The Trout House at Rushing Waters

Great food and AWESOME old fashions !!! We were buzzed after one !!! Had the trout fish fry and it was delish!!! BF had the trout on the menu and it was good also. This is one of the few restaurants in the eagle /​palmyra area and we will be visiting often when we move there in April ! Great service from brad also. Thanks for being an awesome restaurant. Loved the ambiance and the store section !!!

Fabulous Brunch, all plated off the menu. We arrived at 1:15 and were seated immediately.
Great selection with the choices of trout or salmon on most dishes. A real value. Your wait times are a tad longer then most, because of the menu items. We have been for dinner also, but Brunch became our favorite.

Worth the drive out of palmyra for some excellent fish entrees. Had the fried trout fish and it’s definitely better than going to Nite Cap.
Looking forward to coming back and catching my own trout to eat.

Terrible service. Bartender on Saturday afternoon let my 85 year old mother and I standing at the hostess station for over 20 minutes without any greeting. Finally I approached the staff asking why we had not been seated let alone recognized that we were waiting. When asked why we were not greeted by anyone the bartender replied they would be busy later that day. That’s without any paraphrasing or exaggeration! Unacceptable.
Go somewhere else.

Disappointed… catfish tasted steamed not grilled. Lunch of trout a couple months ago was great, don’t know what changed.

They change their offerings at times, so specials like «Jerk Chicken Night» might just up and disappear from the menu. For being out in the middle of nowhere, they have a big draw.
The fish fry is very good, they offer both cod and tout broiled or fried. The batter on the fired is outstanding, but oddly they are stingy on the coleslaw. I’ve also had various other dishes, including the pasta and the various small plates at the bar, which were quite good.
The dining room is all wood surfaces, so it can tend to get loud on Friday nights. They also have the fish store open during meal service, so you can shop for takeaway items as well. I suggest the smoked fish, dip and bacon wrapped scallops to bring home.

A lovely place. Very nice, very rural – but worth the drive.
The kid saw this place on some TV show a few months ago and the idea of catch-​and-​eat trout greatly appealed to her. We went, and were not disappointed. The trout pound was so stocked that you could land a fish in about five minutes. They have a pretty nice system there so if you want to hook-​and-​cook a trout, it’s an enjoyable little adventure, rather than any sort of arduous task.
The small dining room was very nice and modern. The food was excellent. The waiter we had was very pleasant and good at his job. The bill for three of us only came to about $ 40. I can’t complain, given the quality. Plus, the place lies along a horse trail from Kettle Moraine State Park, so there were about eight horses tied to hitching posts while their owners died. It was a nice sidelight.
The only negative I can give this place is that my Coke was a single can. It was served with a nice tall glass of ice (if there’s anything better than ice cold Coke, I don’t know what it is), but it was just a 12 oz. portion for $ 2.00. I felt cheated on that, but everything else was so good, I’m going to overlook it.
Plan a trip and go. You won’t regret it.

Perfect dinner in every way. While I could leave it at that, Unilocal wouldn’t like it, so I will add the following… while the drive out was pleasant, I wouldn’t want to try to do it without a smartphone map app AND I really wish this place was near my house. If that were possible, I would eat there all the time. The trout spread appetizer, in my opinion, is a requirement. Get it and be amazed. We all came for the grilled trout and to say it was delicious is an understatement. I could be happy eating that every day. Very nice side salads came with and the asparagus that accompanied my trout was fresh, tender, and delicately seasoned. One in our party also ordered soup and said it was so rich and super flavorful that she wasn’t inclined to offer free samples. Since we were going home to birthday cake, we didn’t get to try the desserts, but they looked good. As another reviewer recommended, bring a cooler and ice pack along because there’s an adjacent store and you’ll want to buy more trout spread to enjoy another day. Though it’s a drive, we look forward to going back soon. If you have out-​of-​state guests, lunch or dinner here is a great way to get out of town and show them the Wisconsin countryside.

