Norske Nook

This is very nice Norwegian restaurant. Their bakery has an unbelievable variety of homemade pies and desserts. They also have Scandinavian specialties and deserts. The menu is very extensive, from burgers and steaks to lefse wraps and Scandinavian meatballs. The have a complete breakfast menu that is served all day. The Hash Browns Supreme is very good. I also have had the pot roast special which was very good. The portion size is very gracious and the service was excellent. This is an investment worth making.

It was delicious. Especially the turtle cheesecake. Taco salad was loaded with veggies and ground beef.
The only downside was it felt as though there was no heat in the building. We ate with our coats on and was still freezing. I asked why it was so cold they said there were too many windows and it stayed this cold.
Service was good.

This place is fantastic, I’ve always had nothing but good service and great food from here. Most recently I got the French toast with some bacon and the bacon was easily the best I’ve had at any restaurant in the area. As others mentioned, the pie is where they really shine. I got the cookies and cream pie and it was much bigger than anticipated. They give you a lot for the money. I definitely recommend checking this place out.

As a person from Georgia I decided to check this place out. I heard the pie was to die for and let me tell you it is. I plan to be in rice lake for a few more days and I plan to go back for the delicious food and awesome pie.

Another reviewer said, «Life is short, order pie first.» This is true, but only because the service is excruciatingly slow. We didn’t have time to wait another 30 minutes (after an hour and 15 minutes for lunch) for our server to finally get back to us and order pie. So we left without satisfying our sweet tooth. Not happy with the service at all.

Nice décor and friendly staff but that’s where the positive ends. My hashbrowns egg dish tasted of bacon even though I ordered no meat. We asked if they used fresh mushrooms and they said yes. Not only weren’t the mushrooms fresh but other veggies were probably frozen. The pancake that came with the meal was fair. My wife had an omelette and hashbrowns that she said it also had some bacon flavor. The decaf coffee was tasteless. This place is definitely off our list.

Our waitress was not very well informed on what each meal came with & had to come out several times to ask our choices of certain things. The establishment offers no appetizers of any kind. I order the steak & eggs breakfast. My hash browns were very good, but my steak was not medium like I had asked and was extremely dry. I had also asked for biscuits and gravy. Upon not receiving it we asked and our waitress said they were out and had substituted toast instead. The menu had said you could have toast or pancakes. I asked her why she had not asked me what I wanted and she said they always just substitute toast when they run out. I told her I wanted a pancake and not toast. The pancake they brought out was very good. Suggestion… don’t go for dinner just the bakery items. The pies were delicious. Service was sub par.

Sigh. I really wanted to write a great review for this location, but alas the Rice Lake Norske is sub-​par and I hesitate to even give it two stars (I just couldn’t do one star because the pie is so good — but get it «to go» or «pick up» and enjoy elsewhere). Service was lukewarm from being crammed into a packed seating area when the restaurant was NOT busy (maybe five tables?) to not receiving our second helping of ALL YOU CAN EAT Friday Fish Fry until approximately 15 minutes after finishing our first two (SMALL) pieces and having to wave down a waitress to request more… It isn’t really an all you can eat experience if all of your table’s food goes cold waiting for service. Our waters’ were NEVER refilled and basically we were ignored and treated as a burden. Not a fun time. The food was okay-​ish at best — fish was soggy not crispy, corn was from a can, and I ordered beer battered fries and received regular over-​cooked waffle fries. The atmosphere is cute — sort of — but it was run down and very cold inside for 53 degree day. My husband and I will never return to this location again and that is sad because the Nook has so much potential (realized only in Osseo it appears).

My wife craved pie and when you’re in the area of Rice Lake, Pie is spelled Norske nook. So we both ordered the no sugar added pie with ice cream, mmmmmm. The waitress says that’s all they had in No sugar added pie was apple which was what I wanted anyway. But she soon returned and said when she cut into the pie it turned out to be no sugar added peach pie. My wife said okay to the peach pie but I’m not peach guy. So I got a regular apple pie with crumb topping instead. Actually I’m not much of a pie guy but it was as good as any pie I’ve had. My wife loved her peach pie however.

