It was the second (and last) morning of our girls' weekend in Door County. We needed some sustenance. The four of us are terribly indecisive, so our hostess said "here, choose between [other restaurant] and Chef's Hat." Nobody else wanted to decide, so I looked at the menu and decided Chef's Hat fit the bill.
We were seated immediately on the patio and given menus and water. The menu was nicely diverse and tempting -- scrambles, wraps, waffles, French toast. A little bit of an upgrade from your standard-issue diner, with lots of fresh veggies in the mix.
I went with a "Matzke" scramble that had eggs, bacon, ham, various veggies, pesto and cheese and was served with potatoes and choice of scone or toast. Well geez, when given the choice of fresh scone, get the scone! I chose raspberry white chocolate chip.
The scramble was really really tasty, the potatoes were solid, and those scones -- wow. So good. Definitely fresh baked and with a great texture.
All of my friends enjoyed their food and scones as well, and we definitely enjoyed the view from the patio. It was a great way to spend a breakfast with awesome food. If you're in the area looking for some food, I definitely recommend it.
Went to this place for lunch, 5 adults 1 child. The sandwiches were amazingly good, the chips were great!! I was a little taken back by not having fries for children but I'm glad they didn't as we would have never tried the chips. The staff was very friendly and service was fast! Also, the beach front view was great!! Thank you!!
Review Source:If you're in Ephraim, come here for breakfast. It is a cute little restaurant right off of Water Street (with a great view of the bay), and had some of the better breakfast I've ever had. Both my wife and I opted for their specialties (depicted by little chef hats in the menu) - she had the asparagus scrambler, and I had three eggs/three slices of bacon/ham steak/fruit cup - delicious!!
Throw in very good coffee, and excellent service (by a kid named Eric), and it was a very memorable meal. We'll definitely return to the Chef's Hat when we come back to Door County!
I'm not sure why this place got such lukewarm reviews...our food was awesome!
Chef's Hat is a smaller restaurant in Ephraim, near the water. We walked in and were immediately greeted and given a table. I ordered tea (Tazo) and my boyfriend ordered coffee - which he said was very good.
Lunch: I had some kind of turkey sammie with guac and bacon - it was REALLY good. My boyfriend had the half soup and half sammie combo, and he said the tomato basil soup was "the best he ever had." So there you go.
And desert?! DO NOT PASS UP THE APPLE PIE. It has caramel, and nuts, and the best crust. Nom X 1,000.
Wow -- delicious soups and sandwiches to be had at this tiny place. Â Beautiful water views to boot. Â I'm a big fan of Chef's Hat. Â Came here with the Hubby, our 1 year old, and my parents. Â Everyone was extremely satisfied. Â They have a special -- soup, half sandwich, side and piece of pie for $9.99 for lunch. Â I was sold. Â I started with delicious pear and pumpkin soup and that I had a half of a Turkey BLT with avocado. Â The sandwich was great and came with yummy (seemingly homemade potato chips) on the side. Â For dessert I had the caramelized apple pie which was fabulous (and I am not a fruity dessert person). Â Looking forward to trying this place again next time I'm in Door County.
Review Source:Satisfied my relatives desire for sandwiches at dinner time under $10, not that easy for something good in Door County. They gave the massive burgers a high rating. It also took care of those of us who wanted delicious grilled fish and the vegetarians in the crowd! Good salads & soup. Very nice waitstaff.Lackluster veggie ravioli was just OK, but not bad. All the good parts outweighed it.
Review Source:I had high hopes for dinner at Chef's Hat as I had always enjoyed their breakfast and several locals had suggested it as a great dinner location. Â We arrived and were seated outside on the patio with a great view of the harbor. Â It took about 10 minutes for anyone to come over to get our drink order. Our food order was taken about another 10 minutes later. Â We didn't receive the bread for 45 minutes and our soup for about an hour. When our entrees came out they were mediocre. The tuna was overcooked and the risotto was mush. Overall very disappointing for the price. On the plus side we got to enjoy the nice view. Would recommend for breakfast, but skip for dinner.