It’s about an hour from Madison and you’ll need GPS to find the place, but the Trout House is so worth it.
I’ve had lunch here twice now and left very happy both times. Started each time with a rye old-​fashioned that was perfection itself — they even use amazing dark cherries (French? Italian?) in the muddle and as a garnish.
The shore lunch is what you want to order. I’ve had it both ways: with deep-​fried and pan-​seared trout. Both are absolutely delicious — the trout is as fresh as it gets. The meal is rounded out by a choice of fries or potato pancakes, cole slaw, rye bread and sauteed green beans. A lovely not-​so-​little lunch.
They even give you the option of a «hook and cook» — go out and fish for your own trout in their pond, then bring it in and they’ll cook it. (There’s an extra charge for this, which I’m sure is totally worth it for a would-​be angler.)
I can also vouch for the smoked trout spread and smoked trout chowder, which I had on my first visit here. Both are rich and delicious. There are also offerings for those who are not trout lovers — one of my dining companions said her avocado burger was excellent. And there are several salads that feature chicken or other proteins.
The service is friendly but not overbearing. The prices are completely reasonable. And the space has a modern, industrial vibe that wouldn’t be out of place in Chicago.
After you’ve had lunch, stop by adjoining store and pick up a little fresh or smoked trout (or a number of other items) for the road. And make note of the location, because you will be back.

What a great treat to have been here on a beautiful Friday for lunch. The dining room is clean and on the modern side. Servers are very kind, attentive and non-​intrusive. I had the shore lunch with sautéed trout and potato pancakes. Awesome. Wife had shore lunch with potato pancakes and deep-​fried trout. Double awesome. Daughter had the fish fry cod special. Triple awesome. Preceded by one of their special Bloody Marys, lavender Mojito and a fish and cheeseboard to share between us, this was a memorable experience and definitely worth the trip from Madison.

Great food; enthusiastic and helpful staff, all hidden in this somewhat remote restaurant. A menu, obviously consisting heavily of fish with a strong emphasis on trout. It specializes in «farm to fork» fish, and all of their fish and most other items are grown on the premises or nearby. Gourmet entrees at chain store prices. The fish we had was prepared to perfection! We both had grilled «fish fry» dinner. I had the grilled trout while my wife had the cod and both were wonderful. Fish Fry meals come with tartar sauce, applesauce, coleslaw, and your choice of potato pancakes or french fries. We both opted for the potato pancakes, which were crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. Not overdone at all. The coleslaw was a small portion– I could have had two– but very good vinegar and mayo coleslaw. It had the advantages of both vinegar and oil coleslaw and may coleslaw, but not forced or fake at all. Quite good. The fish, both the trout and the cod, were fall off the fork tender. Moist, hot and delicious. Instead of salad, I opted for the smoked trout chowder. All I can say is that I would be thrilled if that were all I got. It was delicious. A creamy chowder like New England Clam chowder, but loaded with smoked trout, giving it a delicious smokey character that resembles the smoked whitefish chowders I’ve had in the Upper Peninsula, though the trout adds a stronger and richer dimension. Absolutely wonderful. Skip the salad, try the smoked trout chowder.
They have a lot of specials representing the diversity of fish available in Wisconsin. Although far from Door County, they have occasional fish boils. I’d go back for one of those! Well, probably, I’d go to Door County. But you get my meaning. They have a jalapeño pineapple crabcake appetizer that was delicious, but not really the highlight of the meal we expected it to be when we ordered it. They offer all the usual suspects: salmon, trout, cod, snapper, shrimp, and of course, catch of the day, and all can be prepared in any of several ways: with several flavoring/​sauce options. Probably two dozen combinations of preparations for each fish. They also offer steaks, chicken, and pasta if you really can’t stand fish. Personally, I don’t understand not liking fish, but you have the option; fish lovers will really like the food, but I suspect that they prepare everything with great care.
Finally, they have a small but amazing desert menu and a decent bar, focusing mostly on Wisconsin craft beers and mixed drinks. The waiter was very helpful in finding us good beers to go with our meals.
The atmosphere is kind of modern/​industrial. Lots of metal and glass. You enter through a fish market that is kind of deceptive. It is sparsely stocked and appears understaffed. We looked at the fish available but did not buy any… we were staying in a hotel, afterall, and what would we do with fresh fish?! Although not much was on display, you could tell they were quite fresh. Red gills, bright, clear eyes, etc. There also were t-​shirts and odds-​and-​ends for sale in the store, but nothing struck us as «souvenir worthy.»
All in all, this is a great find. I’d easily gain twenty pounds if I lived nearby as I’d definitely go there often. Great food at a good price.

Wow wow and wow and a fish fry on Wednesday night to boot. You head out to this place and get further and further out in the country — someplace past nowhere you pull up on what looks like a warehouse on a family farm. Then you walk in the retail store and figure this place must be a dive, you then take a right, step thru a wormhole into a fancy restaurant that would be at home in any big city. You suddenly fear that you are under dressed, but fear not weary traveler this place has no dress code and fantastic service and food await — did I mention a fish fry on Wednesday night as well as Friday night.
Sadly after a great meal it’s back thru the wormhole to the middle of nowhere and then the drive back to dull reality.

