Wisconsin Supper Clubs from Up North to the Illinois Line

You walk in out of the cold, give your name to whoever is behind the bar, and order a brandy old fashioned sweet before your coat is off. That is how a night at one of the Wisconsin supper clubs starts, and it has not changed much since the 1940s. Somewhere around 250 to 300 of them are left in the state, most of them family-run, most of them on a lake or at the edge of a small town, and most of them open only for dinner. Here is what a supper club actually is, how the night works, and where to go in every corner of the state, from the Northwoods down to the Illinois line.

What a Wisconsin supper club is

A Wisconsin supper club is a family-run dinner house where you drink at the bar first, then sit down to a meal in courses: a relish tray, soup or salad, a steak, chop or fish with a potato, and an ice cream drink to finish. Nobody checks a membership card, because there is no membership. The word club is left over from a fancier idea of the place, and out-of-staters still sometimes ask at the door how to join.

Edible Milwaukee traced the format to the 1930s and 1940s, when roadhouses that had poured drinks through Prohibition turned into dinner houses along the paved roads farmers built to get milk to market. They were Saturday-drive destinations, which is why so many still sit on a county road with a neon sign out front and a big gravel lot. The room tells you where you are before the menu does: wood paneling, low light, a long bar, and quite often a mounted deer or muskie keeping an eye on the dining room.

The best short definition comes from filmmaker Holly De Ruyter, who visited more than fifty of them for her documentary: every one is unique to its owner, and you know one when you see one. A good example is the Jackson Grill on Milwaukee's south side, a small chef-owned room where nearly everything is made in house and the owners know a lot of the regulars by name.

The relish tray is the tell. In the old days it was a lazy Susan of pickled beets, carrot sticks, radishes and a crock of cheese spread with crackers, and the clubs that still do it properly are the ones people talk about. Some now serve it as a small plate, and a few have quietly dropped it, so if it matters to you, ask when you sit down.

How a supper club night actually works

Get there near opening, put your name in, and plan on about two hours. Many clubs open the bar around 4 p.m. with the kitchen right behind it. Several of the busiest take no reservations at all, so the wait at the bar is part of the evening, not a delay to it.

The traditional weekly rhythm is Friday fish fry, Saturday prime rib and Sunday chicken or ribs, and plenty of clubs still build the menu around it. Friday usually means cod, perch, walleye or bluegill, fried or broiled, with rye bread, coleslaw and potato pancakes or fries. Saturday is the night to order prime rib early, before the kitchen runs out of the cut you want.

The drink is the brandy old fashioned, which Wisconsin made its official state cocktail in 2023. Order it sweet (topped with lemon-lime soda), sour (with sour mix or soda water) or press (half and half), and tell the bartender which garnish you want. At Schwarz's Supper Club near Saint Anna, the old fashioneds come with house-pickled mushrooms on the pick.

After dinner comes the ice cream drink: a grasshopper with creme de menthe, a pink squirrel or a brandy alexander, blended thick enough to need a spoon. If you leave with half a steak in a box, you are part of the tradition too, since the doggie bag is widely credited to the supper club era.

Dress is come-as-you-are almost everywhere, and jeans are fine. A few of the dressier rooms in Milwaukee, Madison and Lake Geneva feel better with a collared shirt, and nobody will say a word either way.

Milwaukee and the southeast

Milwaukee's supper clubs sit mostly on the south side and in the near suburbs, and the oldest is Five O'Clock Steakhouse, open since 1946. The city lost a lot of its old clubs to the suburbs and the chains, so the ones that are left are worth knowing.

On East Layton Avenue, the Packing House, family-run since 1973, runs its Friday fish fry through a drive-through window and the dining room.

Further out in Greendale, Joey Gerard's is the Bartolotta group's polished, Hollywood-style take on the format, with leather booths and a moose head that once hung in a bar up north. In Hales Corners, Clifford's, serving an all-you-can-eat cod fish fry since 1959, still flames cherries jubilee for dessert.

If you only have one night in the city, Milwaukee's south side supper clubs are where to spend it.

In Wauwatosa, Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club borrows the look of a Northwoods tavern and keeps a whole menu of old fashioneds made with its own house brandy. Back in Hales Corners, Diamond Jim's carves prime rib and still sets down a relish tray before dinner.

Up the lakeshore in Whitefish Bay, Jack Pandl's Whitefish Bay Inn is the German-leaning neighborhood institution under Tiffany lamps, and the broiled whitefish is the order.

North of Milwaukee the older roadhouse clubs start, and the Fox & Hounds in Richfield, open since the 1930s, still feels like a hunting lodge with a dining room attached.

