Plenty of visitors come to the Dells for the waterparks and leave without ever finding the grown-up half of the town. That half is the supper clubs Wisconsin Dells has been feeding families from since the 1950s: log lodges on the lakes, Prairie-style dining rooms on the Parkway, and quieter rooms out in the woods where locals go when the strip gets loud. Here is where to eat, how to handle the wait at Ishnala that everyone warns you about, and which clubs take a reservation so you are not stuck in line with tired kids.
Supper clubs in the Dells, quickly
The Dells has a tight cluster of supper clubs, and the well-known ones mostly sit within two miles of each other along Wisconsin Dells Parkway and Lake Delton. The rest are spread out on county roads within about ten miles, which is where you find the shorter waits and the cheaper old fashioneds.
A word on geography, because it confuses visitors: Wisconsin Dells is a city and Lake Delton is a separate village joined to it by the Parkway, and Ishnala, the Del-Bar, Daylene's and House of Embers are all in Lake Delton. The Wisconsin River and its sandstone gorges run along the north side of town, Lake Delton sits in the middle, and Mirror Lake State Park is just southwest. Once you have that picture, the clubs are easy to place.
Dress is casual everywhere, and shorts are fine in summer, though people tend to clean up a little for the Del-Bar and the steakhouses. None of the off-strip clubs are walkable from the Parkway hotels, so plan on a designated driver or a cab if the old fashioneds are part of the evening.
Expect the classic format: a brandy old fashioned at the bar while you wait, a relish tray or salad, then steak, prime rib or fish. Friday is fish fry night, and Saturday is the night to order prime rib before it runs out.
The Dells clubs are part of a much bigger tradition, and the state's supper clubs stretch from Door County to the Northwoods if you want to plan a longer drive around them.
Madison is about 41 miles southeast in a straight line, so the Dells clubs are an easy dinner on a weekend out of the city.
Ishnala, and how to handle the wait
Ishnala takes no reservations, so the trick is to arrive before the doors open and put your name in, then walk the lake path while you wait. On a summer Saturday, people who turn up at 6 p.m. can wait well past an hour.
Ishnala opens at 3:30 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on weekends, and the early crowd gets the window tables over the water. While you wait there is a separate lakeside bar, live music in summer and a small beach to sit on.
Order the old fashioned, which comes in Ishnala's own branded glass, and start with the cheese curds. For dinner the prime rib with jumbo fried shrimp is the classic, and the Totem Pole Bloody Mary is the brunch-hour drink people photograph.
UpNorthNews readers named Ishnala the best supper club in southern Wisconsin, with one in three readers in the region picking it. It is worth the wait once. The dining room has the long views over the water, and by early evening it is full and loud in the best way. If the line is impossible, drive two miles back to the Parkway and eat somewhere that takes a booking.
On the Parkway
The Del-Bar and House of Embers sit a few hundred yards apart on Wisconsin Dells Parkway, and the Del-Bar takes reservations online.
The name comes from the original location, a converted cabin with six tables on the road between Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo. Order the French onion soup, then the oysters Rockefeller or the twin lobster tails if steak is not the plan. Steak people order the bone-in Swiss filet, and the creme brulee is the dessert.
The Del-Bar also has more vegetarian dishes than a typical supper club, which helps when not everyone at the table wants a steak. Book a table online for 5 p.m. and you will be eating while the line at Ishnala is still forming.
Ask to see the Omar Sharif Room, one of the movie-star themed dining rooms, where more than 500 wedding proposals are said to have happened. House of Embers takes dinner reservations, and its happy hour runs early on many nights.
Beyond the ribs, the walleye, the portabella sirloin and the firecracker shrimp are the dishes people order, and the 1920s-style lounge is the place for a drink before dinner.
On Lake Delton and off the strip
For water views without the Ishnala wait, book Daylene's on Lake Delton, and for a quieter night try Rubb's in the woods north of town or Club 23 out on Highway 23.
