The Range Line Inn of Mequon

Have gone here numerous times for Friday Fish Fry — always yummy!!! Be weary of a long wait!

I’ve always liked it here. Service great. Atmosphere cute and quaint. Had fish here tonight. Two dishes, one for me and one my husband.
Fish? Do you like paprika??? Whatever you get, even lobster is smothered in paprika. So sad. Too bad. Not good at all.
Otherwise steaks good. Soups always good.
Just beware of someone being paid to douse your food with paprika :(in that kitchen

You’re only as good as your employees. Consistently inconsistent. Had to prod the waitress for the specials. Mango salsa sounded great on Sea Bass. Too bad the chef, kitchen staff and waitress failed by not putting it on the fish nor the plate. End of meal was asked what they could do and that the owner would talk to us. Nothing happened. Nothing they could do about the dinner. It was up to them on what to offer. Waitress took .50 cents off two $ 29 meals. How embarrassing for them. Found the owner on the way out. She apologized and thanked me that I brought it to her attention and that she would take care of my mother in the future. Nice, we’ll see. Whitefish was good, Sea Bass was good but bland, of course, no mango salsa. Not worth the $ 100 for 3 dinners, no drinks. Last dinner we had, 6 of us, everything was great. Again, inconsistency messes up a good restaurant.

What a special find this place was. This place has a great old school charm about it and served simple, delicious food. We got the lobster tail special (i think just on wednesdays) and some bbq (chicken and ribs). I’m originally from the east coast and this is the best lobster i’ve had since being out here. The chicken was so tender and the ribs fell off the bone. Also, a must order is the french onion soup– love the crispy cheese ends! Service was a bit slow but it was worth the wait.

We go frequently and I always get the filet, it’s delicious and I have never had a bad steak there. Been going for over 15 years. Great soups too!

Stopped in last night for a fish fry. My wife had the haddock and I got the perch. Both were very good and a good portion. We also had the clam chowder and French onion soups and both were delicious.
We also got the pasta off the kids menu and our toddler loved it. Will definitely come back again.
The décor is older and it appears that they have a lot of regular clientele which speaks highly. There isn’t much in the Mequon area in terms of dining and I’m glad we finally tried this place out.

I went with my Mom & Brother on Aug 5^th 2015 for my Birthday dinner. It happened to be Wednesday night is lobster night. Works for me.
I ordered a glass of Pinot noir house wine, my Brother had 2 jack and cokes (over the course of dinner) and my Mom had a lemonade.
We all had the baked French onion soup which was excellent!!!
I ordered the twin lobster tails for dinner. Mom had the prime rib sandwich I believe and my Brother ordered a steak and shrimp.
Lobster tails were great (especially being broiled) very moist and sweet. Mom loved her meal and my Brother liked his except for the shrimp. (Not the hand breaded coconut shrimp) I did try one (he only got 3 shrimp) and they were flavorless and mushy. Like frozen gone not so good.
For dessert my Brother and I had the vanilla bean crime brûlée, I liked mine but he (being a chef himself) said they did not use real vanilla beans as he did not see the little tell tale flecks of the bean in the brûlée.
Mom had the Schaum torte with strawberries (omitting the ice cream for her preference).
Our bill was around $ 140.00. Our server was pleasant and included a birthday candle with my dessert (very nice quiet touch).
I would like to go back on a Sat night for prime rib as that was always my favorite item on their menu. I always said I would volunteer for a commercial promoting it! We shall see how it is now.
It was indeed a pleasure dining here again.
Thank you. Deanna

This place is good. Solid all around.
We went on a Friday. They were very busy, and with reservations at the door, it was only a 15 minute wait.
French onion soup was good.
Fresh bread was good.
Perch fish fry and potato pancakes were great.

We were a party of 4 Saturaday evening.
The ambience was great and a décor reflected the history of this charming place.
Wine list was was varied and reasonably price.
And thats as good as good it got.
I had the halibut special and the others all had the walleye.
While the vegtables for the entires were tasty and cooked to perfection the fish was bland and tasteless… This is a very pricey restaurant, unfortunately these entres do not command the premium price.

