Norske Nook Restaurant & Bakery

Unfortunately the time for food to get to the table is extremely slow. It does not seem to matter what time you are there, the kitchen needs to change something it is doing because it is slow. The Norwegian pancakes are excellent, but sandwiches and other things or just OK. Entrance and waiting area are set up poorly.

Note: I’m reviewing the pie only. I mean, it’s really all about the pie anyway, right?
Basically, if you can bake a decent fruit pie, your own pie is undoubtably better than those at Norskie Nook. If you struggle with merengue or cream pies (I do), don’t feel like making a whole candy pie, etc., then try those varieties. But hands down, I prefer my own fruit fillings and crust … and I usually use the Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust! I know the Nook’s pie crust is homemade so «on paper» they’ve got me beat, but their pie crust is not buttery or flaky like my grandmother’s or mother-in-law’s. It’s dry, flavorless crust with a load of sugar sprinkled on top.
Points for pie slice size, though — HUGE pieces.

I’m a fan of De Forest (long time former resident), I’m a fan of Norske-​ism in general (I am one), and who doesn’t like pie?
De Forest is a town without a downtown, or town square, of any kind. There’s just a Main St. running from end to end. Norske Nook has positioned itself in the closest thing to it, near the library, the big Lutheran church, and the bowling alley. It sits high on a ridge, majestically overlooking all its neighbors.
It’s a nicely constructed building, but not particularly Norse looking. Nicely landscaped and ample parking. Spacious inside, but not quaint. The big electronic screen menu behind the hostess stand is oddly out of place here. The waitresses wear ill-​fitting vaguely Norse-​esque outfits, and it gives the overall impression of a Denny’s trying to be Norwegian for a day.
The food will appeal to the Denny’s crowd. It isn’t particularly Norwegian except for throwing some lingonberries in here and there, some Scandinavian-​ish meatballs, etc. It’s basic unremarkable filling food in generous quantity. The waitstaff and hostesses aren’t particularly skilled or attentive in their jobs. The much-​touted pie comes in many varieties but was not outstanding in any way (we tried three varieties).
Why four stars? Because you can’t beat the friendliness or the vibe of De Forest. It almost doesn’t matter about the rest of it. A cold rainy spring Sunday and recovery from minor surgery called for comfort food, and that’s exactly what we got. I’d definitely go again for the basic, bland heaping plate of open face meat of choice with mashed potatoes and gravy on a day like that.

Decided to ignore the reviews because I love the Osseo location so much. Thought the service was very good. Place is clean with a diner feel. Lunch plates were OK, but really this place is all about the pie. I ordered rhubarb and got rhubarb /​strawberry, which I specifically checked to validate it was only rhubarb before ordering. (Disappointed but since I had two kids in with me did not want to send back.). My wife had the classic strawberry. I have had the strawberry at the Osseo location numerous times and this was not the same. Overall, not a bad experience, but definitely not the same as Osseo.

What a complete train wreck. We met for dinner on a Saturday night and it was a disaster from start to finish. Where do I begin. Server had no idea about the menu and the ordering was a foreshadowing to the meal. He came back about 10 minutes later and said that they were out of the soup we ordered, but «working on it». I said I would take a different soup which arrived right before the entrees. Salad was served 60 seconds before the meal and he just looked at the guest who then had to move his salad to the side awkwardly.
Oh the entrees. A Reuben sandwich with no 1000 Island dressing. A Denver omelette with no eggs in it? How is this even possible? Then another staff member told us they would comp the omelette after bringing back the same plate with eggs thrown on. Of course the omelette was still on the bill at the end of the night.
Errors on the bill abounded. Ok surely the pie must be good right? Um, nope. Had the butterscotch pie and it tasted like it came out of a box. Verified by three of us. Didn’t even finish it.
Never was a plate cleared from the table — they just kept stacking up throughout the night.
The food was mediocre to average and the service was some of the worst I have ever seen. If they don’t change there is no way this place will survive.

Wonderful, it’s the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time, the only reason I didn’t give it five stars was the service was a little slow but every thing else was great will definitely be back

I have been to some of the other Norske Nook Restaurants in Wisconsin so I was excited to see one in the Madison area. I went at lunch time and got soup and sandwich so I would not be too full for the pie. The food is always delicious no matter if you get breakfast, lunch or dinner and you have to have a slice of pie even if you just take it home. My favorite is the chocolate peanut butter pie and you can tell it is made from scratch, even the crust.
They were very busy but the service was good and we did not have to wait too long. The new restaurant is bright but still has that authentic feel. If you have never been to a Norske Nook Restaurant you are truly missing one of Wisconsin’s best restaurants. I will definitely be back again and again so I can try the many different entrees and desserts.

