Bent's Camp Resort

 

3

15

Stacey G.

Carol Stream, IL

7/11/2009

I have been coming up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin for over 25 years, and Bent's is by far my favorite tavern.

First of all, the place oozes history.  Bent's has been around since 1896, when it literally was simply a fishing camp.  Its main bar area was built in 1906, and it's a beauty, with its walls still papered with its orginal birchbark.  The people are friendly, and the drink and food prices extremely reasonable.  And the fish fry is the best I've had up here.  Get here early on Friday or be prepared to wait.  It's not that bad, however, if you wile away your wait time with a Minnow Bucket Martini or two.

Be warned, you FIBs from the North Shore of Chicago.  On Fridays the kitchen makes  fish fry and pizza, and that's it (but why would you want anything else?).  I there last Friday, and an overly-tanned and overdressed matron ( I am sure if I followed her back to her car, I would have seen a BMW with Illinois plates) was b*tching that they wouldn't serve her a Caesar salad.  Eyes were rolling in unison around the bar. This turned into audible supressed laughter as she asked to see the wine list.  Hey lady, go back to Wilmette where you can commune peaceably with your own species!  Leave Bent's to the people who want to swap their fish stories and have a nice meal and a beer before going back to their cabin.

My favorite Bent's story, though happened several years ago when my husband and I brought our 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter.  They thought it was awesome that they were allowed to sit at the bar.  Having sat through the "Blues Brothers" movie multiple times, my son exclaimed to the bartender, "Why, this is a BEAUTIFUL place you've got here, Bob!" as he climbed onto his stool.  Without skipping a beat, my daughter added, "They have both kinds of music here,Country AND Western!"

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85

135

Lauren B.

Denver, CO

1/24/2007

Wow!  I can't believe Bent's is on Yelp. I LOVE IT!

Bent's is way up in the northwoods.  Good bar, good food, great people.  They have live music and plenty of space to sit.  The view of the lake is beautiful and it's definitely worth a stop in when you're in the area.  

Jody is one of the nicest bartenders I've ever met!  Tell her I say hi when you make it in there.

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Elite '09

91

283

Leanne V.

Oakland, CA

6/24/2008

damn. i thought i would be a pioneering yelper and get a "first" on this guy. looks like everyone else loves bent's camp, too!

i've only gone on fridays for the fish fry. and what a fish fry it is. buttery, flaky goodness!

i love coming to bent's camp with my family, drinking leine's and laughing about how truly retarded we all are. it's a true northwoods experience - and not a touristy one at that.

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8

10

Heather L.

Evanston, IL

9/4/2006

If you find yourself in the Wisconsin Northwoods, I recommend a stop here.  We selected Bent's Camp Restaurant for its authentic Northwood's ambience, and it delivered from the start.  Decorated with birch bark, deer heads, and the largest stuffed bluegill I've ever seen, the lodge was warm and welcoming.  

Bent's Camp Restaurant does not take reservations.  As a native Wisconsinite, this rings true to me.  Dinner reservations in the Northwoods, after all, are the domain of supper clubs panning to vacationing Chicagoans.

First time visitors will appreciate the incredibly priced booze.  As a recent survivor of a $15 Chicago martini, I was more than pleasantly surprised when the bar tab for our party of five (one beer, four mixed drinks) totaled just $16.  Yes, that's right, I said $16.  I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

Sadly, the food at Bent's Camp is not as impressive as the atmosphere and the bar.  We got off to a rocky start upon learning that our fantasy appetizer, "The Taste of Wisconsin Tower" (fried cheese curd, walleye fingers, mini brats) was unavailable.  Disappointed, we soldiered on and started with just the fried cheese curd, which was delightful in a guilty pleasure sort of way.  And not just because it came with marinara sauce for dipping (as an aside, growing up in Milwaukee during the late 1970's, I thought that marinara sauce was ONLY served with fried cheese.  Pasta sauce came out of a foil envelope and had to be reconstituted from an orange powder).  While the entrees we selected ranged from Roast Duck to Baked Chicken to a 12" Tex Mex pizza (which screams Land O' Lakes, I know), none were superlative.  The duck was a bit chewy, the chicken a tad bland, and the few jalapeos on the pizza were, I'd wager, from a jar.  A bit underwhelmed by all of this, we opted out of dessert.

Bent's Camp is a great place, and will send you away smiling.  Go see 'em sometime, why dontcha?

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