True diamond literally in the rough! Frankly, didn't expect to find a place like this in way northern Wisconsin. Maybe in Madison or Milwaukee... but not Eagle River! High end spirits with well made signature drinks in a awesome bar and restaurant setting. And this has to be the only location north of Hwy 29 that doesn't only play country music and serve Busch Light! It's a bit pricey for the area, but everything I ordered was very good. I really liked the onion rings that came with a unique tangy mustard dip. I will say that if your looking for a normal Wisconsin Supper Club experience, this is not for you. It's also not for those looking to have some beers and watch the game. (There are plenty of options for this in the area) But if you are up here on vacation and you're missing home, this might give you a taste of the city (at least for a little while) then you can go back to your cabin on the lake and get back to roughing it and relaxing! read more

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This establishment is still five stars all the way and still one of my favorites. However, my main purpose in providing this update is to inform you that most if not all of the "new" items that I mentioned in my previous review are no longer on the menu. Unfortunately, suppliers do suddenly eliminate items and/or they can no longer be available and unfortunately this is the situation here. I think the selection is still good and many of the original items I mentioned in my previous reviews are still available. I'm not sure if I mentioned in my previous reviews that a nice outdoor covered patio is available. Street parking is limited; however, a city lot is available right next to the establishment. read more

The Craftsman - Garbanzo Salad and Brat Sliders New Items - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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Went on a Friday, early evening and all four of us were seated right away. Our waitress came very soon after we were seated to take our drink orders. Had the curds and wasn't disappointed. There's a nice beer menu as well as specialty drinks and selection of bourbons. This is a trendier place than you'd expect for the Northwoods, however it matches well with the area. Free shuffleboard, ping pong and pool in the back. Service was great and multiple people helped with food and drinks. If you're looking for the city/suburban atmosphere with the beer and food to match, this is the place for you. read more

The Craftsman - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Eagle River, Wisconsin

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