The Sky Club, Plover - Friday January 4, 2019

Reaching out to the northwestern perimeter of our 52 mile radius, we ventured to Plover, Wisconsin to the Sky Club.  Named because of its proximity to the Felix Gauthier McDill airport, the history of the establishment dates back to 1935 and like many supper clubs it was a noted stop for travelers and went through a series of different businesses (gas station, diner) before becoming a traditional supper club in the 1950’s.   Since 1961 it has been owned by three generations of the Freund family, with brothers Patrick and Eric as the current owners.

 

Since it was a Friday night, we arrived early and found a place at the large, but cozy bar.   It appeared there was a regular Friday night crowd.  We ordered two brandy old fashioneds, mine press and Paul’s sweet.  Paul believes it may have been the best he has had to date.  I agreed it ranked high.

 

After a nice relaxing time at the bar, we informed the host we were ready for a table.  Although the Sky Club is quite large, it’s split into several dining rooms which make the atmosphere warm.  On the door over the entrance to the dining room it boasts the “First Salad Bar in the USA” beginning in 1950.    The story has it that Russell Swanson (aka the Father of the Salad Bar) of Swanson Equipment designed and installed the salad bar and, at least according to Wikipedia, this claim may have some merit.  So, of course we had to check out the salad bar.

The Sky Club has a pretty large menu.   I ordered the Haddock Florentine and Paul went with the bone-in rib-eye special.  We both ordered the twice baked potato. Both meals included soup and salad bar, ensuring a take-home box would be needed.  The rectangular salad bar was pretty typical, but a bit larger than most with three separate bowls of greens – spinach (hot bacon dressing too), leaf lettuce, and iceberg.   All the other typical items; the cheese spread and liver pate’, three-bean salad, pickled beets, etc. were included.  I had clam chowder and Paul had baked French onion soup.  Both soups were very good and as expected I was pretty full after the soup and salad bar.  A small loaf of freshly-baked bread appeared at the table as well.    Paul’s rib-eye and my haddock dinner were very good. 

Like so many of the supper Clubs we visited, the Sky Club has excellent food and service and a large loyal customer base.   It was well worth the visit to Plover to check it out.