Because it books tables, Daylene's is the way around the multi-hour waits elsewhere on a summer night. At dinner Daylene's leans modern, with prime rib and asparagus, pot roast, clam chowder and a butterscotch pudding that keeps turning up in reviews.
Club 23, about 7 miles northeast on Highway 23, is the locals' pick: generous plates, fair prices and a short schedule, open Wednesday to Saturday evenings. A little further east in Briggsville, the Cove keeps a 1950s bar, lake views and ice cream drinks, and it opens just four nights a week.
Ten miles east toward Portage, Cimaroli's is a family-owned club in the country with two bars, a patio and live music. It takes no reservations, but the wait usually stays under an hour, and the grasshopper after dinner is the move.
If you are driving up from the south, the Madison supper club scene makes a good opening night, about 41 miles back down the road, with the Dells clubs saved for the second.
Steakhouses in the Dells
For a straight steakhouse dinner rather than a supper club, Field's at the Wilderness and Kaminski's at Chula Vista are the two serious ones. Both take reservations, and both are where people book an anniversary.
At the Wilderness resort, about a mile from the Del-Bar, Field's shares the Del-Bar's Prairie School look, with stone hearth fireplaces, water features and an exhibition kitchen. It has won Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence more than once, and the lamb lollipops and blackened ribeye are the dishes people come back for. The dining rooms are small and dimly lit, with private rooms for a group, and the trio of creme brulee closes the night.
North of town at Chula Vista Resort, Kaminski's Chop House looks down on the Wisconsin River and makes its garbage salad tableside. Saturday is prime rib night, and dinner runs $100 and up a person. A salad cart comes to the table so you can build your own before the steak arrives. It has a long shelf of awards, including OpenTable and Tripadvisor diners' choice honors in 2024.
At Kalahari, Double Cut Steak House cooks its steaks over hot coals and has a hidden door through to a piano bar.
What to order at a Dells supper club
Start at the bar with a brandy old fashioned, sweet if you are undecided, sour if you know you like it that way, and ask for the cheese curds while you wait for a table. Every club here does a version of both, and the curds are the thing to judge a place by.
On a Friday, order the fish fry: cod, perch or walleye with coleslaw, rye bread and potatoes. On a Saturday, order prime rib early, because the good cuts sell out early at the busy clubs. Any other night, the steak is the safe choice and the house specialty is the interesting one.
After dinner, order an ice cream drink: a grasshopper at Cimaroli's, or whatever the bartender at the Cove is proudest of. Ask for the dessert drink before the check comes, or the kitchen will think you are done.
A Dells supper club weekend
Friday: drive out to Cimaroli's for the fish fry and live music, about 10 miles east of the Parkway, where the wait rarely runs past an hour.
Saturday: get to Ishnala before it opens, put your name in, and walk the trail around Mirror Lake while you wait. If the line is already long, keep a backup booking at the Del-Bar two miles away and decide on the spot.
Sunday: book a lake-view lunch at Daylene's, which opens at 11 a.m., before the drive home. Three dinners, three different versions of the Wisconsin supper club, and no waterpark required.
Planning a Dells supper club night
Summer weekends are the hard nights everywhere in the Dells, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Book where you can, and for the no-reservation clubs, arrive at opening rather than at 6 p.m.
Off season the waits shrink, and a Tuesday in November on Mirror Lake can feel like a different place. Some of the smaller clubs keep shorter hours in winter, so call before driving out to the county roads.
Fall is the best-kept season here. The waterparks quiet down after Labor Day, the leaves turn along the river, and the supper clubs keep full menus with half the crowd. A Saturday in October gives you the Ishnala view without the July wait.
Kids are welcome at nearly every club here, with kids' menus and high chairs, so a supper club is an easy family dinner after a waterpark day. Leave the swimsuits in the car.
Frequently asked questions
Published August 3, 2026
