Florian II Supper Club, Baileys Harbor - Thursday June 28, 2018

As mentioned in an earlier post, Door County is outside of our 52 mile radius, but since we make the rules we decided to include a few supper clubs on our recent visit there.  The Florian II was a great surprise.  The rather common looking street entrance in Bailey’s Harbor opens up into a large attractive barroom (the bar is shaped kind of like a W) and is followed by two large dining rooms with a fabulous view of the harbor and Lake Michigan.

 

The Florian II has a long and interesting history, dating all the way back to the 1800’s when it was a stage coach stop for travelers going to Door County for logging, farming, trapping, and hunting.      It has been owned by the Kwaterski family, originally Ada and Florian, since 1956.  The Kwaterski twins, Joe and Jerry, took over in 1972 following a devastating fire that nearly resulted in the family losing the business.  The twins and their families are still involved in the business today and also own the Blue Ox which is across the street.

 

When we entered about 6 pm on a Thursday evening it was quite empty.  After ordering an old fashioned and vodka tonic (I decided to break with protocol for a change) we chatted with Joe the bartender, one of the twins, and he said that activity really picks up the weekend before the 4^th of July and remains busy through the end of October.  The drinks were good and there was a friendly piano player set up in the corner.  Joe mentioned that years ago every supper club in the area had a piano player in the barroom but that this is the only place that still has one today. The barroom also includes an elevated stage behind the bar for bands. The overall atmosphere was very fun and comfortable. A waitress came to the bar to take our order and we were told that our table would be ready whenever we were.

g room

Paul went with the rib-eye and hash browns and I tried their featured barbecued ribs with a baked potato.  We eventually meandered down to the dining room to a table right by the window so we could take in the gorgeous view.   

The salad, served in a large bowl brought to the table along with a lazy susan with a variety of dressings, was large enough to easily feed ten people.   I’m not sure why they do that, it seemed a little wasteful to me.   I enjoyed the ribs very much and Paul’s rib-eye was excellent. 

We’ll definitely be back to the Florian II on future Door County visits.