52 Supper Clubs in 52 Weeks

We decided to head southwest to try the Moose Inn, located on Highway 21 on the east side of Wautoma. We arrived a little before 5:00 and grabbed one of the few seats remaining at the J-shaped bar. The Moose Inn offered a variety of old fashioneds, some pretty exotic, but we decided to stick with the basic, which were excellent. Free baskets of popcorn were served at the bar which was a nice touch. We checked in with the hostess, and since we didn’t have a reservation she said we could head into the dining room in about ten minutes or we would have to wait for another two hours for a table as they had a big group coming in for a holiday party. We opted for Plan A and she gave us one of those flashing pucks (seldom seen in supper clubs) that would alert us when our table was ready. Sure enough, in about ten minutes the puck started to vibrate and flash so we headed for the dining room. The small dining room was nicely decorated for the holidays, linen table cloths and a water pitc...

Little Chicago is located near the intersection of Highways 55 and KK on the outskirts of Kaukauna and is named after a bar that used to be across the street with the same name. Butch Kolosso built the restaurant in 2012. Butch also owned and operated the Lake Park Tavern, known for its Friday fish fries, since 1998. Sadly Butch passed away in October but the restaurant continues to be operated by family members. We arrived around 6:30 and took a seat at the nearly full 3 sided bar and ordered cocktails. The bartender provided us with menus and told us we could head into the dining room whenever we were ready. Ann decided to try the Tuesday Night Pasta Bar and I ordered the fried chicken with French fries. Both dinners came with a trip to the soup and salad bar. The expansive salad bar was fresh and offered pretty much everything you would expect at a supper club, including cheese spreads and liver pate. Both the French onion and the vegetable soups were very good as were the...

We headed south along the east shore of Lake Winnebago to check out Dale and Candi’s Cedar Lodge.   A friend said the place is always packed and suggested we get there early, especially on a Saturday night. We took her advice and arrived at 4:45 and snagged the last two stools at the small bar. The bartender promptly took our drink order, a brandy old fashioned sweet for me and a seven-up on the rocks for Ann, and asked if we had a reservation. We did not, but she said it wouldn’t be a problem,   gave us menus and told us to just let her know when we were ready to order. Dale and Candi have owned the business since 1988. (In the past the building served as a stagecoach rest stop and an icehouse.)   They offer a more extensive menu than most supper clubs and pride themselves on high quality ingredients and a made from scratch cooking philosophy.   After studying the menu we told the bartender that we were ready and a waitress promptly appeared to take our order....

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we decided to try another “city” supper club, the Union Hotel in De Pere.   While many of the establishments we visited had rich and long histories, the Union Hotel is close to the longest.   The earliest reference goes back to 1868 with the “Union” of course being a Civil War reference.   From 1882 to 1903, the Union House Hotel was owned by the Altmeyer family and then for four years by the Albert Kabat family.   In 1918, it was sold to August and Antonia Maternowski, the great grandparents of the current owners.   Yes – 100 years in the same family.     The evening we were there, the 4 th and 5 th generations were running the bar and restaurant.   The bar is very cozy and excellently maintained in vintage décor.   Pictures validating the history adorn the walls.   The owners were very friendly and chatted with us for a while as we enjoyed our cocktails.   We discussed other longtime su...