Apple Holler

Drove up to the restaurant with my family last Tuesday from Illinois just to eat in the Holler. Got there around 5:1pm and the place was closed… hours were posted as «spring hours» closing at 4PM. When exactly does Spring hours end? Pathetic experience will never waste our time going here again. Had a better meal elsewhere.

Absolutely disgusting! The salad bar has mold growing around it. The sneeze guard wasn’t even being utilized & The lemons we were served twice were moldy & slimy. We just wanted to try this local place we have driven by for years & we took our granddaughter & we were very hungry & grossed out when we left. What a shame to charge the tourist these prices & to compound that with quality out of the kitchen that could make you literally sick. We live local & should have read the reviews:(save your money & a sick day:(

The Apple Hollar has the best comfort food. I love going there in the winter and getting warmed up with their fabulous pot roast and corn bread. Or maybe their turkey cheddar wrap or the patty melt. I don’t think I’ve ever left there not having totally enjoyed what I ordered. Just great home cooked food. I love that I can go there pretty much anytime and get seated right away and the service is always excellent. I like to shop in their little store afterwards as well. One of my favs!

Met up with friends passing through on their way to Chicago. I’d never been before and thought it was worth a shot. The entire grouped had a fun time and the food was good! Sure I’m sure when it’s peak season it’s a tourist trap and busy, but it was a great experience for us!

My husband and I came here on occasion if we are passing by and want some breakfast.
The breakfast buffet has a decent selection if you want something quick and aren’t looking for the highest quality of food. Definitely don’t expect it to be like the Machine Shed or Thunder Bay Grille (in the Waukesha/​Pewaukee area) quality or variety.
We’ve looked at their bakery items and they seem to always have a variety for people to buy.
During Apple season, stay away especially on weekends because parking sucks.

I’ve been driving past this place for years, always saying I was going to stop in some day and just never doing it because there were tons of cars, or just not wanting to deal with the kids who run through this place.
But on a recent, beautiful, Indian Summer day, I decided I wanted a day in the country so it was up to Apple Holler for lunch and maybe a stroll through the orchards.
Given it was off season, we had the place pretty much to ourselves as there were maybe only 4 tables full of people, mostly seniors, there for the buffet. I was surprised that they had a lunch buffet given the small amount of patrons but then again this IS Wisconsin, land of plenty of food.
We were seated in an atrium type room on the front of the barn. I wasn’t crazy about the seat as it smelled funny in there and the windows were dirty (lots of little finger smudges). But the friends I was with said they were okay with it so we stayed. I should have gone with my gut as I just can’t get over places that don’t seem clean. And then to make matters worse, an employee started to clean the windows around us, so the smell of cleaner mixed with the smell of food…never a good thing. Big points off for this!
Our server was just okay. She seemed to be irritated with us as we asked questions about the menu and tried to understand what the difference was between the buffet and ordering a la carte. It was clear she just wanted us to go to the buffet so she didn’t have to be bothered but only one in our group of 4 took her up on her offer. But the buffet did have plenty of food on it for about $ 12.95 (I think that was the cost, our server really didn’t know)
While there were a range of funny (odd?) things that happened on this visit– the one that still has me laughing is when she asked my friend, after he ordered the fried chicken, if he wanted «4 or 8 pieces»?
He looked at me like she wasn’t speaking English (she was) and needed an interpretation. I asked the server if we were talking about bone in broasted chicken, and when she said yes, we went with 4 pieces. I am still chuckling about who she thought was going to eat all of that? And if that wasn’t funny enough, his order came with three sides, mashed potatoes stuffing covered in gravy and coleslaw. Plenty of food for a family of 4!
My club sandwich was pretty good and the soup I had to start was also good although it was served to me in the strangest way that I can’t believe didn’t burn the server’s hands. And know that you get some cornbread and apple butter that was also quite tasty.
The best thing about our visit was a stop in the gift shop to buy some donuts for the rest of our road trip. They were fresh and the woman that was working the shop was very pleasant and helpful.
We didn’t make it to the orchards on this visit but they are there as is a petting zoo and other kids activities.
Maybe if I had kids this would be a better experience. I wanted to love Apple Holler but between our server’s attitude and the fact that the seating area just didn’t feel clean, I just couldn’t. But the food is actually pretty good which is what has me waffling between 2 and 3 stars.
But those donuts? Worth every calorie!

