Crawfish Junction

Updated rustic cabin feel. People and staff are very friendly. Friday Cod is excellent! 5 piece for $ 13. Can’t beat it. Alligators tail was also really good.

Great food; even better service! We really couldn’t be more pleased with the food and service we received. Amy (our waitress) was a superstar! She remembered our drinks, our names and our town. She was running steady, taking care of her tables, but never seemed rushed or short while at our table and showed genuine concern for our dining pleasure.
We had perch, bluegill, crawdads (crawfish), and scallops: The breading on the crawdads, perch and bluegill was changed since our last visit. The breading is not light, but it isn’t really heavy either. It stays on the fish very well and adds a nice flavor. I wish the crawdads were offered sauteed, as the breading does get a little bit in the way of the flavor of this little jewels. The scallops were done to perfection! These will be on my wife’s plate often when we visit.
The cocktails were very good (not over-​poured or under-​poured)
Thanks Crawfish Junction! We will be back!

I was in town from Chicago for work and found this gem on Unilocal.It’s a wonderful neighborhood joint! Everyone from the bartender to the host to the guy singing outside were inviting and amazing. It was great place to feel welcome while drinking and eating good food!

Love, love, love this place. We had the haystack onion which was the best I’ve ever had. Then I had «the hangover». I couldn’t even finish it! Huge. Great. What was amazing is that the leftovers were even more delicious.
Go hungry and go often!

If you are a fan of long waits and overpriced, mediocre food, this is the place to be! Last time we were there we waited more than an hour to be sat then another 20 minutes to have our order taken. We then waited another 45 minutes for our meal, and the food was not worth the wait. Very greasy. I laugh every time I drive by and see their Best of Madison banner. I did find out that the owner had all of his friends stuff the ballot box in order for them to win, which makes sense. Do yourself a favor and drive into Lake Mills for food.

Went here for lunch today. Very poor service. Even though it was not busy, our server would not check on us to see if there was anything we needed. When I was able to get her attention and ask for another round of drinks — they never came. I overheard her apologize to the table next to us for not putting their ticket in for food. Our food came out, but the order was wrong. I’m giving two stars, and not one, because the food is pretty good.
Hopefully, it was just our server… We will try again in the future.

Friday night Fish Fry was wonderful. They have live music on the patio. We put our name on the list, 45 minute wait, then grabbed a cocktail and sat outside on the patio. The fish and slaw were wonderful. The service was excellent and fast. I will be back.

Ordered the chicken wings tasted like it was fried with fish or the crocodile bites… yuck!!! I have eaten here twice and have not enjoyed the food or the price either time would not recommend this restaurant.

I went here for dinner last night (4÷16÷15) with two friends. Our waitress was absolutely wonderful — friendly, funny, helpful, and knowledgable. They have SEVERAL beers on tap and she offered samples of the beers we were interested in.
We started with the fried pickles — DELICIOUS! Hand-​breaded, tart pickle chips with sriracha aioli (we also ordered regular ranch).
My friends both ordered the 3-​piece cod. They both commented that there was cinnamon in the batter, which one liked and one did not, but that was just a personal matter of taste.
I had a burger with the beer onions on it and it was FANTASTIC. Perfectly done and the beer onions are to die for — so soft and sweet.
I had read multiple bad reviews about their french fries so I was a bit nervous but mine were great! There were some very tiny ones (one of the complaints from previous reviews), but they were nice and crunchy so I didn’t mind that at all. They were perfectly seasoned and salty, too.
Overall, my ONLY complaints (if you could call them that) would be that it is a bit loud — we got there around 5pm and the bar music is played all throughout the dining area. But I was only aware of it for the first couple of minutes and then I was able to tune it out… and that they do not serve dessert.
Will definitely be back — worth the drive from Sussex!

We went here because everyone raved it was so good. I didn’t think so. I could get a better burger in IL (where I live). The waitress we had was horrible. One of the waitress was playing with her hair and putting on make up. Really you can’t do that at home? Our waitress was at the table behind us talking to someone the whole time. She didn’t place my order correctly of what I wanted on my burger. The fries were good. could could have be bigger. The burger was fine. I would only come back for the fries. Otherwise I wouldn’t come back. They also have limited parking so you do have to park on the street if all the 7 or spaces are taken up.