Review Source:This is a tiny little place right by the water. It has great water views. Has both inside and outside dining area. Because of this I gave it the extra one star to get it up to 4.
The food here is you're typical cafe menu. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. The food is about average. The price seems a little bit high for the portion but then again you're paying for the view in away.
The wait staff were all nice. Though we had to wait awhile for some hot chocolate; for some reason it took them 15 minutes to bring it out and came out lukewarm.
If you're looking for a nice place with a great view this is the place. If you're looking for large portions I would look at other places.
We came here when we first arrived in Door County, it's right by our hotel. Â I had a salad, my husband had a BLT. Â Everything was fine. Â We were just looking for a quick, light lunch to tide us over. Â I'm sure I would rave more if I actually came here for a substantial meal. Â For what we had, it was fine. Â A bit pricey, that's par for the course in a tourist town.
Review Source:I'm a big fan of breakfast and reading past reviews seemed to suggest this was a place to go so i did.
It was worth the stop and though I normally don't eat outside, I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the view. I had the "Sunrise" which is a spinach wrap filled with tomatoes, mushroom, eggs, peppers and ham. It came with a small bowl of fruit (strawberry, blueberries, pineapple) and a choice of a scone. I selected blueberry (for some reason no cherry) scone. Combined with a nice cup of coffee, it was very filling and satisfying meal.
Addendum: I came back here additional times and had the "Matke" scramble (eggs, peppers, sausage, ham, bacon) with potatoes and apple cinnamon scones. Â I also tried out the French toast with ham on the side. All very good and definitely a recommendation.
Overall It's a bit pricey but I understand-tourist on vacation etc...service is friendly, quality is high and the restaurant has a great view. Lunch and dinner served here as well.
We stopped for lunch after a round of golf. We ordered the chef salad and added chicken salad--it was delightful and large enough to share. We also ordered the strawberry lemonade, which was very refreshing. Sitting on their patio with a great view of the lake made this one of the best lunches we've had in Door County!
Review Source:Great food and service. Outdoor seating available (always my preference when the weather cooperates). Also note...Ephraim is dry, so no alcohol is served here, BUT you can bring your own wine, and they will gladly give you the necessary glasses, AND they will NOT charge you a "corkage fee". This place is now on my list of favorites in Door County. We look forward to returning.
Review Source:I had yet again a great meal in Ephraim. Â The deck overlooks Eagle Harbor and the service was good. Â A bit slow, but nothing is rushed in Door County (or so I learned). Â Enjoyed the herb crusted Salmon and it was outstanding!!!
It wasn't very busy and they were already cleaning up at 7:15pm, which I didn't care for much since they were open until 9 and it felt like they were more interested in leaving than taking the order. Â
Anyhow, Ephraim is a dry city so it is pretty quiet early. Â Definitely my kind of place.
This review is for the breakfast we had this morning. I had the garden scramble--eggs with lots of fresh veggies like asparagus and mushrooms and spinach, plus a little Swiss cheese. It came with hash brown potatoes and a choice of toast or a scone. I opted for a blueberry scone and it was fresh and warm. My husband had the meat lovers breakfast and it had ham, bacon, eggs, potatoes and scone plus a fruit cup. He enjoyed every bite.
Special note for fellow coffee lovers: it was very good. They brew a custom  blend from Victor Allen's, a popular coffee seller in the Milwaukee area. This was the best part of our experience there, because my husband usually won't even try restaurant coffee-- it never meets his standards. He didn't know it was Victor Allen's coffee at first, but after a sip of mine, he ordered one for himself.  They give you a very tall mug  and keep the refills coming. We will be back for more meals at this nice Door County eatery.
It was mid-week in mid-October and not crowded at all, so the staff had time to chat with us about coffee and such. There was a great view of the harbor and Penninsula State Park out the front windows, and inside it was tastefully decorated with nice wooden chairs, cheery green walls, and just the right amount of other decorations.
My husband and I came here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. We were greeted warmly by the server and quickly got our drinks. There are only maybe 8-10 tables in the whole restaurant and only one other table seated but a few more came in after we were already there.