The fish special was all you can eat crab legs for $ 20! You can’t beat that. Cheese plate and smoked trout were to die for. Great place for a Friday night date, you can park your horse on a post across the street. Only problem with this place is that it’s not closer to my house in southern Wisconsin… If it was, I’d be there all the time

If you’re in the mood for a pretty drive out from Milwaukee, Rushing Waters should be on your list. It took us about an hour or so, but the Kettle Moraine area is lovely so it’s not bad at all. The location is easy to find — stay on Main St going out of Palmyra and watch for the sign a mile or two down the road.
We had a 7pm reservation (highly recommend reservations as its a small place and they get busy) but weren’t seated until after 7:30 as they were backed up. So we hung out at the bar (also slammed) — theyve got a pretty good beer list ($ 4), a very nice wine list ($ 7 – 8) and a dozen or so craft cocktails ($ 8). As an apology for the delays, they comped us a sampler board which included smoked Cajun salmon, smoked trout, trout dip, Hooks cheddar and a fontina plus homemade crackers. Seriously — everything on the board was amazing. We liked the dip and salmon enough to buy some to take home.
Once we got to the table, the service was really good — very timely and friendly. They were running two specials including a wahoo fish entrée and a shrimp boil. Sadly, a few of our group ordered the wahoo only to find out they had run out. (if you’re getting the impression things aren’t totally organized, well…) Anyway, what matters is taste — I went with the shrimp boil ($ 23/​single or $ 30/​AYCE) and loved it. The shrimp were fresh, clen and flavorful — no overcooked or rubbery ones. It was served with a nice corn/​pepper mix, red potatoes and a cheddar jalepeno corn bread. That last item was dryer than the Sahara — not good. But I wasn’t there to eat cornbread — I was there for shrimp and they delivered.
A few people in our group opted for dessert (layered chocolate mousse and tiramisu) — both looked homemade and were generous portions. After dinner, we did a bit of shopping in the store and had a bit of a challenge getting the credit card machine to work.
Bottom line — the food here is truly above average. The kitchen is on point and delivering sme very well cooked and creative dishes.
The operation as a whole? We may well have caught them on an off night but I had the impression that despite opening a restaurant, they weren’t quite sure what to do with actual customers. In any case, everyone there was really pleasant and 100% doing their best to deliver a good experience. So — check out Rushing Waters — bring patience and a sense of humor!

We went for mother’s day brunch and it was… fine. For $ 25 bucks, I would actually say that it was meh. They really were not ready for that amount of people. The place was packed, and the atmosphere was very nice. However the food… the best part was the smoked fish — which they kept running out of, and didn’t have a designated person to stock the buffet. They ran out of plates, and I stood their for about 10 min before they got more. And the chef who was carving the pork (I didn’t eat it) was complaining up a storm about how he had to be there and when can he go home. FYI. the family stated the pork was dry. The buffett was $ 25 bucks and didn’t have a single memorable item on it. If my mother in law didn’t rave about how awesome their usual night food is, I would never go back… but…I will, because she loves this place. Personally, if it wasn’t for her, I would be out. Maybe we are just really spoiled in Milwaukee for good brunches, but this was one, that I was kinda embarrassed to take my mother in law to, on her special day.
High note: the bourbon old fashioned… they don’t mess around with them and did a darn good job. And our waitress did a great job with the amount of tables she had.

Trout is very good and fresh! Very good cocktail selection. Nice menu options and great environment. The fried green bean appetizer, and fish and cheese board are HIGHLY recommended.

Come for the trout… Stay for a drink!
The first time i visited this hidden gem, I went on a Friday night for what else, but a fish fry. They offer a traditional cod and it is done very well, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t try the beer battered trout. If your date is up for it, order one of each and compare samples, thats what we did! Great craft beers available. Kids get fish related coloring sheets and crayons to pass the time between ordering and eating. They have live music in the Summer. :) Visit the store on your way out, there is a good chance you will find something to take home and enjoy!
Nice place!

