Harbor View Cafe

Rating:

Rural Wisconsin's big-city restaurant is the one that pops into everyone's brain when they think of the Lake Pepin area. And why not? For more than 25 years, the seasonal restaurant (open March to November) has charmed with its varied menu, skilled cooking and convivial atmosphere. And even though the no-reservations and no-credit-cards policies drive out-of-towners nuts (they'll still take your personal check, so plan accordingly), and the owners sold their interests to several longtime employees in 2005, the Harbor View remains a restaurant worth visiting. The creative chalkboard menu features a dozen classic items (pork, beef, seafood and vegetarian selections), each beautifully done and definitely not the level of cooking you'd expect to run across in rural Wisconsin. The house-baked breads and desserts deserve special merit, and the cozy setting - a book-lined knotty-pine room with a terrific bar and, you got it, a harbor view - is the embodiment of charm.