Very Good Food — Very Good Service — Very Good Atmosphere.
Local Haunt that keeps on haunting and well! Casual Home Style Feel and very friendly staff that gives great service.
Range Burger Quite Possibly the best burger in Wisconsin.
It’s that Good

Don’t you hate when someone hypes a place over and over. «Oh GAWG, the fillet of blah blah is the best on the planet… blah blah»
Everyone I had talked to about this place said it was «the best» — even one person swore that when she would have lunch there with her brother, he would literally steal her tiny onion rings whilst her back was turned.
To this I say: Clever man. I might do the same.
Pre-​dinner drinks had an honorable mention: I ordered a bloody mary and it might have been one of the best I’ve ever had. I’ve had many. I could be called in as an expert witness. But the bonus: They bring you a tiny bottle of beer with it. How damn cool is that? Only in America! You order a drink and it comes with a
side order of another drink.
Jewels ordered the Sicilian Chicken which she said was moist and seasoned perfectly. Her dish came with the tiny onion rings and those were also reported to be orgasmic.
Red and Cat both ordered the same thing: An amazing cut of beef combined with a manly handful of shrimp. They include a steak knife with each setting: Both confirmed that a fork was all that was needed. They both ordered it prepared the same: M. Rare Both arrived cooked to perfection. Seared with a slight outer crust but the inside was pretty much a dead ringer for that steak Cypher made love to in The Matrix. (If you don’t know The Matrix, it means the steak was beyond words)
I had the Chicken Parmesan mostly because I wanted to order something where I could use my Italian accent. All joking aside, it was mind-​blowing deeelish. It came with a big handful of those fluffy onion rings, but, FYI, most of them are not rings. They are darn thin, it’s almost like you half-​wonder if maybe there’s no onion in there. I looked though. Checked em all. Each one has a tiny onion sliver in it. They are like eating lightly breaded angle wings. HOLY SWEET CHEESES, was uttered more than once. So FYI: expect to moan.
Their website is pretty old school, so does not really give a good idea of where you’re going. But that old school, that made them more real. They have big history, so maybe keep the website almost as-​is, let it be reflective of days gone by.
Ambiance: Pretty perfect. If you want to score bigtime, if you’re wanting to tell her how much you care/​be alone with whomever, reserve table #24. It could handle up to three, but way better for a two-​some.
Warning: They will bring out rolls capable of blowing the lids off of your taste buds. They came out warm and they were not all braggy about how some old lady in the kitchen is crankin these puppies out… but I would be willing to bet, these things are made from stratch. They will make you moan loudly.
My guests all ordered coffee and dessert after the meal, likely because they had some inkling that I was picking up the tab. Reports on the after-​meal:
Cat:
«The pecan pie was worth one of the 9 miles I had to schedule for the treadmill the next day»
Jewel:
«The Key Lime pie was whipped up light and had a delightfully swift kick in my tastebuds. I can only assume they are overnighting these pies directly in from Key West.»
Red:
«I ordered the Cream-​Brew-​Lay because I always dreamed of speaking French. What I didn’t expect was the tiny and frequent explosions of flavor-​overload that recurred repeatedly until the entire tiny bowl was CBL-​free. It was to die for, a.k.a., heavenly.»
You know a place is real when you think about the experience the next day and can still recall the names of the people who made it happen:
Kristy, Hadley, Julie and Chelsea. … big THANKS!
And one more thing… We have profound respect for those who put fire to our selections and arranged their presentation before delivery to us. You guys work magic and next time, we will request you be brought out for the standing ovation you deserve.

I’ve eaten here on and off for decades but last Friday’s fish fry was a disappointment. There were three of us, two had perch. My wife had baked haddock. The perch was over-​breaded. The haddock was over-​cooked. We all had potato pancakes and all agreed that they were doughy.
The Fat Tire beer was tasty, though.