We went here on a Saturday Afternoon on the way to Minnesota from Illinois. We arrived here around 11:30 or so
I was greeted when I asked for a table, but the server seemed ticked off when I asked her to wait for a few seconds until my Fiancé got out of the restroom.
As we sat down, the waitress was there promptly with menus and asking for drink orders. We put in our order for the drinks, and the waitress returned with them in a few minutes, and came to take the food orders.
I ordered a Cheddar burger and a crème soda, and my Fiancé ordered some salad.
The food arrived ~20 mins after ordering, which seems pretty steep since we were one of 3 tables with anyone sitting in them.
The salad was clearly just salad from a bag, thrown on a plate. Many pieces of the lettuce were brown, and starting to turn watery. The cheese was also clearly from a bag, and tasted like the cheaper plastic-​y cheese you can get at the discount stores.
My burger had great tasting cheese, but the bun and meat were very dry. I was not impressed at all.
She stopped by once, and asked if we wanted some pie, which we did. We got a slice of Apple, and one of Mint. The pie was very good.
Once the food arrived, I did not see the waitress again until I asked for the check. She did not bring me more water like I asked for, and did not ask me If i would like a refill on my crème soda
Service — ²⁄₅
Food Quality– ¹⁄₅
Serving Size — ³⁄₅
Speediness — ²⁄₅
Atmosphere — ²⁄₅
Overall: ¹⁄₅

The worst service I have EVER experienced at a restaurant! The waitress was snarky and seemed to be offended that we would ask her for more water or coffee. She kept saying that she would be «right with us» but would then disappear for 5 or 10 minutes. The food wasn’t as good as it usually is. And when we asked for the bill, she said «Sir, I will get it when I have a moment.» We were there for an hour and 45 minutes. The only reason I am giving them two stars is because the pie was so good. I don’t think that we will ever go back. We is sad since our family has been stopping there since I was little.

Norwegian Meatballs with mashed potatoes were very good. Not very great, but very good. Perla was a good server.

We stayed at the hotel across the street and heard it was good. My meal was okay, a little bland (no vanilla or cinnamon). The waitress was nice and fast, considering we had 10 people in our group

It was a dessert stop well worth making! We travel up and down 53 a few times a year and I decided now was the time to give the pie a try. It was so worth the 20 minute stop. Two slices of banana cream, an apple, and a raspberry cream cheese. Everyone shared a bite, but almost not willingly as one did not want to sacrifice even one bite!!! Well done Norske Nook! Your blue ribbons are well deserved.

Went for the Swedish pancakes and we’re not disappointed! The décor was cheesily appropriate. We also got the largest biscuit ever, which was quite tasty. Despite the crowd service was really good

Really tasty food. Scones are amazing. The pie was really great too! Fun place with traditional Swedish/​Norwegian food. Service was slow but they seemed unusually busy. Would return.

This review is just based on the pie and coffee … which is really all you need, right?
On our way to Hayward for vacation, we made a quick stop at the Norske Nook in Rice Lake because 1) we needed to pick up my boyfriend’s brother whose bus from the Minneapolis airport dropped him off next to the Norske Nook, and 2) my boyfriend, who drove the whole way, needed an after-​lunch caffeinated pick-​me-​up.
I had been to the Norske Nook in Hayward before, and really, how can you say no to a chain with something like 50 pies that are made from scratch on their menu?!?
So we took a break from traveling, and the hostess immediately got us a table.
We decided to each get a piece of pie and share them, so among the group, we got pieces of cranberry apple pie, raspberry peach melba pie and pecan stout pie.
Each was different and delicious. We had to get a cranberry pie since it is Wisconsin, and this pie was tart yet sweet. Not sure what melba is, but this one didn’t disappoint either.
And pecan stout was just like a pecan pie but a little richer.
Our waitress kept the coffee coming, and we were soon on our way, happily caffeinated and fueled by sweet sugary goodness.
When you need a last bit of energy to get you to your destination, is there really a better place to go than a restaurant that specializes in desserts and coffee? I think not.

Really bad food. The hollandaise sauce was by far the worst I’ve ever had. After taking one bite, I debated not even eating the dish — I wish I hadn’t eaten it.
I would avoid this place. My friends got other dishes, and they were equally bad.

Ordered one of the specialtys. Turkey between 2 pieces of bread, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy. What I can say about this is that it’s everything it says it is and also exists on our three dimensional plane.
Service is not fast but there is a Norwegian and American flag at each table so I was able to stay entertained while looking at that.
Pies are very good. If we come back it’ll be pie only I think.

Standard breakfast fare. The sandwiches have packaged deli meat. :(Pretty good soups. Great pie selection. Try the cream pudding, yum! Good home baked muffins.