Castle Hill Supper Club - Merrillan

My girlfriend and I were mid-roadtrip when I called in to ask how late they'd be open. After some friendly bantering, it was decided that they'd still be open by the time we expected to arrive. We showed up to a completely empty parking lot (8:10pm on a Thursday) and patron-free restaurant and realized they probably would've shut down early if not for my phone call. That's some generous WI hospitality. We ordered a pair of classic Up-Nort' cocktails to sip on while we pondered the menu and waited for the food to arrive: a brandy old fashioned and a brandy manhattan. Both were exactly what you'd expect and hope for in a place like this, and I'd recommend both if you know what you're getting into (simple, classic WI cocktails). My girlfriend chose the sirloin steak with a salad and American fries; I went with the broasted chicken with all dark meat, some chicken dumpling soup, and a side of mixed veggies. The steak was delicious, though unfortunately for me, she ordered it medium-well (and it arrived medium-well). The fries, soup, and salad were all standard fare done right. I think the mixed veggies were previously frozen, as their texture was less than stellar, which would be my only minor complaint about the entire experience. But the broasted chicken MORE than made up for that. Holy s**t was that good. We talked about it the rest of the weekend at a family reunion. Perfectly crispy breaded skin and mind-bogglingly moist meat inside. For some added charm: I think the bartender and chef are joint owners, and I suspect they live next door (since we saw zero vehicles). And did I mention the whole meal cost $40? Go there.

Recommended from a friend who is local. We were hoping for a nice old school WI small town supper club and this nailed it. Lots of seating, friendly crowd. Lots of food options, well priced. Shrimp cocktail and fried shrimp and fish. Biscuits. Soup and salad. Family atmosphere. Easy for the kids to find something they liked. They had mini desserts and an ice cream cooler. We will do this again when we are on our way from Madison area to Twin Cities area. Good stopping point.

Wisconsin is known for Supper Clubs, and this one fits the bill nicely. Menu had plenty to choose from, prices were a bit on the higher end, but the food was decent. I would go back for another round.

Where to even start? I suppose at the beginning. We were headed from our home in Central Wisconsin to Minneapolis for the weekend and thought that rather than the usual Interstate fast food fare, we should have a nice enjoyable meal off the beaten path. My wife does a little research and we found Castle Hill. We looked at their website...Inviting pictures, a seafood buffet, long history of operation. Reservations were strongly suggested, so I made some for 6 pm. We arrived a few minutes before 6. Making reservations was totally pointless, we had to wait in line with everyone else. There was an atmosphere among the staff that they were clearly going through the motions and that giving a **** was not required, as we waited seemingly forever for a table in a place with zero atmosphere. The dining area looked like a K of C meeting room, brightly lit and cavernous. It was like being at a wedding reception where you didn 't know anyone. Finally a woman seated us at a long folding table with a plastic tablecloth and asked if we 'd like menus. Uh, yeah, it 's pretty hard to decide what we want without them... The woman disappears. 20 minutes later, no water, no menus, no drink order, nothing. The woman was at the bar, chatting with friends. Kathy went to hunt her down, to my protests. I wanted to leave at that point. She returned with the woman, who brought one menu and left to 'find another ', never to return. We decided on the seafood buffet, as we thought that ordering off the menu, we 'd be there all night. A young girl took our order and our drink order. Scallops were advertised as being on the buffet. There were none. The cocktail shrimp were good and the deep fried cod wasn 't bad. That 's where it ends. There was boiled cod that comically tried to pass itself as 'Door County Fish Boil ', absolutely the worst baked cod i.e. Poor Man 's Lobster I will likely ever experience, and several other items that clearly came out of a frozen bag or a can. Many items I wouldn 't even try, they looked that bad. The swedish meatballs clearly came from On-Cor. We ate what we could manage to. Waitress didn 't return with our beverages until the meal was half-over and we never saw her again til she brought the check...no refills on anything. To summarize, cheap, crappy food, lousy service, zero ambience. They tout themselves as 'Jackson County 's Premier Steak and Seafood House '. I am quite certain that they are the ONLY Steak and Seafood House ' in Jackson County or they 'd never be able to make that claim. It was an adventure, to say the least. 30 miles down the road, I asked Kathy if she had any gum, so I could get the taste of that awful baked cod out of my mouth. The gum was the best thing. that I had to eat all evening.

4 stars for food, 2 stars for atmosphere 3 stars. I've been to Castle Hill a few times in the past before I started Yelping and always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. My family and I came here with a large group recently and I was disappointed to see that they had closed off the Supper Club side of the restaurant and therefore everyone was to sit in the banquet side. The banquet side feels very much like a banquet hall, which is not at all an enjoyable atmosphere for a normal night out. It's very brightly lit with stark white table cloths and high backed banquet chairs. Part of the reason one goes to a supper club is for the cozy, inviting atmosphere and this isn't it! Now.. I have to wonder if the choice to close down the restaurant side has to do with COVID and social distancing. I definitely do respect that if that is the case, but I have to call it as I see it. Now on to the good stuff! Despite our large group, our service was impeccable. The servers were so organized and knew exactly how to accurately and efficiently handle a group our size. They were very friendly as well. Most of us ordered prime rib and every single person got the exact cook that they wanted and the food was delicious. The prime rib was SO tender and didn't have blobs of extra fat like you often see with that particular cut. I might even say this is one of the top 3 prime ribs I've ever had! The sides were good as well. The cocktails were good and omg so strong lol! All in all this is a great place to eat, just definitely missing that supper club vibe.