The Wilds Pub

I haven’t eaten at the wilds for quite a while. I moved out to Prior Lake 11 years ago and it was one of the best restaurants in town even decided to have my wedding reception there. A week ago I decided to go there because it was so close to my house. The menu was not what I remember it’s not a whole lot of options this time. I decided to get the steak with vegetables and wild rice. The steak was dried out and overdone the rice was over seasoned and the small amount of vegetables were awesome. It was over priced also.

I took my dad to the Wilds to play. It was his first time playing there and he had heard very good things. I have played there a few times but it’s been a few years. We had a free pass for his birthday and split the green fee. The cost ended up being about $ 44 each. For the course layout and condition and overall experience, $ 44 is a perfect price. However, considering they normally charge $ 96 on the week end with a cart per person, we both had much higher expectations! For starters, it’s a bit ridiculous that they don’t just include a cart; it would be near impossible to walk this course. When I play «high end’ courses that charge close to $ 100, I expect it to be nearly flawless. The greens were in horrible condition for this time of year. They all had what looked like oil or gas stripes from the mowers and a lot of sand on them. They were quite bumpy and a lot of rough spots to try to put over. The fairways I was a little more forgiving considering all the rain, but a lot of them were in bad shape too. The overall course is no where near $ 96 on it’s best day. It’s just your average upscale golf course that should top out at no more than $ 65. It’s no where near the caliber course that the near by Legends is nor the Meadows at Mystic Lake across the street, which are both less! Fortunately for us, we had only paid one green fee of $ 50 (weekend early twilight?) and 2 $ 16 cart fees. Had we paid the full price each, I would have made sure they knew how horribly over priced they were. I would say the course is a good course overall, but no where near the prestige of Troy Burne, Stone Ridge, Legends, or Rush Creek for a similar price. Unless they cut their prices down, I think it’s safe to say we won’t be driving back down to Prior Lake to play the Wilds.