I’ve eater here 4 – 5 times before and would give them a solid 4 possibly 5 stars for their perch fry. But when we were there last Friday we were really disappointed.
The size of the perch fry was much smaller than times we’ve been there before, The Potato pancakes which were excellent in the past were burnt and the service from the bar tender left much to be desired.
We chose to eat at the bar as there was no wait when we walked in at 5;30 on a Friday night. We wanted to order right away but the bartender was oddly insistent of us ordering our drinks first wouldn’t take our food order for a while. When we asked her to check on a question about a food source she wasn’t open to finding out what we were asking about. A real Miss Congeniality behind the bar here! Again not what we’ve experienced in the past.
If they get a new bartender and bring their quality and quantity up to its previous levels I’ll spring the $ 15 bucks for a perch fry. If not I’ll have to start looking elsewhere.

The fresh potato chips get you nice and thirsty for a tap beer. I had the ribs and they were spectacular. The sauce was tomato based and was nice and sweet with a hint of vinegar. Quality food at market price. We went in on a Wednesday at 7 pm and it was packed.

I was pleasantly surprised!
My brother worked here in the 80’s and none of my family has returned since hearing all the back of the house horror stories.
Well times have changed for the better.
My only complaint is that we made reservations for 5 to celebrate a friends milestone and yet when we arrived, we had to stand in the tiny little entry way, constantly shifting to let people by, 20 minutes past our reservation time. I was embarrassed since I picked the place for my friends celebration and he was annoyed with the wait. If you can not manage your reservations, don’t take them.
This is an old building so the floors felt like a fun house floor as you move from area to area and the levels change. Those not steady on your feet, be warned.
The food, that is what we were here for. We got fish fry, swordfish, and burgers. All very satisfying, nothing too adventurous or fancy. I was pleased at how tasty the fish fry was. I chose potato pancakes with my fish fry and that was a bit too much fried food, but still tasty.
Service, our waitress was kind and patient. She clearly worked there a long time and knew the menu well. She attended the table the perfect amount of time.
I would go again.

Last night I headed to Cedarburg to visit my mom and pick her up to take her to fish fry.
The B&B she was staying at, Stagecoach Inn, was really cute, and they suggested C. Wiesler’s for fish, but I found that The Range Line inn had better reviews and I was able to call and make a reservation for Fish Fryday!
At 8:30am I left a voice mail with the date I’d like a reservation for, the number in my party, and a phone number that I could be reached at in case there were issues with my reservation. I never received a phone call back with issues, but since Cedarburg/​Mequon isn’t very close to me I gave them a ring around 4pm and they confirmed they had me down.
We showed up at 6pm and they had our table ready for us. It was busy already, so I had a feeling it was going to live up to its reviews. When you walk in the main door, it’s a little confusing because the hostess stand is on the other side of the bar, but I just walked over there and let them know that we were here and all was well.
They start you off with a simple one page menu and a basket of about five warm, perfect rolls in different flavors (raisin, white, and some others). There are three different kinds of fish, some appetizers, sandwiches, and deserts. We ordered onion rings, which were thin onion straws, and
all of us ordered fish. There is baked and breaded haddock, and breaded perch. It comes with coleslaw and your choice of potato pancakes (which were amazing), french fries, or red potatoes.
The breaded fish almost had too much breading, but it still tasted good, and the piece of baked fish was HUGE. I enjoyed the coleslaw a lot, it’s a small cup of it, but just enough to be refreshing. I also believe their tarter sauce is home made. Yum!
For dessert, we ordered a fruit torte. It had whip cream, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and a torte on the bottom. It was really large and the three of us shared it.
It was around $ 70 + tip for the three of us. We were able to sit and chat until the party of 11 came in, then we had to surrender our table, which was kind of a bummer, but it was Fish Fryday, so we understood. It seemed like they anticipated we would be done enjoying our meal by the time that table arrived — what if if we weren’t done? It was a semi-​double-​booking.
The service was great and the atmosphere was nice. I really suggest that you make a reservation because it seemed like:
a) Most people had them
b) On our arrival there were people walking out because they couldn’t get a table, and
c) It was packed at 6pm when we got there.
I definitely recommend you check it out, we would surely go there again.

