I dislike this kind of generalization, that if you are over 50 you may like the New Glarus Hotel Restaurant, and if you are under 40 probably not. But I think it is going to be that kind of either/or for most. And hard to categorize/review imo but definitely fits that one restaurant in a tourist town that dresses the help up in some period costumes and the food is 5 star if you like that, but otherwise it's only ok. And if you don't like that particular style of food or period then it's a two and what are you doing here? All THAT here is Swiss, and the food was better than I was expecting plus I like Swiss food. Looks pretty good for a 100 year old building and they have worked to keep it looking good, but don't look too hard because you will find some real signs of age and dirt frankly if you look too hard, under our table for example on a not that busy Saturday night. Wait staff were adults, but seemed perpetually distracted by something else and a lot of the other staff looked like high school help and good for them but usually erratic depending on their focus and training. So service was erratic and it wasn't busy. I saw several lipstick wine glasses sent back and we received the weakest coffee I have ever actually been served by an adult in a cup WITH a small pitcher of the same light brown color water that I sent back. And what adult server forgets to show you the desert cart? You will find that all here but we had an A-OK time and recommend it with reservations. The Saturday night buffet was one of our two choices and a deal at $19 including 5 different meat choices, salad bar, cheese options, and creamed spinach and green beens for color. And if in doubt I recommend sticking with the buffet. Several other dishes sounded good and we opted for a Threefer of pork, veal, and beef tenderloin with the same mushroom topping over all 3. Then we spent too much time figuring out which was which and then which we liked better (the order above) for another $7.50 over the $19 buffet price. It was good but not way better than the buffet. And if the buffet is available, you may want to go take a good look at it and the salad/cheese bar options before you commit, we did. Better by the bottle wine list than you would expect in a beer town, reasonably priced. There are burger and sandwich options. Seating is varied with many options you may want to consider. There is some booth window seating that overlooks the street and some pretty window boxes that we opted for over a larger stuffy room with more table seating next to the large stage/dance room toward the bathrooms. Most of the AC was on the dance floor, with a little left over for the window booths and nothing in the middle where the buffet and kitchen vents. You will hear whatever the live music is regardless of where you sit, so head for the booth windows if available, it was less stuffy over there. There were more people on the polka dance floor than eating at 8pm and they clearly had been there before. I understand the bowling alley is a fun and inexpensive place in New Glarus and I did get to see my first semipro polka dancer in bowling shoes, and I am not going to forget that. We had two of the higher priced dinners and a bottle of wine over two and a half hours, coffee, and spent a little under $100 tip/tax, including substantial leftovers from the tasty three tenderloin plate. We enjoyed it, but if we had gotten trapped in some of the other seating areas on a busier Sat night with even more erratic service, probably not and I am sure that can happen here. If you are a really picky foodie I would suggest you go spend $150 somewhere else. Gueti Reis!
(3)
Joseph D.
For a 100 year old building it should not be in this great shape! Service was excellent, the Saturday night buffet was excellent. 5 meats- the schnitzel and spatzel were my favorites. Fantastically decorated chateau with outfits to match. We should have stayed for the love music Saturday and Sunday but was exhausted. For a post brewery stop it was awesome.
(4)
Cory P.
What a cool Swiss restaurant! I loved the atmosphere, and the service was great too. I came with a group of 8 adults and 2 babies and they were very accommodating. The food was delicious. The only problem was that I couldn't understand what half the items on the menu even were because they were in Swiss/German.
(4)
J O.
The food and service were OK. We hadn't been here in 8 years, and were somewhat surprised to see that absolutely nothing here had changed. Not that this was either good or bad . . . just surprising. Kind of felt like we had stepped through a time warp. Service was acceptable. Schnitzel was OK. Salads and Soups were OK . . . nothing to write home about. The pricetag was more than a bit inflated for what it was. Not sure if this was due to a "tourist trap"-type system of operation or not. But the food quality, service, and ambiance were not such that we'll come here again if we ever pass through New Glarus in the future. 3-star rating dropped to 2 for the prices.