After hearing great things about Crawfish Junction, we decided to check out their fish fry. We arrived around 5:45 and the place was pretty crowded (as we expected) and we were told it would be a 45 minute wait for a table. No big deal– we sat at the bar and ordered beer while we waited. The bar staff was awesome– very friendly and attentive, despite the large crowd. And it’s a good thing they were so pleasant, because we ended up having to wait not 45 minutes, but an hour and 15 minutes for a table. So by the time we were finally seated, we were pretty hangry.
Our server was also very nice and attentive, and she took our order fairly quickly. I ordered the 2 piece fried cod and my husband ordered the 3 piece– both very basic meals and on a Friday night you’d think they’d be frying up cod like crazy and getting meals out fairly quickly. Unfortunately this was not the case, as we waited about 25 minutes for our food. Then, when it arrived, there was no lemon for the fish (how do you not serve lemon with fish!?) and when I opened my baked potato, there was a huge black rotten spot in the middle. The potatoes come already cut open, so really this should have been noticed by the kitchen staff before it ever made it out to the table. Luckily our server was great about it and brought a new potato and some lemon slices right away. As for the food, the fish was very good but the portions were pretty small. My husband had french fries, which turned out to be really stubby– as in each fry was maybe ½−1″ long– and they were seasoned well but were soggy. They weren’t really big enough to dip into ketchup and almost needed to be eaten with a fork. Weird.
So after more than two hours there, we felt like the food was just ok. Definitely not «Best of Madison» status, though. I guess I’d put it this way: it would have been fine if we hadn’t had such a long wait, or if the food had been phenomenal enough to justify the wait. But the combination of a long wait AND mediocre food just left us feeling pretty blah about the whole experience.

Last night I had the pleasure of eating some Alligator… as one of my co-​worker told me about a place called — «Crawfish Junction» in Johnson Creek, WI.
I’m so glad we came here, as I enjoyed the food that was served over here.
One thing I must say, it was an adventure to find this place… you gotta hear this story…
As we were driving here from Watertown, Wi., I had my phone on for the GPS. As we got to a main road that leads us to this restaurant/​bar, the road was closed; therefore we had to drive an alternative route. Upon driving around, we find ourselves passing farms & corn fields and I just knew we were in the sticks! Another funny thing about getting to our destination… as we were driving there, we ran over a skunk!
While we were in the car, I noticed a putrid smell that I could not describe! I’ve never experienced anything like this in my entire life… all I can say is, it was so STINK, I almost tossed my cookies from gagging from the smell.
When I had asked my co-​worker — «What’s dat funky smell?» They all laughed at me, as they had assumed I knew what it was… I told them — «Hey man! I’m from Hawaii, born & raised! We don’t have skunks in Hawaii!» Thank goodness… the smell was so N.A.S. T. Y!!!
Anyways, we finally reached our destination… the Crawfish Junction is basically a bar/​restaurant. As I enter the bar/​restaurant, I do my check in on Unilocal and Bingo! I won a free «Haystack Onion Rings»! Yay free food! (I will get back to you folks about this.)
Upon ordering my grub, of course I had to get the Alligator, and I also ordered some chicken wings, & a few local beers.
We had several plates of Chicken wings. I had ordered the «Hot wings», and my two of my co-​workers order a «Sweet & Sassy wings», and the «Butt Smokin’ wings».
A few other items that were ordered last night — A deep fried hamburger, and another co-​worker had ordered a steak dinner.
Most of the beers served here were unique… I didn’t want to go with the standard stuff that I can get at home, and as you know, Wisconsin is Miller beer country. I’ve had Miller beer & Lite Beer before, so I took a pass on this. Instead, I tried a local beer called «FAT TIRE». That way when I drink it, I can get my belly big again like a «Fat Tire!» Lol! The beer was very smooth & rich… I drank a few, and it was the perfect side for my hot wings.
As it was time to pay… I paid for my meal, then later when I got to my hotel & was checking the bill, «WTH» the waitress charged me for the Haystack Onion Rings I supposedly got free from Unilocal!Maaaaaaaaaan! Minus 1 for you folks! But I still love you folks, as the Alligator was awesome, and I would come back here again to eat it,

Love it. What a great find. We have family in Sun Prairie and this is a great half way point to for dinner. The menu offers a great selection and the night we were there they had prime rib as a special. I had the Blackened walleye and it was excellent.
We had 7 people so we mad reservations and the table was set and ready for us when we arrived early. The hostess who I’m guessing is also the owner was very nice and was very attentive.
Can’t wait to go back

It took us a while to try this place but we are very glad we did. We went on a Friday night, we did have to wait briefly for a table but they had space at the bar.
We ordered fried crawfish tails and alligator for dinner. Both were prepared correctly and their flavor was very good. We enjoyed our meal and plan on returning often.
We do wish they would offer a crawfish boil in addition to the fried crawfish. They do offer burgers as well as the Friday fish fry.
Parking is on the street and there is not a lot of it, you may have to walk to the restaurant depending on where you find a spot to park.

