Karly’s Bar and Cellar Restaurant

Granted we only stopped for drinks, we had the best time here. The bartender and cook (who had just gotten through her shift and sat for a beverage with us) were so accommodating and fun it made me forget we hadn’t known them for our whole lives. I would encourage anyone visiting the island to stop at the cozy bar and grill. True northern Wisconsin tavern. And tell them I say hi!

This place doesn’t even deserve one star. Before you even walk in, the stench is so bad you immediately lose your appetite. The bar is so disgustingly dirty inside, it makes you want to vomit. I would never recommend this place to anyone.
Not only was the bar repulsive, the people in there were the rudest people I have ever met. They obviously never learned the meaning of «customer service.» We decided to leave because it was very unpleasant. As we were leaving, someone started yelling at us because we were tourist and he «knew we were going to leave anyway.»
If you are looking for a quick lunch or dinner when touring the island this is not the place to go. You will get an attitude for being a tourist.

Great bloody Mary’s like they say they are known for. Typical bar food menu and super nice staff. Would stop again for a flavorful drink anytime

Just weird. Really REALLY weird.
Walked in on a Sunday looking for a quick bite to eat and there were 4 people at the bar, no bartender. Everyone had ice cubes in their glasses without any drinks. The TVs were on but on nearly-​silent. No one turned their head when we walked in. Not a word was being spoken. I don’t even think the people blinked.

Ordered the bloody mary and it was really good. Not too salty, or spicy, and the lady bartender is so sweet! My boyfriend had the margarita which he enjoyed very much. We ordered cheese curds which was a great compliment to our drinks.

Without the slightest hint of hyperbole, I can honestly say that I had the best damn margarita of my life in Karly’s Bar on Washington Island, WI.
We stayed on Washington Island for one night on a recent trip to Door County. We ended up dining at Karly’s by accident. We were planning to stop in for «just a drink» before heading to another (slightly more upscale) restaurant on the island. What a mistake that would have been!
I am not kidding when I said our experience at Karly’s was my favorite part of our whole trip and gave me quite the story to tell.
We entered Karly’s to find a very classic, old-​time WI bar atmosphere. Lots of 60’s wood paneling. Not pretentious in the slightest. Some might refer to the atmosphere as «Dive Bar».
I was exhausted, so I ordered a Bloody Mary to wake myself up. It was prepared by our bartender, Jan, under the direction of the bar’s owner, Tim. It was fantastic, and very boozy. We got to talking with Jan, Tim, and another older couple in the bar, and soon found ourselves on Round 3 of drinks. My subsequent drinks after the Bloody were the aforementioned «best margaritas ever». Seriously. Those margaritas were like works of art. Each one took Tim several minutes to prepare, and each one must have had 3 or 4 limes hand-​squeezed into them. I don’t know what he did, or even if he used a high-​quality tequila or not, but the taste was crisp and tart, and just sweet enough. I was certainly not expecting such an amazing drink when I stepped foot into run-​down Karly’s.
The older couple who chatted with us convinced us to stay at Karly’s for dinner. Tim supported this by informing us that his menu is nearly the same as the one at the other restaurant we were considering, but $ 8-​$ 10 cheaper per entrée. We sat and talked and drank with the couple, Jan, and Tim until about 8:30pm, when Tim told us we’d better put our order in before the kitchen closed.
We actually shared a table at the downstairs dining room with our new-​found pals. It was awesome. We’d just met several hours before, but we were such great friends after those awesome drinks that we had to share dinner. :)
Everyone at the table except for me ordered the evening’s special, which was ribs. I ordered fettuccine alfredo. I need to preface this review by saying that I’ve done my fair share of dining in dive bars and supper clubs in WI. I was expecting passable, mediocre-​quality food at best, and overpriced, barely-​edible food at worst. I was BLOWN AWAY at the quality of the food we got at Karly’s. In fact, even two days later, I am still sort of shocked. True to WI supper club form, the meal included lots of extras – there was a relish tray, soup or salad, and bread and butter before the entrees even arrived. Calories be damned – I ate it all.
Our pre dinner soup clearly utilized leftovers from the prior evening’s prime rib special. It was 100% homemade. Utterly FANTASTIC. The bread in our breadbasket was hot and crusty. The butter was perfectly soft and spreadable.
My fettuccine alfredo was the best pasta I’ve had in years. The pasta itself was al dente, the sauce was garlicky and rich. (So, so rich). It was served with a little cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. My eyes just watered a little bit thinking about it right now. It was so good that I ate my leftovers cold, with my fingers, on the car ride home the next day. Feel free to judge. I have no shame, only a slightly expanded waistline.
The ribs that everyone else ordered were fall-​off-​the bone tender and glazed in an amazing barbeque sauce that was neither too sweet or too tangy. It’s easy to screw up ribs (by cooking them too quickly so they get tough) so I was very surprised at just how tender they were. I don’t even like ribs very much and I ate about a third of my husband’s order.
After the meal concluded, we headed back up to the bar to shoot the breeze with Tim, Jan, and our new friends. We enjoyed **several** more drinks and in our deliriously happy and well-​fed state, we were offered free tuxedo cake that Tim had leftover from an event that Karly’s had catered that evening. The cake was also shockingly good.
Hours later, when we sadly concluded that no matter how hard we tried we could not safely eat another bite or drink another drop, we walked out of Karly’s. Obviously we were in no condition to drive, but our hotel was next door and literally 10 feet away. Tim let us leave our car in their parking lot overnight.
My experience at Karly’s felt like an episode of Cheer’s with surprise gourmet cooking thrown in for fun. The interior of Karly’s is run down, but part of the charm. Go there if you’re ever on Washington Island. It’s the best!