I decided to surprise my girlfriend with an impromptu trip to Apple Holler for some apple picking festivities. We came around 10am, where it was pretty empty. Upon arrival, the dedicated lot could be accessed by $ 5, however, you can also park on the side of the road for free, literally 20 steps away from the lot. I asked the police officer what the difference was, and he was incredibly friendly in saying that it would be harder for him to observe the safety of all vehicles that are on located on the street. We entered the venue to find their local restaurant, apple cider /​donut stands, and animal encounter areas. The entry to the apple orchard was $ 20 p/​person, which included a bag for apple picking, that held about 10 – 15 apples, a free wagon ride around the orchard and pumpkin patch, as well as free access to the farm area where they held pig races, animal encounters, pony rides, and various mazes. The farm area is certainly tailored to smaller children, but it was still a great time. Once we entered the apple orchard, you can taste apples along the way of picking, which was nice since I like them sweeter than tart. They sell apple donuts in either 6 or 12, but we only wanted to try one, so when we ordered some apple ciders, the lady gave us a couple to try on the house. Delicious! Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful; I see some customers complaining about the price of the venue and writing reviews on this basis, however, the website lists out all costs involved for a visit, so maybe plan accordingly and try going elsewhere if cost becomes an issue for you. I thought everything was very fairly priced for what you get and we certainly had a fun time during our visit. See you again next year —
Best,
Charlie

This review is a bit late, but I definitely want to share my thoughts with others who are considering a visit here. I have been driving past Apple Holler since I was a kid and never visited, so I was excited to take my son. The whole place is a bit underwhelming. Driving past it seems like a fun time, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. To start, we had to hunt down an employee in order to pay for the attractions, only to end up seeing other families walk right in without paying. We visited on a Friday morning and there was no one at the entrance to the attractions. Because of this, two other families ended up walking right in after we had paid. I don’t mind paying for services, but I certainly don’t want to be the only one paying.
Feeding the animals was nice and my son enjoyed the playground, but there wasn’t much else to enjoy. I was excited to go apple picking, but the orchards were closed. It would have been nice if the website had mentioned the orchards being closed. Our visit was also centered around their strawberry festival. There were no strawberry events to be found either. Walking around the orchards, we felt like we were trespassing, even though we had paid and had the bands to prove it. The only employees around were in the restaurant. Luckily my son still had a good time, since he didn’t have any expectations, but I felt like I had really wasted my money; especially since there was nothing for the adults to do.
If you’re considering a visit here, maybe call first to see what they actually have going on that day. I will definitely not be taking my family back here.

I’ll never pass up an opportunity to feed a goat or go down a big slide. But everything else here was not very good.
While apple picking with the family can be a lot of fun, the tractor driver to get us out there was in a terrible mood. He gave the stink-​eye to someone in my group for using a cell phone, and literally yelled at a toddler in another group because she stood up. The experience was expensive, too — well over $ 100 for our group.
Lunch was tasty, but drinks took forever (7 minutes for a sangria, 5 unacceptable minutes for a bottled beer where the only labor involved is opening it and walking to the table). Again, pricey. A friend picked up the (again) over $ 100 tab here.
It’s a fun diversion, but be ready to shell out some serious cash — and don’t you dare make Driver Vic mad or he’ll yell at your two-​year old.

The staff is pretty nice, but I was literally harassed by one of their employees at the entrance to the «attractions» because I was waiting for my mom with our passes and they kept telling me I can’t come in without paying, while I’m telling my sister who’s inside to find my mom one guy is like I’m calling the manager, so the manager comes and politely walked us in and handled the situation!
Then as we went to their $ 16 per adult buffet the staff was very nice although they took forever to bring our drinks, but the food was mediocre, maybe worth $ 6 or $ 7. Very overpriced for what you get. I used to visit a ton as a child but last time was two years ago which left me unimpressed, we drove by last weekend and kids wanted to stop so now I’m even less impressed

After driving past Apple Holler on weekend and seeing how packed it was we decided to come during the week to avoid crowds. My boyfriend and I arrived Friday right when they open. The place was empty which was perfect for us! The nicest man took us out into the orchard and pointed out all the different varieties we might like to pick. They encourage you to try the apples while you are picking (it seemed very wasteful so many perfect apples with one bite taken out). We leisurely picked apples since we were the only people out there. This experience would have been miserable had the orchard was packed with people. As we were leaving bus loads of kids were coming in so I recommend combo early during the week if possible.
The down side of this place was the price. For 2 of us it was $ 40 for probably $ 15 worth of apples. I understand this also includes some children’s activities but as adults that didn’t benefit us in anyway. We walked through the children’s area and i didn’t really see anything of value that I would want to do with my kids (dirty and rundown)
We did purchase a few things from the store but unfortunately all the cider we purchased had gone bad. We have purchased it from several farmers markets so we know how good it normally is, but this was $ 15 in the garbage which was disappointing. I also which they had fresh hot apple cider donuts like I remember from when I was a kid at other orchards.
Overall I think we will be trying a new orchard next year. It is a fine place if you live here by but wasn’t worth the drive from Chicago.
Something to consider would be offer 2 packages one for picking only and one that includes picking and kids activities.

