The Colonial House Supper Club, Freedom - Friday April 13, 2018

We’ve stopped in Freedom many times over the years on the way home from Lambeau Field, at the Home Tavern, Leap Inn and/or Beaver’s Hut but always passed by the Colonial House.  Tonight we thought we’d give it a try.

Eugene and Ethel Vande Hey opened The Colonial Lanes and Supper Club in 1968 with a small dining room and 6 lane bowling alley. In 1978 they expanded the building with a 9000 square foot addition and changed the name to its current Colonial House Supper Club and Banquet Center. Gene and Ethel’s son Mike and his wife Lynn bought the place in 1994 and they continue to run the family business today.

We arrived around 6:30 to a fairly full parking lot. After checking in with the hostess we headed to the bar and ordered the usual, brandy old fashioneds.  They were just right.  The Colonial House features a huge but comfortable bar and barroom with ample seating as well as two large dining rooms. It would definitely be a good place to go with a large group. After only about 15 minutes we were directed to Table 8 to place our dinner orders.

In addition to their regular menu The Colonial House offers a buffet just about every night. I’m usually not a big fan of the land and seafood buffet but we both decided to try it as it gave us the opportunity to try many things that they also offer on their main menu, and we ended up sampling nearly everything. 

The soup and salad bar was exactly what you hope to see at a supper club; fresh greens and a variety of accoutrements, crackers with cheddar cheese and garlic butter spreads, chicken noodle soup and clam chowder.  Ann noted that the beets and coleslaw were exceptionally good. 

The buffet was equally impressive.  Seafood options included perch, haddock (deep fried and baked), shrimp (deep fried and peel-and-eat), deep fried frog legs and crab stuffed mushrooms. Land options included tenderloin, broasted chicken, in house smoked BBQ pork ribs, and chicken cordon bleu.  Baked and twice baked potatoes, and mixed vegetables were also included, as well as chocolate cake for dessert. Everything was good, in particular the tenderloin, chicken, frog legs and both selections of haddock.

After dinner we returned to the bar for ice cream drinks. The grasshoppers were excellent.  Overall the Colonial House was a very good dining experience.