YUM.
Comfort food at it’s very finest. My mom and I visited this past weekend, on a cold and rainy afternoon. On walking into the bright and welcoming entryway, the wonderful smell of Norwegian meatballs and other specialties are the first thing to greet you. The next thing you see are the amazing pies and cookies in the cold case. I knew at that moment that one piece of pie wasn’t going to be enough. And I was super excited about that.
It seems that the feedback has been taken, and while there is a slight overlap between the «let me in to eat» and the «just give me pie» lines, it wasn’t anything serious and the hostess was friendly and smiley. We were seated immediately and when we requested a table near the window it was no problem.
It also seems that the issues with table service are being smoothed out, though a bit more training wouldn’t be a bad idea. Our waitress was very kind and friendly, but the service was still rather slow (it was busy), and we needed to repeat ourselves on a few occasions (nothing major). My mom had the roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy, which was huge and smelled amazing. I had the corned beef hash and eggs which was exceptional (and I got gluten free toast for a .99 upcharge! Win!). Both of our meals were warm and comforting — exactly what we needed.
Now the pie… ohhhh the pie. I love pie. Pie is everything. I had two kinds because I have no self control. The butterscotch pie was incredible, clearly homemade, and completely delicious. I also ordered the coconut pie. The coconut was a bit disappointing, to be honest (i have a very high bar) — the filling was pretty flavorless and the topping was overwhelmingly sweet. That’s ok though. My mom ordered the lingonberry sour cream — and was served the raspberry by accident — our waitress brought the correct one out, and we kept the raspberry one at no charge. The lingonberry was kind of sour, but we still took all the leftovers home.
Great experience, will return!

Outstanding food! The cherry crisp pie I had is out of this world. I travel quite a bit and having a home cooked meal with a warm staff makes travel to much easier. Job well done! Thank you

We have been to all of the other Norske Nooks in Wisconsin. The food has always been uniformly pretty good. But the service has varied. Our last visit was to their location in Eau Claire. Terrible service. The restaurant was almost entirely empty and it took them forever to greet us, seat us, bring us water and come to take our small order for coffee and pie. This was despite the fact that we told them we were somewhat time challenged. If you can believe it, they took so long that we had to get up and leave before we could even place our coffee and pie order. They did not even notice.
Still, when hearing that their DeForest location was open, we were looking forward to going. But before leaving to visit them at lunch today, we checked Unilocal and were concerned about the reports of challenging service at this new location.
But our concerns were unfounded. At least on our visit today, whatever service challenges may have occurred in the past, were absent today.
We got there just before the lunch crowd arrived — — 11:45 AM — — and were greeted and seated promptly and offered drinks. Our waitress was very polite and thoughtful. Our food, as usual, was pretty good. Sandwiches, a breakfast dish, a fried shrimp special, a meatloaf dinner, etc. All were solid and fairly priced. Of course, the pie was dynamite. One downside was that a number of the pies had already sold out. These were the more popular ones. Given their popularity, I would have hoped they would have made plenty particularly given the Easter weekend. But there were plenty of other choices.
The space is nice, brightly lit and handicap accessible. The waitresses wear traditional Norwegian garb, which is cute and adds to the fun vibe.
Tip – if you want a whole pie to take home, there is a $ 6 deposit for the pie tin.
Definitely worth a stop. Uff da!
See you there!

Great food, marginal service. We came around lunch time intentionally missing the weekend breakfast rush. Even with fewer people, it took a long time for food to come, and we sat with empty coffee cups and water glasses. When the food came, we requested refills and only water came.
All of that aside, we enjoyed our lefse wraps and pie. The three stars are for the food alone.

Stopped here for lunch (and pie of course). Service was very friendly and attentive. The three of us shared two sandwiches (Reuben and a lefse wrap) and we each had a different slice of pie. Food was all good, although the Reuben was the better choice of the two sandwiches. The side of chili and coffee could have been a bit hotter, but otherwise fine. All pies got thumbs up.
We had no trouble with service at all, although it took a while to pay the bill, as diners had to jockey with those looking for take out bakery items at the cash register. So nice having a new outpost of this legendary place so close to Madison.

My husband and I came for dinner, despite the negative reviews. We didn’t wait for a table at all (on a Monday night). We had an extremely pleasant waitress! She was very prompt with everything. The food did take a while, but when I walked past the kitchen area, I feel like it explained why. The kitchen area seems so small in comparison to the high volume of the restaurant! The food was fine — I had a breakfast plate (eggs, hash browns, etc), and everything was cooked well. It’s what I would expect from any other casual breakfast diner. Nothing special, but nothing wrong with it either. We took pie home with us, and it was amazing.
While we were there, a woman sitting behind my husband was unbelievably rude to her waitress and the manager. She clearly could not be pleased, no matter what they tried to give her. It was pretty uncomfortable. I felt bad for the waitress and manager — they were SO patient with the customer, even though she continued to be flat out rude right back to them.
Overall, I’d go back. Sure, there are kinks, but we had great service and decent food. I’d recommend going during a slower time, and not having to be anywhere in a rush, since the food did take a little bit. Make sure you get pie. Totally worth it.

