A Wisconsin Supper Club Evening With Fish Steaks and Ice-Cream Drinks

A proper Wisconsin supper-club dinner does not need much coaxing. Start with a drink at the bar, add a trip to a generously stocked salad bar, then settle in for fried fish, a steak, broasted chicken or whatever the evening’s special happens to be.

This is a traditional, lively operation built for more than a quick meal. The entrance and bar have a cozy, social character, while the indoor dining room carries the evening along with families, couples, birthday tables and groups catching up over dinner.

The pace can be unhurried, especially on busy weekends. That is not a flaw in the format; it is the point of having a bar substantial enough to make the wait for a dining-room table feel like the beginning of the evening rather than dead time.

Guests generally check in with the hostess for a table, then spend some time in the bar area if the dining room is full. On Friday through Sunday evenings, the room can be especially busy, with waits sometimes running roughly 30 to 60 minutes.

The bar is more than a holding pen. Cocktails are a serious part of the supper-club ritual here, with professionally made, reasonably priced drinks and enough room for guests to gather before dinner.

Save a little curiosity for the ice-cream-drink menu. Those adult-oriented, dessert-like drinks make a cheerful finish after a plate of fish or prime rib, and they give the evening a distinctly old-school Wisconsin touch.

Fish is one of the main reasons to come. Deep-fried haddock, perch, broiled haddock and fish and chips cover the familiar bases, with a range that lets a table order more than one style and compare notes.

Fried bluegill is another appealing option, particularly for diners who like their fish in the crisp, straightforward supper-club tradition. Haddock and bluegill have been served with melted butter, a small rich detail that makes sense beside a hot basket of fried fish.

Seafood goes beyond the Friday-fish-fry lane. Scallops, stuffed haddock, seafood platters and occasional lobster specials broaden the choices for diners who want something a little more celebratory.

The steak side of the menu is just as hearty. Tenderloin, ribeye and prime rib are among the familiar orders, giving the place a useful split personality: fish fry for one person, a serious steak dinner for another.

A reported Saturday special has paired a 16-ounce prime rib with a loaded baked potato and access to the salad bar. That is the sort of plate that calls for a long evening and perhaps an ice-cream drink later, not a rushed stop between errands.

Sunday has also brought steak-and-lobster options, including combinations involving rib steak, tenderloin and lobster. Specials can change, so it is wise to check the current lineup before planning a meal around a particular plate.

Broasted chicken deserves attention even in a place known for fish and steaks. It has earned a reputation as one of the stronger comfort-food choices on the menu: crisp, substantial and very much in keeping with the restaurant’s classic approach.

Ribs provide another fork-and-napkin option, described as tender enough to pull easily from the bone. Duck is also available, a less common sight on a broad family-style supper-club menu and a welcome alternative to the fried-and-grilled standards.

The useful thing about a menu this varied is that a mixed party does not have to negotiate a single cuisine. One person can go for perch, another can order tenderloin, and somebody else can make a full dinner of chicken and salad-bar selections.

The full salad bar is one of the evening’s anchors. Instead of a token bowl of greens arriving beside the entrée, diners can build a plate from vegetables, prepared salads, dressings, dips, cheese spreads and other side dishes.

It is plentiful enough to encourage a slow first course. A little of this, a scoop of that, perhaps more cheese spread than anyone strictly needs—this is not fine dining restraint, and it does not pretend to be.

The bar is kept clean and well stocked, which matters when it is serving as a shared first stop for much of the dining room. For some diners, it may be the reason to arrive hungry rather than merely ready for the main course.

The dining room is active rather than hushed. Conversations, family tables and the general movement of a busy supper club can make it loud at peak times, but it remains a place where people come to sit down and talk over a real dinner.

That atmosphere suits celebrations. Birthday meals have included restaurant-provided cakes, small cakes and a birthday song, adding a little ceremony without requiring the room to become overly formal.

The restaurant has handled multigenerational family meals, work lunches and groups ranging from a handful of diners to about 20 people. Larger parties have had orders taken together and hot food brought out together, a detail anyone who has watched a big table receive dinner in staggered waves will appreciate.

For many tables, the visit follows a familiar sequence: check in, have a drink while waiting, move into the dining room, make a pass through the salad bar, then decide how much room remains for the entrée. It is an agreeable structure because no single moment has to carry the whole outing.

Once seated, meals are commonly served promptly, including at larger tables. That makes the earlier bar time feel separate from dinner rather than evidence that the entire evening will move slowly.

The result is suited to casual dinners, but it also has enough ritual for an anniversary, birthday or a family meal that deserves something more substantial than a quick restaurant stop.

Seating is generally handled through a hostess-led list for the indoor dining room, with the bar serving as the natural waiting area. Because policies can change, confirm the current reservation or walk-in arrangement before heading over.

Weekend crowds are real, particularly Friday through Sunday nights. Some diners arrive before opening, while others settle in for a wait; the timing depends on the evening’s crowd and the size of the party.

There is a free parking lot that is generally large enough for the traffic, though spaces can be harder to find during the busiest periods. Meal prices have commonly landed around the moderate dinner range, with the final total naturally depending on steak cuts, seafood, specials and drinks.

The sensible strategy is not to order cautiously but to pace yourself. A trip to the salad bar, a generous entrée and a dessert drink can turn dinner into a full evening without anybody needing to move on too quickly.

And if the table has made it through fried haddock with melted butter, loaded baked potatoes, ribs or broasted chicken, an ice-cream drink is a perfectly reasonable way to call it a night.