Was at this place a couple of weeks ago stopped in for the first time was greeted with a very friendly smile by waitperson and then the hostess came over and asked me if I would looking for a table for dinner responded by saying yes I need a table for two she said she would be right back within one minute she came and seated us.
We ordered their world famous according to the menu barbecue chicken and I must admit it was the best I have ever had my wife had the fresh whitefish and she said it was good as any fish she had eaten in a long time. We eat at a lot of restaurants and this is truly one of our new favorites we will be back…

This place was a disaster beginning to the end. With not many choices to choose from in Mequan area, i was excited to recommend this place to my family. So instead of going to fox & hounds or Black kettle (no in this area but similar distance to where we live) I opted to come here since we haven’t tried this place before.
Since the parking lot was crowded i asked the rest of the party to wait in the car and i went in to check whether there was enough seating and whether we could get in without prior reservation.
So i walked in immediately into the restaurant area. There is no counter or greeting area. I am standing there for like 10 mins with wait staff passing by and I also said hi to one waiter who passed by get some attention and no one would even respond. This place is a typical old fashioned white place so i wondered whether no one was responding since i was different !!! Anyhow, looked at the bar area and no one seemed to even look my way. No eye contact. And across the room i saw a girl who seemed to be the one who is taking reservations/​direction guest. so this is a restaurant with a dedicated paid person to greet guests and she didnt seem to be doing the job…
Since it was too late to drive to a different place (and since this is practically middle of nowhere) i walked to the bar and asked the lady ‘what does it take to get some attention. Do you think we can get a table tonight?
She said yes so i went to get the rest of the party inside. When i came in then the greeter came and spoke to me and asked that we walk across the room the other side where she was stationed. And she asked us ‘so what up with you guys tonight’. Seriously! Is that even a question you ask a guest ?
I was like ’ what do you mean whats up with us. We are here to dine .can you get a table or not”?
She disappeared and came back and said we can walk back again to the area we started and set us in a booth.
The waitress was good and attentive. (Maybe maybe not. based on the kids menu response)
So i ordered chicken pieces for our 4 yr old. I specifically asked the waitress whether for a 4 yr old is it easily edible. She said ‘yes’ so since it was in the kids menu and the waitress confirmed i ordered the chicken pieces instead of the chicken strips. When the order arrived 20 mins later there was 2 huge pieces of chicken with bones in…
How do they expect a young kid to eat that… ridiculous. Not that the place was a finger food type place.
Anyway; I ordered the BBq chicken that so many people raved about.
My husband got the ribs
Oldest got pork chops
The bbq chicken was ok. It was just a grilled chicken with a combination of A1 sauce and ketchup. Nothing to rave about
My husband ordered ribs and it was ok. it was accompanied by a grows looking mint jelly which we didn’t even try.
Pork chops was dry and not flavorful. The peach side was ok.
I really don’t know what all the good reviews are for.
So i boxed up half the chicken and found a hair in it when i opened up the next day… growwwwwsssss ‚
So from bad customer service, bad experience… all wrapped up with boll of hair in the takeaway…
WE WILL NOT SET foot in here again. What a waste of $ 100+.

I am from Florida but my parents grew up with Wisconsin. They always talk about the Friday night fish frys when they were younger. Every time we come up here to visit my grandparents and relatives we go to Range Line Inn. It has a fantastic Fish Fry on Friday night. My grandparents (B. and M. Weitekamp) have been coming here for over 20 years.
I haven’t tried much of the other menu items but the fried fish is fantastic. The bar atmosphere is very comfy and relaxing while you wait for your table. If you are in the area you have got to give this place a try. Highly recommend.

My husband and I went here for the fish fry for our first time. We loved this place! It’s laid back and the owner and servers were great. Fish was delicious and the slaw, rolls and potato cakes rocked. We will definitely go back when we are in town.