Eating out around Gillett means knowing where to point the car. The restaurants in Gillett sit in three places: one block of Main Street in town, a pair of roadhouses about 3 miles southeast on WI-32, and a barbecue smokehouse about 8 miles west on County VV. Between them you get a 1970s diner with a pie case, two Mexican kitchens, a proper supper club, three Friday fish fries and Texas-style brisket, which is a lot for a city of about 1,300 people.
Hours here are short and specific. Several places close by 8 on weeknights and a few skip days entirely, so check before you drive out. The details below are the ones that catch visitors out.
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Breakfast and pie on Main Street
The reason people drive in is the pie case: cream pies in banana, coconut, peanut butter, sour cream raisin and chocolate, under whipped cream or meringue, plus the chilled tortes that are a Wisconsin diner staple. A UW Extension profile of the diner notes it has been voted best pies in the state. Order breakfast, then order a slice to go. You will not regret the second decision.
The menu is homestyle American, made from scratch, with daily features, and the service is the kind where your coffee cup does not stay empty for long. It takes reservations, which helps on a Saturday morning in riding season. On Sunday, when OJ's is closed, breakfast moves across town to Spirits of Gillett.
Mexican in Gillett
Taco Fiesta is the quick, cheap and very good option on Main Street. Go for the birria tacos and eat them on the spot while they are hot. It makes breakfast burritos too, which gives Main Street a second breakfast option for anyone who wants eggs with salsa instead of pancakes.
A block away at 100 N Lake Ave, El Borracho Mexican Grill is the sit-down version, open every day from 10:30 in the morning to 9 at night. Expect big portions, margaritas and a bar with TVs for game days. If you want a margarita with dinner, or you are eating on a Sunday or Monday night, this is the one.
Two Mexican kitchens and a Mexican grocery within a block surprise visitors who expect a town this size to stop at burgers. The choice between the kitchens mostly comes down to whether you want to sit down.
For ingredients rather than a meal, La Mexicana grocery at 109 E Main St is a family-owned grocery store that stocks what the two kitchens down the street cook with.
Supper club and Friday fish fry
Two Wisconsin traditions explain a lot of the dining around Gillett. A supper club is an old-style dinner house with a full bar, relish trays and long Friday and Saturday nights. The Friday fish fry is exactly what it sounds like, and around here it is the busiest meal of the week.
Bramers Club 32 at 5506 WI-32, about 3 miles southeast of town, is the supper club. Its signature is family-style chicken with all the fixings, alongside a Friday fish fry, pizza, a salad bar and steaks, ribs and brisket. It opens at 4 in the afternoon on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, closing at 8 most nights and 9 on Fridays and Saturdays, and it is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Book a table for Friday, and go early or late: reviewers warn that Club 32 can sell out of some fish on busy Friday nights.
Next door at 5494 WI-32, Sandy Corners Bar & Grill is the more casual bar-and-grill of the pair, with steaks, burgers, cocktails and its own Friday fish fry. It is open Wednesday and Thursday from 3, and Friday through Sunday from 11, and it does not take reservations, so walk in and wait at the bar. It also does takeout, which helps on a Friday when the dining room is full.
Further up WI-32, about 3.5 miles north of town, Old Still Saloon is the third fish fry in the area, a neighborhood bar serving pub food, burgers and appetizers. It opens at 11 Wednesday through Saturday, stays open late on Friday and Saturday nights, and serves a short morning on Sunday from 9 to noon. Of the three, it is the neighborhood bar, set north of town rather than at the crossroads where the other two sit.
Three fish fries within a few miles is a good problem to have. Club 32 for the full supper-club night, Sandy Corners for a beer and a basket, Old Still for the neighborhood-bar version.
Bar food and trail stops
This is the sports bar of the town, where Packers, Brewers and Badgers games are on, and the food runs to pizza, big comfort plates, pancakes and stuffed hashbrowns on weekend mornings. Weekend breakfast with a Bloody Mary, then straight onto the trail, is the local routine on a summer Saturday. Spirits also does catering, worth knowing if you are organizing a group ride or a family reunion in one of the shelters at Zippel Park.
