The Oasis Cafe opened in 1957 as The Highway Man. It opened as a service station, diner, and  bait shop.   Originally it was open 24 hours a day but when Craig and Deb Beemer bought the restaurant in 2008 they moved the daily hours to 8am to 8pm.  In 2018 they expanded the restaurant to include the “Bait Shop Bar”, which is now the middle of 3 rooms carved into the hillside.  We were lucky to get stools at the counter in the original room, which has also been refurbished by the Beemers and that’s where the open kitchen is too.  There was a line to get in and I’m pretty sure there always is but it moves quickly.   A combination of seating types are available with counter, booth, table and patio available.  Our server Sarah was opinionated and helpful with ordering, when so many options looked appealing.  She was a delight and so friendly, as were all that we interacted with there.  Actually they try and make your visit fun for example, they have a variety of coffee mugs and like to joke with people about which mug they get. A Packers fan will most likely be given a mug with something about Vikings. If a couple is getting amorous they might place a lit candle on the table to add to the ambiance unless they stay in their seats too long and then it might be suggested it’s time to move on.  The amazing efficiency and friendliness in all the staff we met as well as the good and generous  portions of food made it a dining experience I look forward to to having again.  Hope you’ll find time to visit too!

Set-up

Food

Haystacks are an option with 2 eggs over hash browns served with toast.  My husband chose the Mexican variation which also includes onion, tomato, green peppers, pepper jack cheese, chili con carne, pico de gallo and sour cream.  You can substitute a biscuit for the toast at no extra charge which he did and also got the suggested side of sausage gravy which was $3.  The biscuit was huge and dense but unfortunately the gravy was too thick without enough sausage.   The eggs were kept nicely runny and the dish had a good amount of flavor to it.  They did have some hot sauce if you wanted to spice it up some.

 

The Cinnamon apple French toast was two slices of cinnamon vanilla bread with corn flakes breading topped with warm apple compote.  Our server suggested getting something salty on the side to balance the sweetness of the dish and so I got hashbrowns which were $4 as a side.  The  hashbrowns were crispy and good but nothing out of the ordinary however they were just what you needed to go with the rich French toast.  The corn flakes gave it a nice crispy exterior but the interior of the bread was well soaked and creamy.  The apple compote on the top was generous and like somebody took the filling from an apple pie and dumped it on your toast.  Delicious.   It didn’t need butter (this was Minnesota not Wisconsin yet) and had lots of cinnamon in the mix but I still enjoyed adding a touch of syrup to the plate.  Sometimes a deep sweet fix is just what you need in the morning.

 

We went back recently and sat in another room and both tried the Breakfast Burrito.  It was a huge garlic herb flour tortilla holding scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, chorizo, black bean and corn salsa, American fries and queso fresco.  Then it was topped with smokey queso sauce and cilantro poblano coulis with fire roasted salsa on the side.  Cut in half it was still a fork and knife affair.  The salsa was on the sweet side with no fire so you needed to add some hot sauce, which they will bring you.  The queso sauce had little taste and there was way too much tortilla in the mix.  The flavor overall was fine, especially with extra hot sauce but I wouldn’t get this again.