I had read about this place on another website. It lived up to the hype for the most part. My fish was very good and others in my party agreed. My sister and I had french fries with our meals and the fries were horrible. It’s like they cooked them too long. I see that others who have visited have noted this same problem.
Go for the fish, not the fries!
Service was average, it was a busy Friday night so an exception was made.

They have reopened since the fire… No longer closed.
Love love love this place! Everything they make is so good! The menu is excellent and the drinks are strong, I love the variety they have. All the waitstaff is awesome and very genuinely friendly but not to the point that their annoying. I can’t say enough good things about this place!

TEMPORARILY CLOSED!!!
They had a fire in August. They are supposedly rebuilding, but they are not open yet. Hopefully it will be soon.

First time here, had the crawfish apps and fuller style wings, both were wonderful. Will be going back.

We stopped in here with friends on Saturday night because they wouldn’t stop bragging about the place. Now I know why.
During all the bragging about this place I hear something about the Trust Me burger.
Ok. What is it. Its a burger with cheese, bacon, honey, apples and… peanut butter. I know right!!! I’m looking at the menu going back n forth… I don’t know about you but you don’t see something called the Trust Me burger on too many menus so… the hell with it — order me up one.
As we downed the cheese curds (when in Wisco.) the burgers showed up. I couldn’t wait and dove in. Holy cow. It was shockingly good. I was blown away impressed. I also got the sweet potato fries with a side of honey too. I was also served up an I — told — you — so look from my friends.
The service was outstanding, the place was hopping, overall a wonderful experience.
Its one of those, I wish I lived closer kinda places.

Ok, what gives? 4-​stars/​1-​star/​4-​stars? I know… I know…
We’ve stopped in to the Crawfish Junction several times for meals that didn’t involve the fish fry, and each experience has impressed, so I’m bumping the rating back up, with the caveat that the fish should be tried «at your own risk.»
Our last experience (7÷22÷12) was absolutely phenomenal. A small group of us arrived exactly at kitchen closing time (9:00pm), yet the staff accommodated us and took phenomenal care of our group. In fact, I’d say this may have been the single best meal I’ve ever had a Crawfish Junction.
Our waitress, Tina, was superb. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and super attentive. She answered every question, made suggestions, and never left us for wanting or wondering. She should teach courses in the service industry. Top notch.
We started with 24 of the bone-​in, naked wings, and went with a variety of sauces from medium buffalo to «butt kickin.» Each sauce was flavorful, albeit a bit watery. The worst offender was the garlic Parmesan herb, which was really just melted butter with some chopped garlic in it. The butt kickin’ sauce boasted strong heat while still delivering great flavor. If you’re not a fan of hot, I’d steer clear.
Our entrees arrived, and things couldn’t have been any better. I went with the cajun chicken (blackened grilled chicken breast with lettuce/​tomato on a cibatta roll), and it was excellent. My dining mates went with the «Tilly» (shaved ribeye with onions/​peppers and beer cheese sauce) and the «Wisconsin Melt» (hamburger with cheddar, swiss, mushrooms and sourdough). The kids in our group ordered a hamburger and the mini corn dogs. Judging by how fast they scarfed their food, I’d say it must have been good.
In short, we all raved about how good the entrees were.
When it came time to settle the bill, Tina divided our 7-​person check three-​ways per our request, and everything was perfect — no errors. And despite our staying for nearly 2 hours (we left at 11pm), the entire staff was super cool, gracious, and helpful. Even the cooks came by to see how we liked our meals. We thanked them profusely for their extra effort.
Crawfish Junction = WIN
Food = 4 stars
Service = 5 stars+
Value = 4 stars
MISC = 4 stars
I’d love to come back here in August for their 3 bands night, but I’ll be out of town…