(2)
Ken J.
Lots of traditional Swiss favorites on the menu here. No surprise as the whole town of New Glarus is very Swiss. I opted for the fish fry buffet as it was Friday on our trip here and you're in Wisconsin: you have to eat fish... it's like a rule. I do like fish and they had cod and haddock and tilapia, all served with sides such as Roesti, mac 'n cheese, etc. Salad bar was pretty good with a wide selection of fresh ingredients and very fresh fancy lettuce greens. The fish as OK but nothing stupendous. No onions in the Roesti, and I really like onions... Service was friendly and efficient. They had a polka band complete with an accordion, and the dance floor was filled with many, many Q-tips slowly moving around. Possibly they were even dancing or something. (Q-tip= older person with white hair) I liked the Swiss style dining rooms, all with a lot of wood details which made for a warm environment on a cold night. Plenty of New Glarus beers in bottle and on tap.
(3)
Josh K.
My girlfriend loved this place and it's easy to understand why. We were easily the youngest people in the entire hotel by about 40 years, except for a couple babies who had us beat. Polka music is a regular, especially on weekend nights. New Glarus Brewery is on tap with good variety. The sausages are local and the food authentically Swiss. For those not wanting Swiss fare, my girlfriend said her fried shrimp were the best she has ever had. Slightly steep price, but the atmosphere, the kindness of the staff, and the food more than make up for it.
(4)
Mike R.
Great food at a slightly steep price, but regardless I'm still a bit fan of their Saturday buffet option. Great schnitzels (obviously) as well as homemade desserts. Roesti potatoes are great as well. The service is a bit strange from time to time. Ambiance and view overlooking the rest of the town are pluses.
(4)
Dustin H.
Very friendly staff! Pretty good food. I liked the atmosphere, you can tell it hasn't been updated in awhile but everything was still very clean. We ordered fondue and a Rosti entree to share, very tasty.
Gerry A.
I dislike this kind of generalization, that if you are over 50 you may like the New Glarus Hotel Restaurant, and if you are under 40 probably not. But I think it is going to be that kind of either/or for most. And hard to categorize/review imo but definitely fits that one restaurant in a tourist town that dresses the help up in some period costumes and the food is 5 star if you like that, but otherwise it's only ok. And if you don't like that particular style of food or period then it's a two and what are you doing here? All THAT here is Swiss, and the food was better than I was expecting plus I like Swiss food. Looks pretty good for a 100 year old building and they have worked to keep it looking good, but don't look too hard because you will find some real signs of age and dirt frankly if you look too hard, under our table for example on a not that busy Saturday night. Wait staff were adults, but seemed perpetually distracted by something else and a lot of the other staff looked like high school help and good for them but usually erratic depending on their focus and training. So service was erratic and it wasn't busy. I saw several lipstick wine glasses sent back and we received the weakest coffee I have ever actually been served by an adult in a cup WITH a small pitcher of the same light brown color water that I sent back. And what adult server forgets to show you the desert cart? You will find that all here but we had an A-OK time and recommend it with reservations. The Saturday night buffet was one of our two choices and a deal at $19 including 5 different meat choices, salad bar, cheese options, and creamed spinach and green beens for color. And if in doubt I recommend sticking with the buffet. Several other dishes sounded good and we opted for a Threefer of pork, veal, and beef tenderloin with the same mushroom topping over all 3. Then we spent too much time figuring out which was which and then which we liked better (the order above) for another $7.50 over the $19 buffet price. It was good but not way better than the buffet. And if the buffet is available, you may want to go take a good look at it and the salad/cheese bar options before you commit, we did. Better by the bottle wine list than you would expect in a beer town, reasonably priced. There are burger and sandwich options. Seating is varied with many options you may want to consider. There is some booth window seating that overlooks the street and some pretty window boxes that we opted for over a larger stuffy room with more table seating next to the large stage/dance room toward the bathrooms. Most of the AC was on the dance floor, with a little left over for the window booths and nothing in the middle where the buffet and kitchen vents. You will hear whatever the live music is regardless of where you sit, so head for the booth windows if available, it was less stuffy over there. There were more people on the polka dance floor than eating at 8pm and they clearly had been there before. I understand the bowling alley is a fun and inexpensive place in New Glarus and I did get to see my first semipro polka dancer in bowling shoes, and I am not going to forget that. We had two of the higher priced dinners and a bottle of wine over two and a half hours, coffee, and spent a little under $100 tip/tax, including substantial leftovers from the tasty three tenderloin plate. We enjoyed it, but if we had gotten trapped in some of the other seating areas on a busier Sat night with even more erratic service, probably not and I am sure that can happen here. If you are a really picky foodie I would suggest you go spend $150 somewhere else. Gueti Reis!