Ugh! Worst wait for food at a «small town» restaurant ever! Restaurant was not busy or full. We were seated immediately but then waited 20mins for a waitress and had to ask for waters then immediately ordered our food. Waited for an hour for our food that came at different times and not all of it together and wasn’t right. Food was mostly COLD! Zero explanations from waitress or the manager. We were offered pie as compensation for the terrible service that we turned down! We did not want to wait for pie and feared it would definitely not be worth the wait at all! Reluctantly the manager took care of our bill of the food we barely ate… left hungry! Do NOT waste your time with this place! Go to the long standing family owned and operated Deforest Family Restaurant for good and HOT food and much much better service!
My family and friends will not be back to Norske Nook.

I’M ONLY GIVING THIS A 4 STAR FOR THE PIE! After all, that really is what they’re known for.
I’ve been trying to come up with how to write a review about our entire experience. I couldn’t come up with anything the other reviewers hadn’t already written. There is at least a small piece (if not all) of the other reviews that are 100% true.
I would not make a special trip for breakfast, lunch or dinner. PIE, I would make a special trip for the PIE!

Yum yum lots of options with pies! Great service and awesome breakfast food.
Wraps are good, benedicts and also daily breakfast specials. Can’t leave without having pie.

Stopped at the nook for the first time after church with my wife and daughter. We were anticipating a great breakfast and a even better piece of pie. However the nook could only provide one of the two. We waited 30 minutes to be seated. Once at our booth we ordered soon after. While waiting we had 8 cups of coffee and had to switch to soda. We waited for over a hour for our food. I believe the guy serving us forgot to send our order to the kitchen. All four tables around us received their food before us and they were seated after us. When the food finally arrived our teeth were floating. My wife’s food had 3 hairs in it. At that point we gave up we didn’t complain since was had places to go and not enough time for another hour long omelette. We were very disappointed. You can make a better breakfast at home in a fraction of the time.
On the bright side the pie was good except the lemon meringue had no meringue.
Unfortunate since we were so excited for a new breakfast place to come to Deforest…

I stopped at opening time in on an extremely busy Sunday morning. I checked in and was told that there would be a 15 minute wait. I took a seat, and 45 minutes later, my name was called. By that time, my husband had already gotten too annoyed and left, but my son and I really wanted to try it, so we stayed behind.
We had an awesome server who checked in on us regularly. I remember from our brief chat that he was from Kentucky, but I don’t remember his name. He was very nice, and the food was pretty good.
I got a steak lefsa wrap, and my son got a Denver lefsa wrap. My son’s was really, really good and my steak one was just so-​so. The steak was cut into huge chunks that were a little tough and not well seasoned. I pretty much ate around the steak. The hollandaise sauce on it was very good. I would highly recommend the Denver wrap for breakfast.
We took home a pie, which was expensive but also very good. The ladies who check you out do have some work to do on their people skills and they need to make it clear what register is open. It was a little confusing. I think that’s why having your server take care of the bill for you is such a common thing at restaurants. It gets rid of that confusion. With the Deforest location being new, I’m trying not to hold the long wait or mediocre steak against them. I will try it again and report back :)

We stopped in for our first time today. We arrived a little after 11 and had a 20 minute wait. My husband had the special-​biscuit and chicken and he said it was very good. I had an egg white omelet with spinach and mushrooms and it was tasty. Our friends had the chef salad and a patty meld with bacon and potato soup and they both said their food was very good. The waitress brought out table free lefse with a cinnamon sugar mix to sprinkle on. She said it was to enjoy while we waited for our food, which was about a 20 – 25 minute wait. The service was great with coffee and water getting replenished often. A cherry pie was shared and the comment was that it was just as good as the cherry pie in Door Co. At White Gull Inn. Another had the banana cream pie and had to get a box to take the rest home as it was too big for one person to finish. A couple of weeks ago my husband bought a banana cream pie and paid $ 29 for the pie and tin. You can bring the tin back and then you do not get charged again for a tin, or you can just being the tin back and get reimbursed.
There were empty tables and we were aware that they were seating people as the kitchen allowed. We had a pleasant experience and will be back.

I checked out the Nook during a friends and family soft opening. I visited the location in Osseo many years ago, and it’s great to have one just around the corner in De Fo – although my waistline will beg to differ! The interior is very welcoming, with homey, slightly kitschy Norwegian décor. More impressive is what greets you right when you walk in the door: the carb-​o-​licious behemoth that is the bakery case. There are some kinks yet to iron out – really not worth mentioning at this juncture because that IS the purpose of a soft opening. As for the food: it took quite some time for my party to settle on what they wanted, with much flipping from front to back of then menu, and then back again. The Ruben sandwich on pumpernickel was filled with flavorful corned beef, and the bread was excellent. I have to admit that I ordered the Lefse wrap with Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes because I hadn’t tried anything like it before, and it tickled a wild hair. Now that I have had that experience, I likely would not repeat it. It wasn’t bad; just really not my thing, as it turned out. The burgers and other sandwiches looked great, so maybe I’ll take the less exotic route next time. We capped off our meal with a slice of pie, which was a rich, decadent little piece of heaven. Overall, I have positive feelings about this place and will be interested to see how it develops after the official opening.