Wisconsin’s Hidden Dining Gem: The Fox & Hounds [REVIEW]

Since I was young, I remember my family going out to dinner a few times a month. I liked going to new places, but I also had my favorites. Growing up my favorite food was Mexican or Italian cuisine. Of course, I also liked traditional American food, but, oddly enough, I didn’t like steak. It wasn’t until a family reunion in high school when my family and I went to a restaurant called The Fox & Hounds Restaurant & Tavern. I fell in love with this place immediately for many reasons, but I’ve only been there twice since my first visit. Most recently was this weekend on November 23, 2019. Typically, I’m not a fan of “fancy” places, but this is an exception. Another reason I am in favor of this restaurant is that I did not need to pay the bill as I went with my parents and brother, so keep that in mind as your read further. However, this will not influence my overall ratings.  Normally, I look for deals and places relatively close to the East Side of Milwaukee since that’s where my apartment is. However, Fox & Hounds is worth the trip and I’ll tell you why. 

Fox & Hounds is located in Hubertus which is roughly 45 minutes from Milwaukee. This restaurant is located near the scenic Holy Hill and is nestled in the woods which gives it a spectacular woodsy feeling. Upon exiting the freeway, you will be driving through a very hilly, curvy, and scenic atmosphere. The drive itself is so breathtaking that the 45-minute drive is well worth it. I went for dinner and noticed that the dinner time sunset is fantastic and created a phenomenal ambience. The entrance is easy to miss as there are so many trees and such a narrow driveway to enter. Upon arriving guests will notice the “up north” cabin style building. It has a rustic feel and is nicely decorated on the outside. It is a very nice rustic appearance and not something rundown rustic looking. 

As soon as you open the door and walk in the first thing I noticed was the smell of a wood burning fireplace. This is something that I loved, and I’m sure many others will as well. The second thing you notice is how dark it is. It’s almost too dark. Guests will immediately see a host at the desk when they walk in, the host was well-dressed and seemed calm even though the place was packed with people. We informed him that we had a reservation and were instructed to wait a couple of minutes. This couple of minutes ended up being about 15-20 minutes and gave me enough time to grab a drink from the bar. It seemed like many others who were waiting were doing the same thing. I almost wonder if they purposely make you wait longer than a couple of minutes for that reason, even with a reservation. The bar was very classy and had a mediocre selection of beer. The wine selection was much better, and the specialty cocktails were expensive and strong. The bartender didn’t seem too thrilled to be working and she took about 5 minutes to even notice me and others waiting to get a drink. 

After getting paged that our table was ready, our host led us to our table which was all the way in the back of the restaurant. I noticed three wood burning fireplaces and tons of unique decorations along the way. This place is gigantic and was packed. The tables are close to each other and there were tons of guests and employees. The room we were in had tons of dead animals mounted on the wall, which was pretty unique, but I’m not sure how others would feel about this. It reminded me of a hunting room, but the best touch was the gigantic fireplace. They had a young kid bring wood in and stoke the fire. It looked like he hated his job. Our waitress was very friendly and outgoing, but it took her awhile to bring us our drinks and take our order. Roughly 15 minutes.

The menu is packed with many options. There are appetizers, entrées, pastas, salads, seafood, and desserts. There is one HUGE reason why I really like this place. Even though I consider it an expensive restaurant, they do buy-one-get-one on most entrées daily, except on holidays. This makes it much better and affordable for a college student or just anyone in general. Sounds like the ideal date night to me; it’s a simple win-win. I ordered the “Top Sirloin Steak” which is a hand-cut 10oz. choice sirloin, topped with haystack onion rings. It came with a soup or salad, and a choice of side. I went with the salad and baked potato. Once again, the food took awhile to get delivered. Probably around 35 minutes. I was surprised, especially since it was just the four of us; however, it was very busy. The food was hot and likely under a heat lamp for a short time, about 5 minutes or so. The food was delicious. The server asked us how our food was and came back with water refills and asked us about desert at the end. We were full, so we unfortunately declined. 

Overall, we were all full and enjoyed our experience. The atmosphere was absolutely phenomenal, and the place was giant. It has a very cozy rustic feel and was very welcoming. I could have sat in front of the fireplace and typed this review if they let me. The 45-minute drive from Milwaukee isn’t too appealing, but the views are definitely worth it and I would recommend this place to anyone. It would be a great place to visit on a special occasion or date night.