(3)Joseph D.
For a 100 year old building it should not be in this great shape! Service was excellent, the Saturday night buffet was excellent. 5 meats- the schnitzel and spatzel were my favorites. Fantastically decorated chateau with outfits to match. We should have stayed for the love music Saturday and Sunday but was exhausted. For a post brewery stop it was awesome.
(4)Cory P.
What a cool Swiss restaurant! I loved the atmosphere, and the service was great too. I came with a group of 8 adults and 2 babies and they were very accommodating. The food was delicious. The only problem was that I couldn't understand what half the items on the menu even were because they were in Swiss/German.
(4)J O.
The food and service were OK. We hadn't been here in 8 years, and were somewhat surprised to see that absolutely nothing here had changed. Not that this was either good or bad . . . just surprising. Kind of felt like we had stepped through a time warp. Service was acceptable. Schnitzel was OK. Salads and Soups were OK . . . nothing to write home about. The pricetag was more than a bit inflated for what it was. Not sure if this was due to a "tourist trap"-type system of operation or not. But the food quality, service, and ambiance were not such that we'll come here again if we ever pass through New Glarus in the future. 3-star rating dropped to 2 for the prices.
(2)Ken J.
Lots of traditional Swiss favorites on the menu here. No surprise as the whole town of New Glarus is very Swiss. I opted for the fish fry buffet as it was Friday on our trip here and you're in Wisconsin: you have to eat fish... it's like a rule. I do like fish and they had cod and haddock and tilapia, all served with sides such as Roesti, mac 'n cheese, etc. Salad bar was pretty good with a wide selection of fresh ingredients and very fresh fancy lettuce greens. The fish as OK but nothing stupendous. No onions in the Roesti, and I really like onions... Service was friendly and efficient. They had a polka band complete with an accordion, and the dance floor was filled with many, many Q-tips slowly moving around. Possibly they were even dancing or something. (Q-tip= older person with white hair) I liked the Swiss style dining rooms, all with a lot of wood details which made for a warm environment on a cold night. Plenty of New Glarus beers in bottle and on tap.
(3)Josh K.
My girlfriend loved this place and it's easy to understand why. We were easily the youngest people in the entire hotel by about 40 years, except for a couple babies who had us beat. Polka music is a regular, especially on weekend nights. New Glarus Brewery is on tap with good variety. The sausages are local and the food authentically Swiss. For those not wanting Swiss fare, my girlfriend said her fried shrimp were the best she has ever had. Slightly steep price, but the atmosphere, the kindness of the staff, and the food more than make up for it.
(4)Mike R.
Great food at a slightly steep price, but regardless I'm still a bit fan of their Saturday buffet option. Great schnitzels (obviously) as well as homemade desserts. Roesti potatoes are great as well. The service is a bit strange from time to time. Ambiance and view overlooking the rest of the town are pluses.
(4)Dustin H.
Very friendly staff! Pretty good food. I liked the atmosphere, you can tell it hasn't been updated in awhile but everything was still very clean. We ordered fondue and a Rosti entree to share, very tasty.
(4)