Rustic Inn Cafe

My parents an I have been stopping in here annually for many years and the food and pies are always a 10 in our book. Service has always been spectacular. Can’t give this place enough kudos. Stop in and give it a try in beautiful Castle Danger.

Terrific service by Tammy!
Fish (Northern pike) and chips served with shredded cabbage slaw. Chips had vinegar salt. Fresh, homemade goodness.
And oh the pies. Go here for delicious pies and truffles.

Food was great — but make sure you get Connie to wait on you, others are rude. Service was quick, reasonable prices. The beer selection was limited, but ok.

About twice the price of Betty’s Pies and not nearly the cool vibe. Food was ok and pie was good but if I had to choose I would choose Betty’s Pies first!

We came here for breakfast while staying at the Grand Superior Lodge. The food was wonderful and the service was fantastic. They have these great skillet and hashbrown breakfasts that are just a ton of food for $ 9. The coffee leaves something to be desired but all in all a great meal. They also have a full bar for those want to partake in breakfast in a glass. I didn’t have any pie but I hear this is the spot to get it.

11:10 Monday, waited to be seated for 5 minutes with several open tables and no rush of people. It felt slow. I then made the mistake of following the server to the table she was preparing for us too early, because when she turned around she acted agitated to see me standing by her and said «I could’ve come and got you.» It was weird. We weren’t in the way of anyone. Just waiting for a 20 second wipe-​down of the table.
Learned lunch doesn’t serve until «Oh, 11:30 or 12, maybe 11:45.» We’d already had breakfast four hours ago so we asked if we could wait. We couldn’t. So we went outside for 25 minutes. Of course we considered leaving but due to our schedule and nearby options we decided to stay.
The food was okay. I got a Reuben that was seriously lacking in meat. The pie was fine and ice cream average. Maybe we needed to order different things. I might give it another shot but probably not for at least a year.

Seriously great good. Felt as though it came straight from my grandparents restaurant! Loved it. The best pie crust too! Can’t wait to return. Service was incredible wonderful as well!

A great place for lunch on the north shore, if you’ve spent the day hiking Gooseberry falls. Great service! Try the wild rice meatloaf.

We spent two days wandering the north shore and decided to try this one on day two.
The Good:
Waitstaff was attentive and helpful. I deviated from the menu and ordered a club sandwich with avocado instead of turkey. Not a problem. My son went for his requisite burger and wolfed it down, licking his lips. We also went to the candy case and purchased a couple of sweets. My son wanted a giant peanut butter cup which he loved and I had some toffee that was crisp and buttery. Yum. Prices were standard tourist prices.
The restaurant is adjacent to a small Northwoods gift shop. Sweatshirts and various trinkets at tourist prices. A cut above the normal junk one sees.
Great ambiance. It felt all lakeshore north shore lovely.
The Bad:
the restaurant takes only cash or checks. No debit or credit cards. This might explain the half full lot during the noon hour. I would change that practice sooner rather than later and at least accept debit cards. However, I get the frustration and the desire to go «old school» I’m there myself which explains why I was carrying cash and able to eat there! One star off for no debit or credit.
The Ugly:
Dang! That candy shop was goooood.
At least stop and pick out one or two little pieces. Diet tomorrow!
A final word:
This one really is worth stopping at. Just hit the ATM in Two Harbors.

We learned about the Rustic Inn around a campfire one night and headed there for breakfast the next morning. The waitress was sassy, the hash browns crispy, the eggs cooked perfectly and the coffee… well it was hot anyway.
My impression was amped up exponentially when we returned for pie later that day. My raspberry cream slice had a meringue crust, fresh berries folded into a light cream cheese filling, and a crown of whipped cream. Not too sweet, not too tart, light but rich. The lemon angel pie I sampled was similarly constructed. The mixed berry with a crumb topping tasted like a really good cobbler.
There is another, much better known, pie place nearby. Try the Rustic Inn instead. You won’t be sorry.

Great homemade pie! I ordered the veggie naan pizza and it was so fresh and delicious! Highly recommend!

This place is a gem! All home cooked food. We had the roast beef and potatoes. It was amazing! The house Merlot is very good. Even the kids cheeseburger was top notch and homemade. Very enjoyable dinner with a view of the Lake. Service was fabulous.