Awful. Went on a Sunday afternoon. Employees were mostly rude. The entire place was just unclear about everything. Weren’t allowed to exit in the entrance when it was slow! Multiple times… I’m pregnant witb a baby already and was made to go around during a slow time. No fresh apple pie, just apple strudel looking things. It would be better going to a local apple picking place than driving 30 min and paying 80 bucks for 4 people for a crap experience. The pig race was stupid too… everything is run down and cheap.
Employees are what make the place though, without a good customer service experience it’s just awful.

Fun fact: did you know a U.S. half peck equals 1 «dry gallon»?
Third year visiting. Yes, it does seem more expensive this year. I imagine the two harsh winters in a row has something to do with that. I personally still think it’s a fine choice to wile away a few hours amidst some light exercise and apples, but it’s not gonna come exactly cheap. (please see the bottom for pricing info)
Parking in their dedicated side lot is $ 5. It seems you can choose to park on the side of the access road for free, but we wanted to chance the lot.
Weekends are quite crowded. I didn’t really expect otherwise, and our party of 4 was seated in the restaurant after a 40 minute wait after arriving around 1 pm on a Sunday. Food seemed reasonable and tasty, though the side of corn was half a paltry cob. The chicken and dressing were both good and filling.
Now, for the apples. We received a sheet of coupons after we paid to park. One of the coupons was $ 5 off a half bushel, *or* $ 5 off 4 half peck bags. We had 4 adults in our party and each wanted a bag, so the 4 for $ 75 (or $ 70 with the coupon) ended up being $ 17.50 each, for the half peck bag each. So we paid and go in the wagon and were driven to the back. As we were leaving the wagon, the driver pointed out that any black spots were not bugs or worms, but hail damage (!) and yes, every single apple I took home had some sort of damage. Since I had planned to cook with the apples, this didn’t overly concern me though it seemed a little shady to tell us that when we were deep in the orchard and couldn’t get a refund at that point anyway. Please be aware of this though.
Another thing to think about is, if you are gonna pick different varieties, how are you going to remember which is which? you probably aren’t. I did get a few giant honeycrisps on the top layer, but I couldn’t tell you what varieties the others are.
If you get the half peck bag you have to fill it up to the handles to get the 6 pounds of apples, and you have to push the apples down to properly fill up the bag. You should also probably choose some medium size along with the large ones to fill up the holes. Don’t be shy! Push those apples! stack them up to the very top! tell your kids!
I got 17 apples (some small, some tart, some will be hidden in a cake, and some precious few honeycrisps) which was 5 pounds, 15 ounces of apples for $ 1.03 an apple or $ 2.92 a pound.
But you know, it’s the exercise, the hanging out, the clean goat-​y air, etc. Can you put a price on that?

Apple Holler is an overcrowded, overpriced, mediocre apple picking experience. I know it sounds harsh, but Apple Holler was really disappointing.
I’ve visited many different apple orchards in the Midwest and Apple Holler was the most disappointing one I’ve experienced.
The line to buy tickets to get into the orchard itself was amusement park length. When we arrived, the line to simply purchase a ticket to enter the orchard was 20 minutes long with most of the parking full already.
We ate lunch at the burger stand. My burger was really small and didn’t even taste that good. The $ 4 burger only comes with a bun. You have to add the condiments yourself. The only things I saw were cheese crumbles, relish, onions, ketchup, and mustard.
We took the excruciatingly slow wagon ride to the apple orchard and began picking. We were told numerous times that most of the apples have black holes and spots because of hail damage. It was unfortunate, but understandable. The hail storms a few weeks ago really were bad.
The apples were good, but not great. It’s not going to taste much different than anything you can find at your local grocery store.
I was hoping that the often-​praised donuts were going to be a highlight, but they’re just coated with a ton of cinnamon and sugar. I’ve had better for less.
All in all, it was just a disappointing and crowded day in a part of the country where you can find a ton of other apple orchards that are a much nicer experience than this.