If you are riding, the Nicolet State Trail trailhead at Zippel Park is right across McKenzie Ave, and ATVs are legal on the town's streets, so you can ride to any of the bars in this section.
Wildfire Trails on WI-22, the bar attached to Sleepy Hollow Motel, keeps a fire pit going outside and serves pizza, with karaoke and live music nights.
Todd's 5th Wheel Saloon at 206 E Railroad St is the corner dive bar, open Friday from 4 in the afternoon and Saturday from 2, both nights until 2:30 in the morning. It is cash only and the food is frozen pizza, which is an honest description of the evening you will have.
Barbecue on County VV
The menu centers on smoked brisket and pulled pork, with mac and cheese, baked beans, cheese curds and cherry cobbler, plus a fried perch platter for the fish fry crowd. Outside there are fire pits, a beer wall and live music, and dogs are welcome on the patio. There is a retail counter too, selling things like wood-smoked brisket meat sticks, which travel well in a riding jacket. It gets busy, and reviewers say so. Go at 11 or mid-afternoon if you want a table without a wait.
Next door at 14145 County VV, Harleys Den Bar and Grill is a low-key bar with pizza, a pool table and its own brisket, and it is walk-in only. Primal Eats closes at 8, and Harleys Den is the place to finish the evening.
Both carry a Gillett address, though they sit closer to Cecil than to downtown Gillett, so set your map by the street address rather than the town name.
Eating on the river
Oconto River Rafting & Tubing and Pulcifer Pub at W2319 WI-22 in Pulcifer, about 4 miles southwest of Gillett, pairs a tubing outfitter with a pub. In summer that means cold drinks, food, ice cream and live music for people coming off the water.
It is a summer place above all. Rafting and tubing on the Oconto River is the reason to go, and the pub is the reward afterward.
Groceries and quick food
Pat's Market at 117 N McKenzie Ave is the town grocery store, with a meat counter, a bakery, a deli and a pharmacy. It opens weekdays from 7 to 7, Saturday from 8 to 5:30 and Sunday from 8 to 1, and the deli closes at 6, earlier than the store.
For a fast sandwich, Subway is on W Park St, a block from the trailhead. Between Pat's deli and the taco counter on Main Street, a picnic for the trail or the river is easy to put together.
Who is open when
Small-town hours trip people up more than anything else on this list. This is the short version by place, as listed at the time of writing.
- OJ's Midtown: Monday to Saturday, 7am to 4pm, breakfast until 11.
- Taco Fiesta: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 8pm.
- El Borracho: every day, 10:30am to 9pm.
- Spirits of Gillett: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 2pm to 10pm, Saturday 9am to 10pm, Sunday 9am to 6pm.
- Bramers Club 32: Monday, Thursday and Sunday 4pm to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 4pm to 9pm.
- Sandy Corners: Wednesday and Thursday from 3pm, Friday to Sunday from 11am, until 10pm.
- Old Still Saloon: Wednesday to Saturday from 11am, Sunday 9am to noon.
- Primal Eats: Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 8pm.
- Todd's 5th Wheel: Friday from 4pm and Saturday from 2pm, until 2:30am.
Tuesday and Wednesday are the thin nights. Club 32 and Spirits are both closed on Wednesday, and Primal Eats does not open until Wednesday, so a midweek dinner usually means El Borracho, Taco Fiesta or one of the WI-32 bars. Hours change with the seasons and with staffing, so treat the list as a starting point and check the listing or call ahead.
Eating during fair week
The county fair's food stands take over Zippel Park every August, and fair food is half the reason to go. Main Street is a short walk from the fairgrounds, so OJ's, Taco Fiesta and Spirits all pick up fair traffic. Expect waits at lunch on the big days.
A short drive out
If you are heading southwest toward Shawano, Popp's Place Family Restaurant in Cecil, about 9 miles southwest of Gillett, is the family restaurant on that side. Going east toward Lena, about 13 miles away, Jojo's Diner is the diner stop.
Gillett's own options will cover a long weekend, though. Between the diner, the tacos, the supper club and the brisket, you can eat well here for a long weekend without repeating a meal.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 21, 2026