In West Bend, Krimmer's handles the steak-and-seafood dinner for Washington County. Staying the weekend there, the full list of places to eat in West Bend runs from fish fry to custard.

South along Lake Michigan, HOBNOB between Racine and Kenosha opened in 1954, and its booths look straight out at the water. Travel Wisconsin notes that diners once paid 50 cents for rooftop dancing there on summer nights. UpNorthNews readers voted it the best supper club in southeast Wisconsin, by a single vote.

In Kenosha itself, House of Gerhard keeps the German side of the tradition going with sauerbraten and a slow, multi-course pace.

West in Lake Country, the Red Circle Inn in Nashotah bills itself as the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Wisconsin, open since the 1840s. It is a dressier room that books up for weddings, so call ahead on a weekend.

Madison and the Dells

Madison's classic supper club is Toby's on Dutch Mill Road, and the one people drive the furthest for in southern Wisconsin is Ishnala, on Mirror Lake outside the Dells. The two are about 45 miles apart, and plenty of people do both in a weekend.

Downtown, Tornado Steak House a block off the Capitol Square is the supper club with white tablecloths and a late menu on weekends. Behind the old train depot on West Washington Avenue, the Harvey House does a modern version, with the relish tray reworked as seasonal crudite.

On the southeast edge of town, Maple Tree is the family-style option, with a king-cut prime rib and a soup and salad bar. Madison's supper clubs split neatly into these southeast-side classics and the newer downtown rooms.

About 18 miles northwest of Madison, Dorf Haus near Sauk City adds German cooking, a monthly smorgasbord and dinner theater.

Southeast of Madison on Lake Koshkonong, the Buckhorn in Milton has served dinner for more than 95 years from a dining room and patio that both look out over the water.

West toward Spring Green, Arthur's goes all in on a King Arthur theme and runs a prime rib buffet.

Two miles from Ishnala on Wisconsin Dells Parkway, the Del-Bar was designed by a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright and takes reservations online, which makes it the easy pick for a group.

On Lake Delton, a booked table and a water view make Daylene's the easy answer on a summer Saturday when the other waits run long. There are more on the lake and off the strip, and the supper clubs around the Dells make a waterpark weekend a lot more grown-up.

Green Bay, the Fox Valley and Lake Winnebago

The densest run of supper clubs in Wisconsin stretches from Green Bay through Appleton and down the east shore of Lake Winnebago to Calumet County, which calls itself the Supper Club Capital of the Midwest. Calumet County alone has more than 15 supper clubs and taverns, according to Travel Wisconsin.

In Appleton, George's Steak House, around since the 1930s, still keeps a sing-along piano bar. Out in Kaukauna, Out-O-Town is the place for a big plate of fried perch and an old fashioned on a Friday.

Whichever end of the valley you stay at, the Appleton and Fox Cities supper clubs are close enough together to try two in one weekend.

In Green Bay, River's Bend, a family supper club on the Fox River since 1974, comes with a patio over the water and a big salad bar. Up on Nicolet Drive by the bay, Club Chalet is known for its salad bar and the ice cream drinks afterward.

On a Packers weekend Green Bay's supper clubs fill fast, so book before you leave home.

About 5 miles southwest in De Pere, the Union Hotel serves a relish tray with every dinner, and it is where the Packers' G logo was designed.

West of Green Bay, Hotel Seymour fills an 1898 hotel building with a horseshoe bar and a 1966 mural over the barroom. Seymour has a second club, Krabbe's, where a line forms at the door before it opens at 4:30.

In Green Bay proper, Kropp's on Shawano Avenue is the neighborhood club for small perch and hash browns on a Friday.

On the east side of Lake Winnebago, Blanck's in Malone still has you place your dinner order at the bar before you are seated. Halfway to Oshkosh, Cattails in Larsen does a smoked old fashioned and a salad and potato bar.

Nearby in Charlesburg, Roepke's Village Inn, open for more than 60 years, puts German dishes next to the steaks.

South of Fond du Lac near Randolph, the Schaumburg Dinner Club is an old stagecoach stop on Lake Emily, and it only takes cash.

Over on the Lake Michigan shore, Sheboygan's restaurants include a couple of supper clubs of their own if you are coming from the Kohler side.

Door County

Door County's supper clubs run the length of the peninsula from Sturgeon Bay to Ellison Bay, and the oldest, the Nightingale, has served Sturgeon Bay since 1913. Six of them stay open through the winter, when much of the peninsula closes.

At Donny's Glidden Lodge on the Lake Michigan side, book a 4 p.m. table if you want the view from the stone-walled dining room.

