MJ’s By The Lake

Our server was very attentive and friendly. While all of our food was excellent, the curry carrots were the star! The backyard patio is gorgeous. Definitely worth a look.

Good fresh food in a very nice location. Lovely back patio with music on a recent Sunday night. We had burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken in portabella sauce, cheese curds, bruschetta and deviled eggs. Ate there twice during a week long visit to Fox Lake.

I had the pleasure of going to a beer tasting dinner with my wife and some friends. Great atmosphere. The service was outstanding. And the 5 course meal was unique for our area and wonderfully tasty. From the pretzel and beer cheese starter, the slow cooked ground tenderloin meatball, stewed rabbit and mushrooms and the bison ribs. The peanut butter chocolate cupcake was also wonderful. I will for sure go back thanks for a great time.

Beautiful updates have been made to this building. We went on a rainy sunday morning and were surprised that the parking lot lacked blacktop or gravel.
The menu was limited and a little pricey. But, all of the food was excellent and fresh. I will return.

We have been here twice and both times have been satisfied. The atmosphere is really fun. The outside patio area is awesome and then inside is very warm and cozy.
Deviled eggs, salmon and pretzel breaded chicken parm was great! LOVE the Winter Mule!
Staff was all very friendly and I liked that the owner was walking around greeting people and helping out. She was very friendly as well.

We made a long drive to MJ’s by the Lake on a Saturday early evening with reservations because my husband wanted a rural Wisconsin feel to the place he was eating on his birthday. Driving there was scenic but finding the actual restaurant was not a walk in the park. A misleading sign took us all over the town of Fox Lake till a kind lady helped us out with directions to the restaurant. Parking was a breeze. We sat outdoors. Hubby ordered pork belly lettuce wraps and I did cheese curds and creamy broccoli chicken soup for appetizers. The soup was a special of the day and was very different but very tasty, tasting organic to me. We thought the wraps were excellent, and this comes from someone (me) who isn’t much of a pork fan. The cheese curds were okay, not the best I’ve had in Wisconsin. For entrees, hubby had BBQ ribs and I had shrimp Alfredo. I have to say the ribs are the FINEST we’ve both tasted in the United States. The meat was cooked so perfectly and came off the bone just right. And the BBQ sauce? Perfection! However the shrimp Alfredo was very different in taste and left a lot to be desired. We both had dessert, the chocolate cheesecake and warm chocolate pudding, both excellent but can be found just as good in other places. Overall the menu is a bit limited but if you ever decide to try this place, please do not miss the ribs! They are perfection personified!
We had two waitresses serve us. The main one was young and shy, maybe she was new. The other one served us dessert and tried to run away as fast as she could. I ordered a replacement dessert which was completely ignored. So not the finest service there… I was close to knocking a point off for this but the taste of their finest BBQ ribs prevent me from taking off points! One more thing, they had no special discount for hubby’s birthday so this is not a «birthday-​bargain» place. If you want a lovely drive in rural Wisconsin, want to spend some time at the lake or are a BBQ ribs lover, check this place out!

Well worth the cheese curd detour. After reading the other Unilocal reviews we’re in the area we decided to go on a mission. Cheese curds were perfect some of the best I’ve ever had. A generous portion. The bruchetta was tasty too. Only negative was our server could have been more attentive. She never came back to get my credit card so we went up to the bar to pay.

Decided to go on Sunday Labor Day weekend for dinner. Nice Place, used to come here often as this is a remodeled supper club from the Fox Lake area. Wonderful Patio, would be a fun place for a Champagne Bruch — ate in Dining Room as music was too loud and we wanted to chat during dinner. Dining room Is too bright — awkward bright led lighting makes you feel uncomfortable and without much atmosphere — feels like a cafeteria in an army mess hall. Ordered lettuce wraps, fish, pecan chicken, chicken alfredo, etc… with a large group. Some of the food had interesting flavors and they have unique items on very limited menu. Unfortunately much of that food was quite bland, service was polite yet average and no bread, butter, rolls, cheese or any pre-​meal food is served while waiting for ordered food — which is to be expected at all area restaurants. With great classic supper club options in the area, we probably won’t be back and we really wanted to have a good experience.

A great find in a fairly remote area! The food was as advertised, fresh and delicious. I had the appetizer Thai chicken lettuce wraps. It was a generous portion and lots of fresh vegetables. Beautiful outdoor seating on the patio out back.

Not what we expected. Food portions large but service not trained well. Kids
Drinks weak just not happy! Put a ton of money in place but need to train Staff. 2^nd time still needs help!

