Wise Owl Restaurant & Country Store

My s/​o and I went up to the first weekend of Bike Week this past weekend and naively thought we might be able to grab a few stools at a local brunch spot on Sunday. (Pause for the LOLs).
Needless to say, everywhere close to the strip was standing room only, and I mean in the parking lot. So I took to my trusty Unilocal app and found Wise Owl only 10 minutes away. Off we went.
Easy to find, easy drive. You enter through the «Country Store» part and the «Restaurant» part is in the back. Both are loose interpretations of said titles. The country store DOES have all the necessities (and beer, which might be redundant). The restaurant is a cute little spot with maybe 8 tables and two teenaged girls taking orders.
Menu was more than sufficient — all the breakfast staples and lots of homemade yummies. I got the veggie omelet (shocker, I know); he got homemade french toast and a side of 2 scrambled eggs.
The food took a longgg time to come out, and my eggs were runny, but those were my only complaints and the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars. Everything else was superb.
Coffee was great, and refilled often. No issue getting milk instead of cream. Grilled bagel was perfect — crispy and soft in all the right places. Came with cream cheese already spread on it, which was a bonus because I realized of the hundreds of grilled bagels I’ve ordered, I don’t think a single one came pre-​spread up until this point. The omelet… well, Dad always said don’t be a quitter, but this time I just couldn’t do it. There must have been like. 8 eggs in my omelet? It was HUGE. I asked for extra cheese and I GOT IT! It was awesome. Flavor was fantastic, veggies mixed into the egg like I like, yum yum yum. With the exception of a few spots of runny egg, it was seriously a perfect omelet. Boyfriend’s «2» scrambled eggs was more like 5, and he got cheese on his and they did it just right. The homemade french toast was: fire emoji:. Homefries were fine, nothing crazy but nothing bad. Wowza. Great meal.
I will definitely come up here next time I’m up for bike week. HIGHLY recommend!

Large portions-​pancakes the size of plates! Many delicious breakfast items including yummy Greek omelette with hunks of tomato and feta cheese. Thick slices of toast and homemade hash browns.

Nice little store. Convenient, friendly staff.

After receiving a recommendation from a local Alton Police officer, we had to give it a try. Fantastic breakfast! Affordable, and big portions. The French toast was the perfect consistency, and they were able to custom the order to my wishes. My boyfriend had the Irish Benedict, which includes homemade hash– and he loved it. We both highly recommend Wise Owl, and will certainly go back on our next trip to the lake.

My boyfriend started taking me here at the beginning of the summer. We stop in every weekend we’re on the lake. The restaurant is hidden in the back of the store and has limited seating. It gets quite busy, but totally worth the wait if you have the time! The portions are huge… I can never finish my breakfast. French toast with their homemade bread is the best. My bf is a fan of their omelets. I’m pretty sure they use a dozen eggs, because they’re also quite large. Best breakfast on the lake for sure!

Hidden breakfast spot on the lake. All homemade breads, homemade hash. Large portions. Don’t miss!

Good general store for your basics but… DO NOT EAT AT THE DELI! The food was horrible — we first tried to order roast beef subs to find out 15 minutes later that their roast beef went bad and needed to order something else. We understood but were upset it took them so long to figure that out. We then ordered a tuna salad and got tuna on 2 slices of lettuce and 2 whole carrots (we asked for shredded carrots like you would normally put on a salad haha). Interesting and memorable visit but definitely will not go back.

OK store but skip the lodging.