52 Supper Clubs in 52 Weeks

Located in Leroy in Dodge County at the intersection of Highways Y and YY, the Wisco, like so many of the supper clubs we’ve visited, has a long and interesting history dating back to the late 1800’s when it was built by Louis Lehner.   It became known as Lehner’s Corner and was a stopping place for stage coaches and travelers.   Over the years it was a main gathering place and business site housing a butcher shop, dance hall, general store, blacksmith shop, and eventually in 1973, when it was home to a tavern and small restaurant, it was bought by Dick and Jeanne Kollmann.   The Kollmanns expanded the dining room and made it into a supper club, serving guests and the people of the community as a gathering place for all sorts of events and special occasions for the next 44 years.   In 2017, Teresa and Mike Amerling bought the business. Teresa is the hostess and Mike is the bartender.   We arrived about 5pm, to meet our friends Jim and Rose, who live in Ger...

On election night we decided to head north to try the Lake Aire Supper Club, located on Hwy Y between Clintonville and Shawano. The restaurant overlooks Round Lake, one of the Cloverleaf Lakes, and features spectacular sunset views from the dining room. Unfortunately we arrived well past sunset so we had to take their word for it. We didn’t get a chance to speak to the owners but I was able to dig up a little history of the place. In the early 1900’s, the Club La Vida, a roadhouse, was located across the street (now a parking lot) and the current Lake Aire building was a brothel. A tunnel was built under the road connecting the two buildings so men could traverse between the two establishments without being detected. During Prohibition, alcohol and prostitutes were brought up from Milwaukee in cattle trucks headed for Aniwa. The women and liquor were hidden in the tunnel if the Feds were in the area. Legend has it that Al Capone and his gang frequented both establishments. The Fe...

Having heard about this iconic supper club from several sources, and given that it was closing for the season on November 3 rd , we chose the Two Lakes Supper Club for this Friday evening.   We drove west of our cottage about 40 miles through some very pretty but desolate county highways to the Two Lakes Supper Club about three miles west of Almond.        This supper club has been owned by the Jagielo family for almost 70 years.   In 1949 Florian Jagielo and George Portesi, both from the Chicago suburb of Cicero, bought the building and turned it into a restaurant and bar.   Florian bought George and Clara Portesi’s part of the business in the mid 50’s and they went on to open a bar in Steven’s Point called Paul’s and to establish the Portesi Pizza franchise.   As a side note, there are a lot of bars named Paul’s and my Paul has been to most of them. Florian brought several siblings and their spouses into the business including ...

This evening we went to the southeastern side of Lake Winnebago to the town of Johnsburg in search of Blanck’s Supper Club.    In 1952, Bob and Hazel Blanck bought a tavern in a building that also housed the town barber shop and the couple’s living quarters.   Over the next several years the barber shop moved and the building was remodeled and expanded into the barroom and dining room that exist today.   Three generations of Blanck’s have run the Supper Club over 65 years, and they still own and operate it today.     We arrived about 6:30 and found a seat at the bar.    The barroom decor featured a deer head and two large walleye mounts.     We relaxed at the bar and Paul had his usual BOFS and I had a vodka tonic.     The bartender offered us menus. The menu was a combination of a typical supper club menu and a bar and grill menu.   They offered some interesting specialty dishes which we decided to try. Paul or...

We headed southwest of Appleton to the Butte des Morts Supper Club in the town of Butte Des Morts on the north shore of Lake Butte des Morts.   Butte des Morts means “hill of the dead” in French, and is the place of ancient Indian burial grounds.   There are also legends about surprise attacks on the Fox Indians by French militia as part of a brutal war between the Fox nation and the French in the early 1700’s that left total villages decimated.   The supper club has been owned by Tim and Joan Riebock for over 10 years, and although this establishment has been a supper club for a very long time I don’t know a lot about the history.   We arrived around 7pm and the small bar was pretty busy.   They had a taco Tuesday special that several people at the bar were enjoying.    We sat down, ordered our drinks, brandy old fashioned and vodka toic, and reviewed the menu. There were some interesting specialty items and we decided to try them.   Paul o...