We had lunch at the Rustic Inn Café. I had the meatloaf plate, delicious, very filling – yummy mashed potatoes, brown gravy was good but a bit too salty for my tastes. Other members of our party has the Cobb salad and the taco salad with good reports. We LOVED the Lemon angel and the raspberry cream pies! On the way out we picked up some dark chocolate truffles which are also worth a stop here!

Dining experience was wonderful with the restaurant décor warm and charming. Real North Shore experience. Staff was very friendly and helpful. The food was high quality with attention to details and ingredients! And the Pies!!! Oh My! Absolutely delicious. Carmel Apple Pecan and the 5 Layer Chocolate pie are exceptional. We will be back when traveling the North Shore.

Trying walleye salad and walleye cakes followed by apple pecan pie.
Great place to stop on the shore.
After trying a completing place down the road we returned here and tried completely different foods. We were very pleased with everything including our friendly waitress. Both the walleye salad and walleye cakes were good. The waitress gave us a basket of bread crusts — they were the best part! Such good fresh wheat bread! We ate it all. Sweet potato fries and the homemade chips were also good.
We’ll be back and continue to recommend this as our favorite place on the shore.

Food was great. Our server was… brusque.
There are a lot of pies listed on the menu, however, their selection varies from day to day, so ask before you get your taste buds set.
Here’s what we ate, and it was all great.
Walleye Piccata (yum!!!)
Roast beef sandwich with mashed potato and gravy (delicious, said my daughter)
Dessert was apple/​caramel/​pecan pie with ice cream (wow)
Beer on tap. Stones Throw by Fargo Brewery (yowza, that was a GOOD PINT)
Awesome place to eat!

Now understand I am from the big city of savage Minnesota but this place was way to pretentious. The food was decent, the service dreadful and the old log building smelled like they fished it out of the bottom the big lake they call gitchEgumee. Plus when we went to pay the waitress (and I use the term loosely) pen didn’t work.
I’m also pretty sure I heard the fly who was feasting on my son’s taco salad complain about the slow service. This place might actually be the reason the town has a population of only 200

Great food. Reasonable prices. Our family of four shared an order of onion rings as an appetizer. The plate came with beer batter onion rings piled high. Delicious!
Because we wanted to save room for pie, the four of us shared two burgers with their delicious chips and sweet potato fries. The burgers were large and tasty.
The pie was very good. The service was friendly and fast but we never felt rushed. I recommend dining at The Rustic Inn.

Holy crap, this place is good. A hidden gem kind of good.
Rustic Inn Café is nestled between Two Harbors and Gooseberry Falls, which is how I stumbled on it. After a cold day of hiking, I needed a toasty sandwich to warm my stomach and a beer to warm my spirits. This place had always looked quaint, so I stepped in.
Its like a log cabin, pub-​like, Grandma’s cottage.
I’m going to give you a run-​down of why it is awesome.
1. They make their own chocolates and pies.
2. They have Castle Danger beer (and not much else, but who cares?!)
3. Food. Good. Good Food. Walleye Cake sandwich is a game changer, anything on the cranberry wild rice bread is killer.
4. Cozy atmosphere. So dang cozy.

We visited the Rustic Inn and found it to be a nice experience. The décor is kind of dated — old little tapestries and traditional dark wood. But it is definitely homey and well maintained. There’s a cute little gift shop attached to the restaurant, and there’s a counter up front that sells all kinds of candy and other delicious goodies. But by the time we were done eating, I didn’t have any mental power left to even think about sweets.
We started with the Castle Danger battered onion rings because we are big fans of Castle Danger beer (see my review of their place too). The rings were HUGE and the serving size was more than generous. The batter was delicious and they were a great starter… though I think they would have been suited for a party of 4 or more to avoid being stuffed before you even get your entrée.
For entrees, I got breakfast (shocking if you know me or read my reviews here). It was good. Nothing fantastically surprising, but well executed and tasty. I honestly forget what my husband had, but he had no complaints. I ordered pumpkin pie for dessert, and it was delicious. Not too sweet and made with real pumpkin if I’m not mistaken. I will say that I think the pie over at Betty’s was better. But that might be because they had chocolate over there when we went. But overall we were really pleased and would definitely come back.