Pine Cone Café Our Story
About The Pine Cone Café
Land O' Lakes' Favorite Restaurant Story
Donna and her husband, Mike, moved to Land O’ Lakes from Hales Corners, WI, in 2017. Donna then purchased the Café in August of 2018 to be a family-owned business. Donna’s parents purchased a summer home in Land O’ Lakes in 1958, so she had been well acquainted with the Café and its long-standing history in the town. While the Café has had numerous owners, it is most prominently remembered as being Pitt’s Café. Donna’s son, Steve, began working at the Café upon opening, helped to revise and develop a new menu while keeping some of the long-time favorites such as the famous Chicken & Dumpling. In May of 2020, Chris and his wife, Sarah, moved from Peora, IL, to Phelps, WI. Chris has an extensive culinary background, having most recently managed the entire kitchen for a Salvation Army Retreat Camp. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge to the Pine Cone. With his expertise, we have enhanced all of our gravy, and make our soups and chili from scratch.
Start Your Day Right
For those diners who are ready to start the day off right, the Café offers fluffy, 3-egg omelets, delicious skillets and many other breakfast favorites. The Café also has a variety of unique breakfast entrees on their menu, as well as some specials such as the popular Meat Loaf and Eggs.
The Pine Cone Café is known for its Biscuits & Gravy. Our sausage gravy is made with fresh pork sausage purchased from a local butcher, as well as their house-made corned beef hash which is the best around. Our Northwoods skillet is one of our most popular items—a base of crisp hash browns, a tender biscuit with two sausage patties covered in our smooth country gravy and cheddar cheese, and topped with two eggs prepared your way. For those customers who are looking for a pork alternative, we also offer a chicken sausage patty--definitely worth trying!
Ultimate Breakfast Challenge!
For those diners who have a “big” appetite (or so they think), the Pine Cone Café has its Ultimate Breakfast Challenge. The Challenge, in the form of a skillet, consists of 1 pound of hash browns, topped with 2 pounds of ingredients, 6 oz. of country gravy, 5 oz. of cheddar cheese and finished off with 12 eggs cooked to order. The Ultimate Breakfast Challenge is served with 2 slices of toast and 2 small pancakes. You will have 1 hour to eat it all and you must sit in the designated Challenge area. Upon completion (if you do), you must remain seated for an additional 15 minutes. Each Challenge taker has one hour to finish it all to get their picture on the Wall of Fame and to receive the Challenge free. To date, our number of Challenge takers is growing; with only 4 people successfully completing the Challenge. Are you brave enough to take the Challenge?
All-Day Lunch Favorites
Lunch-time favorites, which are served all day long, include our 1/3 pound angus burgers, various wraps, clubs and sandwiches. The Pine Cone offers are wide variety of burgers--a Mushroom Swiss Burger, Bacon Cheeseburger, a Cowboy Burger-- our Bacon Cheeseburger enhanced with lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce and topped with onion tanglers--as well as our Pine Cone Burger which is our angus burger topped with lettuce, tomato, 1000 Island and onion tanglers. Our house-made soups and chili are always a favorite, especially on a cold day in the Northwoods!
The Pine Cone Café is also known for its Chicken & Dumpling. This is a favorite recipe that has been passed down through the years from owner to owner. A large house-made dumpling covered with shredded chicken and then smothered in our smooth chicken gravy—more than enough to share!
Chef Chris's Daily Specials
Savor Unique Menu Creations
Chef Chris has created a variety of unique and tasty daily specials, which are available all day when they are run. Some of these specials include our Touchdown Burger, a combination of a 1/3# angus burger and a brat patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo, a Bourbon Burger, as well as our Benedict Skillet and our Bourbon Bacon Benedict. Fridays always include our wonderful Potato Pancakes & Eggs.
The Pine Cone also offers a Children’s menu as well as a Senior menu.