Once again we vacationed on Washington Island and of course went to Karly’s. The cellar restaurant is not big on atmosphere but the food is top notch. Some diners in our group had perch dinners, others the whitefish. All were fresh and delicious. As a starter I had an awesome smoked salmon chowder. So good. They can make just about any type of mixed drink you would like, try a Manhattan. Service is not fast, but the staff is friendly and helpful. Prices are reasonable.

Descriptive phrase: what’s the island-​equivalent of «townie bar»?
Stopped into Karly’s Bar on the tail-​end of a bike trip on Washington Island. It’s located right on the main drag by most other island establishments and features outdoor seating, a bar, and a basement dinner space.
We came in and sat at the U-​shaped bar. The place has a slow, island-​time feel to it. There’s odd knick-​knacks, elderly locals, fishermen in from the catch, and Swamp People on the tube.
I ordered a Capital Brewery Island Wheat, since their wheat comes from Washington Island. It was poured in a special frosted island glass. Very refreshing.
The bartender (owner?) was a funny and pleasant woman, with no ill-​will to tourists such as ourselves. She walked us through two bar games she has listed on a blackboard (we lost), and out of nowhere started reciting campy jokes.
Fun place, nice vibe, great stop on the island for a brew.

Went to Karly’s this past Saturday for dinner. Food was great although the downstairs (basement) dining room had little to no athmosphere. I almost took a header on the steep, goofy steps near the bottom — be careful !
I had the Saturday Prime Rib special $ 20 and it was perfect. Everone else in my party opted for various combos of salads/​sandwiches/​soup. Everone was happy and felt they got plenty of food.
My understanding is that there are few real options for sit-​down dinner on the Island so this is a keeper.

Karlys a great small bar and good food down stairs, Karlys has nightly specials get early as they do run out! as said food is good! service good, owners on site and this is my choice for a meal out on island if I eat out!

Finding a good meal can sometimes be tough on Washington Island. In my opinion Karly’s is your best bet. I believe you can order lunch or dinner upstairs or outside, but the cellar is the place to go. I went twice in about a week, once for a guy’s camping trip, and the second time with my wife. For the guys trip there were five of us, and four of us gave it a solid thumbs up. I had the baked walleye with french onion soup and thought they were both outstanding. The soup was especially good, although it came out pretty hot. My friend thought the pork chops with apple sauce were some of the best he had ever had. One friend was somewhat disappointed with the tenderloin – he didn’t think it was the best cut of meat. He asked for medium and got well.
My wife and I went the night that they had the family style chicken special. Right away they told us they were out of chicken which was fine with us. We went for the surf and turf (shrimp and prime rib) and enjoyed our meals. Service was friendly, but slow. The waitress was very apologetic. I have a feeling that they never quite know what sort of crowd they’re going to get in, and when it gets busy they seem to fall behind. This wasn’t a big problem for us, as we were on vacation and had adapted to «island time.» There was another table though, that appeared to walkout shortly after ordering. Our waitress took good care of us with seconds on drinks and bread baskets as we waited for our meal. Hands down, this is the place to eat on Washington Island.