Visited Apple Holler with family this week and had a pleasant experience. We visited on a weekday afternoon/​evening for apples and dinner. Would have wanted to have done some apple picking but since we arrived after 4pm, they had already closed the grounds. Bummer. But the lady at the counter gladly picked us a ½ peck of apples (since they were already out for the day) so that was nice of em. If you do go here, go early during the day so you won’t miss out.
Upon visiting apple holler, you find this barn storefront with home made cheese, jams, baked goods and pies. The barn style restaurant/​store is surrounded by a cute lil farm and orchard which includes a corn maze and tons of kid-​friendly activities. Great place to bring the little ones as there are tons of things to do out here. Place can be a little pricey. A friend of mine mentioned its a bit of a tourist trap and i could see why but the grounds are well maintained and the food is good.
Now for the food… It was DELICIOUS and the meals were fresh from farm to table. My parents ordered the beer battered fried fish and shrimp and i had the chicken pot pie with mac and cheese and fruit sides. I would have wanted to sample the chicken and dumplings but it was unfortunately not on the menu.
I was not going to leave there until i had some apples, apple donuts and some cheese curds. Try their garlic 5 cheese spread. It was out of this world! The garlic was not overpowering but you could definitely taste the cheese! Our experience with the staff was great. They were friendly, accommodating and checked in on us often. From what i understand, this place can be very busy during the weekend and summer months so if you want to have a guaranteed spot at the table, try to come in during the week mid-​day. One thing to mention, you will not find this place using mapquest. Sylvania is actually Frontage road so beware or you will get lost! This place is not hard to find though as it’s right along I94 on exit 337.

The restaurant should have it’s own page to review! It’s not fair that Apple Holler gets 2.5 stars because of the orchard.
Anyways, on the way to Kenosha one Saturday morning, we got hungry and this was the closest spot to us. To our surprise they had a breakfast buffet for $ 13.95! I love LOVE breakfast, make it a buffet and I’m sold!
Their buffet has quite a few options, but I liked the hashbrowns and egg & veggie scramble they have (it has a little bit of a spicy kick to it). We hit the bacon tray too and found bacon «chips» all the way at the bottom. Crispy and flavorful bacon chips! The crispiness is the best part. Yum!
A woman at the table next to us had gotten a Bloody Mary and I had to take a picture of it. It had bacon, a boiled egg, cheese curds, a pickle, olives and some celery. A meal in itself. It’s a shame I stuffed my face, otherwise I would have gotten one!
I’ll definitely be back and I will check out the orchard in the fall too! Wouldn’t mind picking some apples or getting some pumpkins. From some of the reviews I’ve read, there is poison ivy there so watch out!

Been here a handful of times now. It’s my wife’s favorite American Buffet restaurant. After the first visit I began to see what some others said about the food. It was never as good as that first visit. I’ve stopped ordering the breakfast buffet and order off the menu. The food from the menu is very good.
We were here for lunch and the lunch buffet was very good in my opinion, better than the breakfast buffet. The pasta sauce tasted like someone simply crushed the tomatoes and reduced them down with a nice bright acidity that you don’t often find. The mac and cheese was nice and cheesy and creamy. The fried chicken was good and cooked country style in Crisco I’m pretty sure. The gravy was nice and peppery and the BBQ pork was interesting lol. It had red and green peppers which I really liked but was a little greasy which I didn’t.
Great birthday special of free buffet for my wife.

We went for brunch and had an down-​right solid experience. It was good, home-​cooked food served by a family of employees dressed in overalls and plaid shirts.
The characteristics that set this establishment apart are that they have free, unsecured wifi (necessary since I had no reception there) and had samples! We helped ourselves to hot apple cider before we were seated and then a girl came around with doughnut samples after we were served.
Besides that, our experience was pleasant but unexceptional. The ambiance is homey and kitschy. The service is thorough and prompt. The food was good (especially the potato pancakes).
There was a store, animals (outside), and other activities. We did not explore any of that during this visit.

The prices have grown pretty high over the years. Roughly $ 20 a person now, I dont remember it ever being that expensive in the past. But at least a pumpkin is $ 5. I guess I really dont care too much about the price since when Im going out I expect to pay a good amount anyway.
I really love the memories and experience of going to the farm every year with my friends, its a tradition! I enjoy the food, really love the brisket and stuffing and the crispy chicken! The doughnuts are amazing as well.
The orchard itself is nice when the apples are in the trees and you decide to go earlier in the season, but it kinda blows when you have to pick apples from crates. It is still pretty nice to go on the hayride or take a stroll in the orchard, theres nothing like it.
Its always been a family friendly place or a group thing. I am disappointed at the price increase over the years but will continue the annual tradition despite the cost.

We had a very nice time at Apple Holler today. Everyone was very pleasant. Despite it being a weekday with reduced children’s activities, our 4 and 2.5 year old children had a great time. Although the apples may or may not be pricier than your local market (I don’t pay per person nor do I buy anywhere near a bushel at the store), I feel you are paying for more than just apples. You are paying for the fun time with your family, the experience you share with your kids picking your own fruits and sharing with them about the different tastes and textures of the apples you are picking. Not to mention to fulfillment of helping a local farm stay in business. The gift shop had lots to offer gifts and bakery item wise. I wish we would have eaten at the restaurant as well, the menu looked yummy.
In regard to the goodies we brought home other than apples, the deluxe apple pie and apple cider donuts were to die for!!!