I love trout and I was so looking forward to having dinner at this place.
There were about 20 of us for dinner with pre-​orders. I had pre-​selected the only trout dish on the menu: baked whole trout almondine while people sitting around me all ordered something else — one salmon and one trout filet because he didn’t like nuts. When my trout was served, I could see that it was over-​cooked and dry. That trout filet from the other order looked moist and glistening and yummy. I thought all baked trout from this restaurant were like this and really wished that I had that trout filet instead. My trout was so dry I had to eat it with the mashed potato in order to swallow it — no exaggeration here!
Once I finished the mashed potato, I really couldn’t eat the trout any more. I checked around and found others with the same dish looked far better than mine, I realized that only mine was done badly. I told the hostess/​waitress that my fish was just too dry (it’s very visible just by its appearance), she said to put some butter on it. Really? And then she said that I should have told her as soon as the order was served — right, blame the customer. I would have had I known that they did know how to make this dish well and that only my fish was over cooked. She could have handled it so much better.
As the waitress came around to give me my bill and proceeded to walk away, I said, «you are not going to charge me for the whole thing, are you?» She said as she continue to walk, «we took it off the bill.» Well, it was a nice gesture, it would really have been nice if she came and told me that’s what they would do and/​or asked if there was anything they could do to make my experience better.
The dinner gets no star, the service gets a negative star, since they didn’t charge me at the end, so I’ll give them 2 stars.

SO so worth the trip. I’m from Oregon. In 11 years living in Wisconsin, I have not had an culinary experience equal to this one. Especially amazing if you enjoy fine wine, uniquely delicious cocktails and eating the very best fresh seafood.

There’s nothing better than local sustainable food, and so many restaurants are now serving Rushing Waters Trout. I recently had fantastic versions at Amilinda and Morel. So I was excited to hear about the opening of the Trout House and planned a visit.
It was only an easy 50 minute drive from Bayview, and well worth it. The restaurant and retail store will be in the first buildings after you travel about a quarter mile up the dirt and gravel drive. You are truly in the country now.
To the west you’ll see a long all dirt path winding through the trees. At some point during your visit you’ll want to walk that path to the Trout Fishing Pond and Hatchery. Using fishing equipment and purchased bait from the retail store you’ll hook trout in a very well stocked pond. There’s no catch and release, but based upon the easily visible schools you’ll be more than happy with those that land on your hook. You can have your catch wrapped to take home, or cleaned for home cooking, or cooked on site.
Whether you caught your own bounty or are ordering off the menu, you will most certainly want to enjoy some time at the on site restaurant. They serve lunch, fish fry on Wednesdays and Sundays, Special Saturday Suppers (fish, lobster or shrimp boils) and Sunday Brunch. After reading the detailed menus and information on their website, we decided on brunch.
I began the requisite Bloody Mary ($ 8) and was VERY pleasantly surprised. This was one of the best bloodies I’ve had in a long time. It’s certainly rivals any that I’ve had in Milwaukee. All the required flavors were present, and tomato did not dominate. The best taste though was a tiny hint of Old Bay and perhaps a bit of seafood stock. Just a little addition and it elevated this drink to fantastic heights. It also helped that this is the very first time I’ve had smoked fish as one of the garnishes, and I could certainly get used to that!
My entrée was equally fantastic. It was a deconstructed (my descriptive word, their menu is not that trendy, which is a good thing) trout benedict ($ 13.50). A fillet of house trout was pan fried and lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. The taste was fresh and vibrant and possibly one of the best pieces of the many, many fish I’ve ever eaten. It was accompanied by two excellent potato pancakes that were crispy and distinctive. The dish was completed with eggs done to your choice; mine were perfectly poached, easily the best I’ve ever been served in any restaurant. Whites were perfectly cooked to opaque and yolks were gold and runny.
Our table shared an appetizer of smoked trout spread ($ 6), which is a specialty of the house. It was perfectly paired with a wonderful stone ground multigrain cracker assortment. Loved the spread so much that I purchased a container in the retail store.
Yes, a wonderful retail store is connected to the restaurant so bring your cooler. Because after you taste Rushing Waters products, you can purchase many of them, and other fine products in the store. You may have seen some of the Rushing Waters items at area Farmer’s Markets, and those are all available here.
Salmon burgers ($ 5.50) come in traditional, spinach/​feta, chipotle, and italian. Crab cakes ($ 7.50) are plump and flavorful and not laden with fillers. And spread is available in both smoked trout, and smoked salmon ($ 5.50).
The deli case offers large pieces and whole smoked salmon (regular and varied flavors) and trout. Fresh whole or fillet salmon and trout are also available. Case items are sold by the pound and priced 7.99 — 11.99 per.
There are also varied frozen and canned seafood and fish at prices competitive with any club store but in smaller quantities. And one entire refrigerator section offers a great selection of craft beers for the aforementioned fishing expedition.
This is the perfect destination for all fish and seafood lovers!