The Fox Cities do not get the supper club attention that Door County and the Dells get, and the locals would like to keep it that way. The supper clubs Appleton people actually go to are spread along the Fox River and out into the farm country, and between them they cover every version of the format: prime rib so big it comes with a warning, a sing-along piano bar, Friday perch and a Saturday seafood buffet. Two of the busiest do not take reservations, so it helps to know the rules before you drive out.
Appleton's supper clubs, quickly
Seven or more supper clubs sit within about 15 miles of downtown Appleton, from George's and the Red Ox in town to Black Otter in Hortonville and three clubs around Kaukauna. Black Otter and Dick and Joan's 220 Club take no reservations, so the evening starts with a line or a wait at the bar.
The format is the classic Wisconsin one: an old fashioned at the bar, a salad bar or relish tray, then steak, prime rib or fish, and an ice cream drink to close. Prices are friendly by state standards, with dinners mostly in the $20 to $60 range.
Appleton sits at the north end of a long run of supper clubs that follows Lake Winnebago south into Calumet County, and Wisconsin's supper clubs pick up from there across the whole state.
Black Otter and the prime rib clubs
Black Otter in Hortonville, about 12 miles northwest of downtown Appleton, is the one people line up for before the doors open, for an extreme-cut prime rib that weighs about ten pounds with the bone in.
Nobody orders the extreme cut alone. Bring a group, order it to share, and still expect to leave with a box. The regular prime rib cuts are generous enough for big appetites, and the fried shrimp and perch are the backup if beef is not the plan.
Because Black Otter takes no reservations, arrive before opening time on a Friday or Saturday and put your name in, then wait at the bar. On a quiet weeknight you can usually walk in, and that is the best way to see the place without the crowd.
The 220 Club is the one to choose on a Monday or Tuesday, when a lot of other supper clubs are closed. Its weekday lunch is the easy way to try supper club cooking without committing an evening.
In town: steaks and piano bars
In Appleton itself, George's Steak House has served steak and prime rib since the 1930s, and the Red Ox on Oneida Street is the steak-and-seafood option with a lounge and patio.
Request the piano bar if you are celebrating. The regulars know the words to everything, and by the end of the night you will too.
East of town toward Kimberly, Fire Seafood & Steakhouse is the newer, dressier steak room, open Monday through Saturday evenings at $40 to $90 a person. It is less of a supper club and more of a straight steakhouse, which suits an anniversary or a business dinner.
Kaukauna and the Fox River clubs
East along the Fox, Kaukauna has three clubs within a few miles of each other: Prime Steer, Out-O-Town and Colonial House.
On Town Club Road, the Out-O-Town club is known for nightly specials, broasted chicken and a real salad bar, with fried bluegill and haddock on a Friday. UpNorthNews readers in the Green Bay area ranked it among their top supper clubs.
North on County Road E, Colonial House is the buffet supper club, with prime rib, crab legs, baked fish and fried chicken on the line and a Sunday brunch. It is the place for a family that cannot agree on what to order.
If you try one Kaukauna club, make it Prime Steer for the T-bone; for variety, Colonial House; for a classic Friday, Out-O-Town. Each one feels different enough that it is worth trying all three over a few cold winter Fridays. The drive out along the Fox River, past the old paper-mill towns and the locks, is part of the pleasure.
Toward Oshkosh
Halfway between Appleton and Oshkosh in Larsen, Cattails Supper Club does Wisconsin favorites like cheese curds, a fish fry and prime rib, about 16 miles from either city. Its smoked old fashioned is the drink to order, and the salad and potato bar comes with dinner.
South of Oshkosh the supper club country keeps going down the east shore of Lake Winnebago into Calumet County, where clubs like Schwarz's, Blanck's and Roepke's have kept the tradition going for generations.
A detour into Calumet County
South of Appleton along the east shore of Lake Winnebago, Calumet County calls itself the Supper Club Capital of the Midwest, and it has more than 15 supper clubs and taverns, according to Travel Wisconsin. The county's own supper club map lists about 20 of them, and it dares visitors to try every one.
Near Saint Anna, about 30 miles south of Appleton, Schwarz's goes through about 900 pounds of prime rib a week and garnishes its old fashioneds with house-pickled mushrooms. In Malone, Blanck's Supper Club still takes your dinner order at the bar before seating you, the old way.
In Charlesburg, Roepke's, open for more than 60 years, puts German dishes next to the steaks. A Saturday drive down the lake with dinner at one of these is the best supper club day trip from the Fox Cities.
A Fox Cities supper club weekend
Friday: perch and an old fashioned at the 220 Club on Lynndale Drive, where there is no reservation book and nobody minds. Get there early, eat at the bar if the dining room is full, and finish with a grasshopper.
Saturday: line up at Black Otter in Hortonville before opening with a group of friends, order the extreme cut to share, and plan nothing for the rest of the night. If the line is too long, Prime Steer in Kaukauna and its 22-ounce T-bone are a solid plan B.
Sunday: brunch at Colonial House, then a slow drive home along the Fox. Three meals, three versions of the Wisconsin supper club, and not one of them requires a jacket.
What to order at an Appleton supper club
Start with a brandy old fashioned sweet at the bar, and if the club has cheese curds, order a basket to share while you wait. At the clubs with a salad bar, that is your next stop, so go easy on the curds, tempting as they are.
On a Friday the order is fish: perch, bluegill, walleye or haddock, fried or broiled, with coleslaw and rye bread. On a Saturday it is prime rib, and at Black Otter it is prime rib in a size you will talk about for a year. Broasted chicken is the other Fox Valley staple, and the 220 Club and Out-O-Town both serve it.
After dinner, order an ice cream drink: a grasshopper, a pink squirrel or a brandy alexander. Prime Steer makes them a feature, and they are the right way to end a supper club night.
Supper clubs with kids
Supper clubs are family restaurants at heart, and the Fox Cities clubs are full of three-generation tables on a Friday night. Black Otter, Prime Steer, Colonial House and the 220 Club all have kids' menus and high chairs, and nobody blinks at a toddler in the dining room.
The buffet at Colonial House is the easiest choice with small children, because the food arrives the moment you want it. Broasted chicken is the reliable kids' order everywhere else, and a Shirley Temple at the bar while the adults have an old fashioned is a Wisconsin rite of passage.
Go early with kids. A five o'clock table means a shorter wait, a quieter room and a bedtime that still works.
Reservations, lines and when to go
Call ahead for the clubs that take reservations and arrive at opening for the ones that do not. The line at Black Otter on a Saturday is part of the show, and the regulars treat it as a social hour.
Friday between five thirty and seven is peak time everywhere in the valley. Go early, go late or go midweek if you want a calmer meal, and check hours ahead, since several clubs close one or two nights a week.
Winter is supper club season here, when a warm room and a long dinner are the point, and the clubs are at their best on a snowy Friday. In summer the Red Ox patio is the place to sit outside, and the lounge stays busy late on weekends.
If you are spending a weekend in northeast Wisconsin, pair an Appleton dinner with a night in Green Bay, about 26 miles up the Fox, where the Green Bay supper clubs line the river and the bay.
Frequently asked questions
Published August 31, 2026