We were in Fox Lake over the July 4^th weekend and decided to check out MJ’s By The Lake. We have been to many of the other restaurants in the area, and this did have a great distinctive menu. The outdoor seating area was wonderful. My husband had the pecan mushroom chicken with a side of garlic mashed potatoes, and I had the scallops over corn and bacon succotash.
The scallops were cooked to perfection and I loved the scallops with the succotash. My husband found the chicken to be cooked perfectly and the mashed potatoes were delicious. The issue with my husband’s dish, though, was lack of seasoning. The pecan mushroom appeared overly sweet, but when he properly adjusted the seasoning with salt and pepper the flavor of the mushrooms came out, the sweetness went way down, and overall a great dish. We were both pleases, but not sure about the pricing of the entrees. We were not served bread and butter with the entrees, which we somewhat expected given the price. There was also not a ‘standard’ side with each entrée. Which. for me, meant that I had 4 delicious but not overly large scallops over a bed of succotash — the plate was pretty but looked a bit vacant to be honest. It is not often that we walk away hungry from a dinner out, but since we did not order an appetizer we certainly had room for more.
My husband and I also ordered a bottle of wine. It was obvious our waitress did not know how to handle the order since most folks were ordering single pours. When one of the bar tenders came out with the bottle and helped guide our waitress thru the process, it was a good training lesson for the waitress. We were a little surprised that the staff was not better trained on issues like this. What was a disappointment (given that it was July) was that the bottle of white wine was opened and then left on our table without a cooling jacket or bucket. A restaurant that values the wine bottle purchases should know how to present wine and store it at the customer’s table.
I think MJ’s could deserve a better rating. First, the waitstaff works very hard, but everything is carried around by hand — they do not use trays to bus tables or serve food. What that means is that if you have a party of 4 you likely have 2 of the waitstaff bringing the entrees to your table. This is fine, but it means the waitstaff is constantly moving from one task to the next rather than attentively waiting on the tables that they serve. Without trays it also means that waitstaff carries stacked plates and glasses into the restaurant from the patio — not a real issue but it all seems so inefficient, and looks that way as you view the activity. Also, they could offer water (choice of) at the table. Since it cost me $ 2 to order a seltzer water at the bar as we waited for our table to be ready, offering a selection of tap/​bottled/​sparkling water at the table could be a good idea and a money maker for MJ’s.
MJ’s has the making of a 5-​star restaurant. Training staff, improving efficiency of the waitstaff activities, and looking at the value proposition of the meal will all guarantee success.

Awesome out of the way place. The food was fantastic as was the service and the atmosphere. If business brings me back this way, this will be my first choice for dinner.

Had the salmon with bruschetta and it was outstanding! The flavors were excellent and a great compliment to the perfectly prepared salmon. The salad was fresh and crisp and a nice wine selection. Its wonderful to find a place this close to home with this quality of food. The staff was very friendly but not overbearing and owner stopped by each table to make sure things were up to our standards. The place is really perfect for a lake setting and can’t wait to come back and try out the patio.

FINALLY! A GOOD restaurant outside of Madison! We decided to check out MJ’s tonight after reading a few online reviews and we were NOT disappointed!
The building itself is newly renovated and the dining room has beautiful wood floors and beams with a warm, rustic vibe. Everything looked very clean and new. It was too cold to eat on the patio, but it looked like it would be a great spot to relax on a warm day.
We’d made a reservation, but it really wasn’t necessary since there were only a few other tables, but I’d guess it could get pretty busy in the summer. We were seated right away and ordered the cheese curds as an appetizer. Pretty much all of the appetizers sounded delicious– I just like to try the curds everywhere we go in my lifelong search for the best cheese curds ever. I have to say, these were pretty decent– they were not at all soggy and had just the right amount of breading.
I ordered the basil pesto salmon and my husband had the chipotle shrimp. Both of us chose the bacon corn succotash as a side, and let me tell you, IT.WAS.AWESOME. Because you know what makes vegetables taste better? Bacon, that’s what. I could have just eaten a giant bowl of the succotash and been pretty happy. My salmon was also really good– in addition to the basil pesto, it came with a tomato bruschetta. My husband’s shrimp was also good– thought it was a little bit too salty though.
The service was decent, I think our server was new to the job so he was a little awkward and wasn’t as prompt with refilling water as he could have been, but he seemed like a good kid and we liked him. The hostess (I think she might be one of the owners?) was especially enthusiastic– it would have been a little over the top, but it is a new place and I think she’s trying hard to get the word out about the place and bring in repeat customers, so I can’t really blame her for that. Overall, we were very happy with our experience and will definitely be back!

We went there for a Friday fish fry! Outstanding selection of perch and walleye! We loved it — the other options that go along with the fish were awesome! The people were friendly and courteous and went out of their way to make sure we had a positive dining experience! The atmosphere was great, very clean and well decorated! We will go back!

Clean place, good food. We came the day before they closed for 2 weeks so they didn’t have a couple items. Would come again.

MJ’s is a beautiful restaurant inside and out! Everything is very clean and neat. Service was fast and very knowledgable. Menu was simple and had a good variety for whatever you would want. Appetizers and deserts are to die for!

Mjs by the lake has the freshest food around! We went there for lunch and the food is hands down the freshest in the area. I tried the loaded mash potato spring rolls for our appetizer, which our table ate up so fast I would recommend 2! I love seafood so I had the scallops with corn succotash for my main meal. It basically rocked my world! We of course needed to try both of their desserts, an in house home made cheesecake and chocolate layered trifle I believe. They satisfied our tables sweet tooth and can’t wait to visit again. I would highly recommend this place to anyone in the area looking for a great lunch, dinner or drinks. By the way when you visit check out the back patio, unbelievably cute!