Ask a Milwaukeean where to take visiting parents for a real Wisconsin dinner and the answer is rarely downtown. The supper clubs Milwaukee still has sit largely on the south side and in the inner ring of suburbs, in low buildings with neon signs, long bars and parking lots that fill by six on a Friday. A few newer rooms have brought the format downtown, and the old roadhouse clubs start again north of the county line. Here is where to go, what each one does best, and how to get a table.
Milwaukee's supper clubs, quickly
Milwaukee's supper clubs cluster south and southwest of downtown, from the Jackson Grill about 3 miles out to the Hales Corners clubs about 10 miles out, and the oldest is Five O'Clock Steakhouse, open since 1946. They follow the Wisconsin pattern: a drink at the bar, a relish tray or salad, then steak, prime rib or fish, and an ice cream drink if you have room.
City clubs differ from the up-north ones in two ways. They are busier on weeknights, because they are neighborhood places rather than vacation stops, and the Friday fish fry is a bigger deal here than anywhere else in the state. Book for Friday and Saturday, and expect a wait at the bar anyway.
The same tradition runs across the state, and supper clubs from the Northwoods to Lake Geneva are worth a road trip once you have done the Milwaukee ones.
Where the Milwaukee supper club came from
The supper club has Milwaukee roots: the first one in the country was opened in Beverly Hills by a Milwaukee native, Lawrence Frank. Back home, Edible Milwaukee traces the format to the 1930s and 1940s, when roadhouses that had sold drinks through Prohibition turned into dinner houses on the new paved county roads.
For decades the city and its edges were full of them. A lot closed as families moved to the suburbs and the chains moved in, and the ones still standing are the ones that kept a loyal Friday crowd. That is why the list here leans toward places that have been open for 50 years or more, like Five O'Clock, Clifford's and the Packing House, plus a handful of newcomers that set out to bring the ritual back.
The old guard
Two places set the standard every other Milwaukee supper club gets measured against.
Five O'Clock keeps a 1940s-style lounge out front with free live music every week, so come early and have the old fashioned there. Steak is the order, and the room, all low light and old-school service, does as much as the beef to make the night.
If you are flying out of Mitchell, the Packing House is the last supper club dinner you can fit in before the airport. Order the fish on a Friday and the prime rib on a Saturday. The bar is the heart of the place, and on a jazz night it is worth staying for a second drink after dinner.
South side and the southwest suburbs
Head south and southwest for the relish-tray clubs, where the rooms are bigger, the prices are friendlier and the regulars have been coming for decades.
A mile up the road, Diamond Jim's on Janesville Road is the old-school steak option in Hales Corners, carving prime rib and setting down a relish tray before dinner. Pick Clifford's for the fish and Diamond Jim's for the beef. Between them they cover the whole southwest-side supper club experience in one short stretch of road.
In West Allis, about 6 miles west of downtown, Henry Flach's is part cocktail bar, part supper club, with steak, prime rib, daily specials and a long martini list. It is the one to choose when half the table wants dinner and the other half wants a drink.
The new supper clubs
Three newer rooms borrow the supper club format and dress it up: Joey Gerard's in Greendale, Buckatabon in Wauwatosa and the Conroy downtown.
In the Tosa Village, Buckatabon copies the look of a Northwoods tavern and keeps a whole menu of old fashioneds made with its own house brandy. Prime rib and the Friday fish fry are the dinners, at $20 to $30 a person.
Downtown on Milwaukee Street, the Conroy calls itself a modern supper club, with A5 Japanese wagyu on the menu, live jazz and a bill to match at $100 and up a person. It is the supper club for a night when you want the ritual and the cocktails without leaving the city center. It sits a block from the Third Ward and steps from the downtown hotels, which makes it the easy choice for visitors without a car.
The newer rooms sit close to Milwaukee's fine-dining rooms in price, so they make a good middle ground when one person wants a relish tray and the other wants a tasting menu.
North Shore and Lake Country
Up the lakeshore in Whitefish Bay, about 5 miles north, Pandl's is the German-leaning neighborhood institution under Tiffany lamps, and the broiled whitefish is the order. It also does a Sunday brunch, which is the easiest way to get a table.
