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Contents FOREWORD ...................................................9 INTRODUCTION .........................................12
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS ..............15
Colony House .............................................16 Dobie’s Steak House ...................................20 Donny’s Girl Supper Club ..........................24 Edgewater Supper Club ..............................27 Fitzgerald’s Genoa Junction ........................33 Five O’Clock Steakhouse ............................37 Stagecoach Inn ............................................41 The Village Supper Club .............................44 Walden Supper Club ...................................47
SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS............ 51
The 615 Club ..............................................52 Arthur’s Supper Club ..................................55 Casino Supper Club ....................................59 Club Oasis...................................................62 The Del Bar .................................................66 Delaney’s .....................................................71 Elmo Club ..................................................75 Green Acres ................................................79 Helgesen’s Harpos .......................................82 Old Towne Inn............................................85 The Village Bar Supper Club ......................88
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS ............ 93
The Boardinghouse Supper Club ................94 Club Chalet.................................................99 Gib’s on the Lake ...................................... 104 Klemme’s Wagon Wheel ........................... 108 Nightingale Supper Club .......................... 112 River’s Edge .............................................. 116 Woodland Creek Supper Club .................. 120
NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS .... 125 Al-Gen Dinner Club ................................ 126 The Branding Iron Supper Club................ 131 Carlson’s Rustic Ridge Supper Club & Lounge ............................................... 134 Dirty Oar Supper Club ............................. 138 El Capitan Supper Club............................ 143 Four Seasons Supper Club and Resort ...... 147 Lake Aire Supper Club ............................. 151 Michael’s Supper Club .............................. 155 Pine Tree Supper Club .............................. 159 Silver Birch Supper Club .......................... 163 Smokey’s ................................................... 168 Two Lakes ................................................. 171
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS.......... 175 5 O’Clock Club ......................................... 176 Connell’s Supper Club .............................. 179 Eddie’s World Famous Ribs ...................... 183 The Fireside ............................................... 187 Hillside Fish House .................................. 191 Jake’s Supper Club .................................... 194 Kimball Inn ............................................... 198 Kutzee’s Supper Club ................................ 201 Northwoods Supper Club ......................... 204 Old Abe’s Supper Club ............................. 208 The Spot Supper Club and Resort ............ 212
AN ODE TO THE DOGGIE BAG ............. 216 SUPPER CLUB SOURCES ......................... 219 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................... 222 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ............................. 223
Foreword
T
ime for Another round ! Once the first Wisconsin Supper Clubs book came
out, quite a few people were already asking if there would be second one. It just goes to show the remarkable enthusiasm people have for supper clubs. And the sheer volume of clubs! Where else can you visit 100 supper clubs and
still have another 100 or more to choose from? When I do book presentations and signings, I often get quizzed on clubs: “Have you heard of . . .?” or “Do you remember . . .?” It’s fun, kind of like “Stump the Band.” While it’s nearly impossible to remember all the old clubs, I can now say that I’ve been to over 120 Wisconsin supper clubs, and I’m familiar with many more. And my favorite? I’m still deciding.
As you might imagine, it was a challenge to select the 50 supper clubs that appear in these pages. There continues to be a strong resurgence of interest in Wisconsin supper clubs, and as it turns out, many people have been using my first book as a guide on their supper club road trips. While I’m not writing to critique the food or rank the supper clubs, I do want to feel confident about sending people to these places. And I’m staying
with the same criteria I used in my first book, by featuring supper-only supper clubs—although I still make an exception for supper clubs that also serve brunch. Supper clubs all have their own characteristics, so when I created my list of clubs for Another Round, I tried to balance their different “personalities.” I also had the pleasure of including a few clubs that have reopened after being closed for a while.
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Southwest Wisconsin
SU P P E R CLU BS The 615 Club 52
Arthur’s Supper Club 55 Casino Supper Club 59 Club Oasis 62
The Del Bar 66 Delaney ’s 71
Elmo Club 75
Green Acres 79
Helgesen’s Harpos 82 Old Towne Inn 85
The Village Bar Supper Club 88
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A L -G E N DINNE R CL UB Rhinelander
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etween the towering, green neon letters on its roof and its log cabin exterior, the Al-Gen is one of the most iconic supper clubs in the Northwoods. While the menu and the bar’s il-
luminated beer signs refer to Swearingen’s Al-Gen, owner (and Wisconsin state representative) Rob Swearingen admits the official name is actually the Al-Gen Dinner Club. The Al-Gen’s history begins in 1932, when Al and Genevieve Nelson built a bar and restaurant resembling a log cabin. A man named Ole Hetzel purchased the place in the 1950s, and in the
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Rob and Amy Swearingen, Deborah Johnson, Tom Kelly
1960s, Ed and Gladys Nelson (no relation to Al and Genevieve) purchased the club. Like many supper clubs, the Al-Gen suffered fire damage along the way. Jack and JoAnne Elliott owned the Al-Gen in the 1970s when an electrical fire destroyed the kitchen but spared the dining room and bar. But the Al-Gen remained open, and in 1980, Don and Joyce Mills bought the club. They ran it for 13 years, until they wanted to retire. That’s when they offered to sell to current owners Rob and Amy Swearingen. Rob was a friend of the Millses, and for several years he had his own tavern in Rhinelander called The Hop, which served sandwiches and pizza. Amy was doing secretarial work at the time but often helped out at The Hop as a bartender.
NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN SUPPER CLUBS
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An Ode to the Doggie Bag
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around the state, the nostalgic atmosphere includes the use of oldfashioned doggie bags for taking food home—a true sign that the meal has come to an end.
According to the Smithsonian’s website, “doggie bags” got their start during World War II, when pet owners were encouraged to feed table scraps to their pets because of wartime rationing. While this was easily done at home, it wasn’t so easy to bring leftovers home from restaurants. Around this time, eateries started handing out take-home bags that were specifically designed with doggie leftovers in mind. For example, hotels in Seattle offered their customers wax-paper bags labeled “Bones for Bowser” so they could take leftovers home to their pets. At some point, diners realized the doggie bags worked just as well to bring food home for the humans in the house. However, some—including newspaper columnist and etiquette maven Emily Post—viewed this practice as “bad manners.” In 1968, she opined that only bones should be taken for pets, not food. Of course, portion sizes were smaller in those days. Now appetizers and entrées are larger—not to mention the all-you-can-eat salad bars and generous bread-and-cracker baskets that can be found at many supper clubs. As a result of this abundance, paper doggie bags have given way to large, foam clamshells. Taking home leftovers— more often for tomorrow’s meal than the pooch’s dinner—has become a regular part of eating out. However, the specially designed doggie bags from that bygone area survive. A number of companies still manufacture the bags, with both classic illustrations and updated designs, and I have collected several during my travels. Bagcraft, based in Chicago, produces a doggie bag it calls “The Original Doggie Design.” This may be the first mass-produced doggie bag, because it dates back to 1948, when Janice Meister, the wife of Bagcraft founder Albert Meister, created the design. Jan’s poem is a hungry dog’s version of the lyrics to the song
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“Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?”, which was originally written by Philadelphia-born song writer Septimus Winner in 1864. Another bag illustrated from a dog’s perspective is manufactured by Fischer Paper Products, Inc., in Antioch, Illinois. Its Duplex Doggie Bag #900 features a poodle wagging its tail in anticipation of gnawing on a meaty treat. The happy pup is shown saying, “You Remembered!” and a “Good Owner Award” badge is thoughtfully included on the front of the bag. TIDI Products, from Neenah, Wisconsin, makes products for hospitals, labs, and other healthcare related companies, but under its food-care line, it also produces a plastic doggie bag with an image of a shaggy dog thinking about bones. Although these bags are used in supper clubs and restaurants, the possibility that they are used for leftover hospital food is highly doubtful. Finally, Brown Paper Goods, based in Waukegan, Illinois, offers a wide variety of bags for the food service industry, including a cute “Boy Oh Boy!” doggie bag and the strange and grammatically curious “Peoples® Bag,” which just might have been inspired by the 1973 science-fiction thriller Soylent Green—cue Charlton Heston!
AN ODE TO THE DOGGIE BAG
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his sequel to Ron Faiola’s wildly popular first book on the topic (now in its sixth printing) gives readers a peek inside 50 additional supper clubs from across the Badger State. It documents some of the more exceptional and long-lived restaurants that embrace the decades-old supper club tradition, which thrives today much as it has for generations. The supper club experience originated more than 80 years ago in dance halls, roadhouses, and taverns across the country. After World War II, the supper club underwent a makeover, becoming a more family-oriented destination for an enjoyable, slow-paced evening. These clubs found a particularly strong foothold in Wisconsin, where remarkable portions of steak and seafood are almost always on the menu and Friday night means one thing: fish fry. Between the classic cocktails and the promise of hearty scratch cooking, it’s not hard to see why supper clubs remain so popular with locals—and out-of-town travelers in the know. In this book, readers will find interviews with supper club proprietors and customers, as well as a bounty of fullcolor photographs of classic dishes, club interiors, and other scenes from Faiola’s extensive travels. This book offers a new, intimate look at this unique American tradition, one that invites supper club enthusiasts and newcomers alike to enjoy a second helping of everything that made the first Wisconsin Supper Clubs book such a hit. Ron Faiol a is an author and filmmaker who has produced and directed numerous critically acclaimed documentaries, such as Wisconsin Supper Clubs, Fish Fry Night Milwaukee, and Tilt-A-Whirls, Cowbells and Beer. He is the president and founder of Push Button Gadget, Inc., a production company. Faiola currently resides in the historic Village of Greendale.
P R A I S E F O R R O N FA I O L A A N D W I S C O N S I N S U P P E R C L U B S : A N O L D - FA S H I O N E D E X P E R I E N C E “A glorious look at a Wisconsin tradition . . . [the book] just might make your mouth water.” —Chicago Tribune “The book . . . invites Wisconsin travelers to thumb through to see what supper club might be hiding in the next town, ready to welcome you with a smile and delicious food.” —Christian Science Monitor “A beautiful book . . . you read this book and not only does your mouth start watering, but you start thinking kind of expansively [about] weekend getaway opportunities.” —Bill Moller, WGN Radio “A mouthwatering tour of rarefied restaurants from another era that has me thinking of excursions northward.” —Chicago Reader TRAVEL / DINING June 14, 2016 • $35 • 8.5 × 11 • 224 pages ISBN: 978-1-57284-193-2 For more information, call Agate Midway at 847.475.4457 or inquire via agatepublishing.com. Please supply two tear sheets of any published review. 1328 Greenleaf St., Evanston, IL 60202