In Sturgeon Bay, the Mill, a supper club since 1930, adds schnitzel and sauerbraten to the steaks, with family-style chicken on Wednesdays and Sundays.

In Fish Creek, Alexander's of Door County puts a newer spin on the format, with broiled Door County whitefish and a roasted cherry duck.

Up in Sister Bay, Sister Bay Bowl is a supper club with six bowling lanes that still use manual scoring. Further up the peninsula, Door County's supper clubs include the Log Den, a hand-built log lodge near Egg Harbor, and the English Inn in Fish Creek, the one with the armored knights out front.

Up north: the Northwoods

North of Wausau, supper clubs sit on the lakes and stay busy in winter with snowmobilers, several of them right off the trail. This is the part of the state people picture when they talk about a supper club as a vacation ritual.

Near Saint Germain, McGregor's Blink Bonnie serves its steaks on sizzling platters in a rustic room off a snowmobile trail.

In Manitowish Waters, Little Bohemia Lodge still shows the bullet holes from the 1934 shootout with John Dillinger's gang. A few miles away, Smokey's is the dressier Northwoods room, with prime steaks and a fireplace.

In Eagle River, Eddie B's White Spruce Inn sits on the Chain of 28 Lakes in the oldest standing building in town. Across the chain, Eagle Waters serves ribeye and broasted chicken on a property where the area's first presidential votes, for Abraham Lincoln, were cast.

Up in Land O' Lakes near the Michigan line, the Twilight Supper Club is a 1940s-style room with nightly music and an all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar.

Closer to Wausau, the Pinewood sits on Half Moon Lake near Mosinee and was the reader honorable mention for the north in the UpNorthNews poll.

At the very top of the state, Dreamland Supper Club outside Superior has served four-course dinners since 1927 and topped that same poll statewide. Try the French-fried turkey if you want the dish nobody else serves.

In central Wisconsin, Silvercryst in Wautoma is a lodge dating to about 1894 on Silver Lake, known for broasted chicken, and it does not take reservations.

Western Wisconsin and the Coulee Region

In the west, supper clubs follow the rivers: the Mississippi at La Crosse and Trempealeau, and the Chippewa around Eau Claire. In La Crosse, the Freighthouse serves steak and seafood in a historic freight house with a bar and live music.

A few blocks away, Digger's Sting is the white-tablecloth steakhouse with a supper club feel. North on the river, Sullivan's in Trempealeau has a big deck over the Mississippi and a salad bar with dinner.

Just east of Chippewa Falls, Wissota High Shores is a log-cabin dining room with seats looking out over Lake Wissota, and it was an honorable mention in the western region. North of there in Jim Falls, Old Abe's is the homey one, with a Friday fish fry and a classic salad bar.

Up in Rice Lake, Lehman's, serving dinner since 1934, won the western region of the UpNorthNews reader poll. In Hayward, the Tally Ho brings a relish tray and stuffed mushrooms to the table before the prime rib.

Lake Geneva and the southern lakes

Around Lake Geneva and Delavan Lake, supper clubs sit right on the water or in the farm country just beyond it, a few miles north of the Illinois line, and Chicago weekenders keep them busy.

On Delavan Lake, the Village Supper Club looks out through huge windows over the water, and it requires reservations. On Lake Como, Mars Resort is the opposite: no reservations, a piano bar, and prime rib on Saturday nights.

Closer to town, Brandy's puts the relish tray and onion soup back on the table, and the old fashioneds are the point.

Planning a supper club trip

Call before you drive any distance. Supper clubs keep short hours, many are closed Monday and Tuesday, and some, like Two Lakes near Almond, run seasonally. Hours change with the seasons up north, and a sign on the door is still how plenty of them announce a closed night. Between deer season and spring, a lot of Northwoods clubs cut back to four or five nights a week, so a phone call saves a wasted drive on a snowy evening.

Bring cash as a backup, since a few clubs still take cash and nothing else, and arrive close to opening at any club that does not book tables. Friday evening is fish fry night everywhere, so a 4:30 arrival beats the rush. Expect the bar to be loud and the dining room to be quiet. Order the house specialty on the night it is served, whether that is the Friday fish, the Saturday prime rib or the Sunday chicken.

If you want white tablecloths and a tasting menu instead of wood paneling and a relish tray, Wisconsin's fine-dining rooms are the other half of the Chef's Table picture.

Wherever you end up, the rules are the same. Get there early, start at the bar, order the old fashioned, and do not rush the relish tray. The kitchen certainly won't rush you either.