Their lunch special is half sandwich, soup and chips for $7.99 - can't beat that. The sandwiches are good - but nothing fancy. Our server was great - she was really friendly and told us about a bunch of places to hike to.
Love the views of the water and the outside is really cute with lots of flowers and prettiness!
For my very first review, I would like to take the opportunity to mention one of my all-time favorite breakfasts on the planet. Â I particularly enjoy one of the "scrambles" when I visit here and they are phenomenal, loaded with lots of ingredients. Â The choices are as unique as they are varied, but always delicious, especially if you like to spice it up. Â Kids like the waffles and the fresh fruit is always sweet and juicy, no matter the season. Â The coffee and baked goods are great too. Â If you have good weather you really have to try eating outside. Â Their garden is beautiful as is the view of Ephraim's Eagle Harbor. Â The service is always paced to my needs whether I am in a hurry or more interested in taking in the view.
They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the summer season and open for breakfast and lunch on weekends during the winter months. Â Unfortunately, I cannot speak to the menu for lunch or dinner because I have reserved this restaurant for breakfast visits because they are so good.
Their breakfasts are out of this world delicious! Â I have had just about every combo on the menu but anything that they make with their andoullie sausage is amazing! Â They also have this spicy black bean rye bread this is incredible. Â I could make a meal out of just that bread. Â
I have never had a bad meal at this place...I've been there for dinner as well and everything is scrumptious. Â Now if we could just get the city of Ephraim to give up their "dry" rules they would be in business. Â I thought it was illegal to not serve alchohol in Wisconsin...the city gets an epic fail but this restaurant is still great even without the spirits.
I always liked chefs hats - they're a little goofy-looking.
Was a little surprised not to be able to see any chefs wearing their funny hats, though.
The interior is comfortable and clean. The outside patio is a great place to dine during nice weather, as you have an unobstructed view of the water. The innkeeper at Lodgings suggested this cafe, as its right next door, and he said that their dinners were top-notch.
We only had breakfast there though, & the dishes came with a choice of scone or toast and potatoes or fruit cup.
Tips:
- Breakfast avg ~10/pp
- Scones are YUMMY
- last seating for dinner is 8pm
Lowdown:
- Asparagus Supreme Omelet: pretty tasty except not that much asparagus, and the portabello mushroom was undercooked!! That is a definite faux pas - how easy is it to cook mushrooms and to detect whether or not they're still raw? Come on now...
- Egg/Andouille sausage in Spinach Wrap: pretty good
- Fruit cup (side): bleh! It's June, and all they had to offer was unripe cantaloupe, unripe honeydew, some ripe pineapples and tasteless tiny blueberries. WTH? So not worth the extra $1 to substitute.
- Scones: Best thing there. I had the blueberry and the white chocolate raspberry scones - SO YUMMY. They're not your normal huge, thick and hard scones - they're soft and slightly cake-ier. They're like triangular muffin tops :) Would come back just for those.
The Chef's Hat is average overall - would've given 3 stars or even 4 if the fruit cup was decent & if the mushrooms were evenly cooked. It's a promising restaurant, but they have definite room for improvement.
Service was friendly, although our server spoke at a startlingly loud volume for 9 in the morning. She was enough of a jolt that I didn't need coffee to wake up.
We arrived at 11:45 for lunch and there was only one other party in the restaurant. Â It's pleasant inside with a beautiful view of the bay.
Lunch was fine; we both had soup and half a sandwich, and both were good but not outstanding in any way. Â The soup was black bean, andouille, potato and I thought it could have been thicker than it was. Â The sandwich bread was fresh and tasty.
Great location with outdoor seating this is the perfect dining option for breakfast or lunch (they serve dinner as well).
I really enjoyed sitting out on the patio on a lovely summer day tasting some of their lighter lunch fare. There is a half soup/sandwich combo (though not listed on their menu). Pear and pumpkin soup was an excellent pairing with the turkey wrap (dried cranberry, mixed greens, tomato, walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese, pears and vinaigrette completed the mix).
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