West in Nashotah, about 25 miles out, Red Circle Inn bills itself as the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Wisconsin, open since the 1840s. It is dressier than the south side clubs and books up with weddings, so call ahead for a weekend.
Worth the drive north
About 20 to 25 miles north of downtown, the older roadhouse clubs start: the Fox & Hounds in Richfield, Juice's in Grafton and Moonlight in Port Washington. This is where the city's supper club fans go for a Saturday drive and a long dinner.
In Grafton, Juice's Ghost Town serves steak and seafood in a historic building with wood paneling and an old-fashioned bar, at $20 to $30 a person. On the lake in Port Washington, Moonlight Tavern & Supper Club does lunch and dinner on Main Street, a short walk from the harbor.
In Germantown, about 16 miles northwest, Relish Supper Club pours a whole list of old fashioneds, including a pineapple version and a brandy or bourbon relish version. Closer in, the Bartolotta steakhouse in Mequon brings a vintage supper club feel to a straight steakhouse menu, about 13 miles north.
Make a day of it: lunch in Cedarburg or Port Washington, a walk by the water, and dinner at one of these on the way home.
What to order at a Milwaukee supper club
Start with a brandy old fashioned, which Wisconsin made its official state cocktail in 2023. Order it sweet, sour or press, and say which garnish you want: cherries and an orange slice, or olives, pickled mushrooms or a pickled brussels sprout if the bar has them.
While you wait for the table, order the cheese curds, and when you sit down, eat the relish tray before anything else arrives. On a Friday the order is fish; on a Saturday it is prime rib; and any night, a steak with a baked potato is never wrong.
After dinner, the ice cream drinks are the finish: a grasshopper, a pink squirrel or a brandy alexander, blended thick enough to need a spoon. Share one if you are full, but do not skip it.
Supper clubs for families and groups
For a big family dinner, Clifford's is built for it, with a large family-style dining room and a banquet hall for parties. The Packing House and the Fox & Hounds also handle large tables well, so call and ask what space they have for a birthday or a rehearsal dinner.
Call a week or more ahead for a group of ten or more, and ask whether the kitchen offers a set menu. Kids are welcome at every club on this list, and a Shirley Temple at the bar is part of growing up in Milwaukee.
Friday fish at a supper club
Nearly every club on this list runs a Friday fish fry, and Five O'Clock is the notable exception, since it broils its fish. Cod is the standard, with perch, walleye and bluegill at the clubs that care, served with coleslaw, rye bread and either fries or potato pancakes.
Beyond the supper clubs, Milwaukee's fish fry fills church halls, corner taverns and Serbian halls every Friday. But the supper club version, with an old fashioned before and a grasshopper after, is the one to do once.
When to go
The weekly rhythm still runs the way it always has: Friday is fish fry night, Saturday is prime rib, and Sunday at a lot of clubs means chicken or ribs. Friday between half past five and seven is the crush everywhere, so go earlier or later if you hate waiting.
Fridays during Lent draw bigger crowds than the rest of the year, and the parking lots at the fish-fry clubs overflow onto the side streets. If you want a quiet Friday, choose a week in summer, when half the city is up north.
Weeknights are the secret. A Tuesday or Wednesday at a south side supper club gets you the same relish tray, a seat at the bar without a wait, and a server with time to talk. Check hours before you go, because several of the clubs close one or two nights early in the week.
Sunday dinners start early at a lot of clubs, so a five o'clock Sunday table is normal rather than early. Nobody at a Milwaukee supper club will rush you out the door afterward.
Holiday season is the other busy stretch. From Thanksgiving through New Year's, office parties and family dinners fill the big rooms, so book early for a December weekend.
How to get a table
Call rather than book online at the older clubs, because several still keep the reservation book by the phone. Ask whether they hold tables on Friday or just keep a waiting list, because it changes the evening.
Arrive half an hour before you want to eat and plan to spend it at the bar. At a supper club that half hour at the bar is part of the meal.
And if you want the same evening with more beef and less relish tray, a downtown Milwaukee steakhouse is a short step up the price ladder.
Frequently asked questions
Published August 17, 2026
