Wisconsin Supper Clubs: An Old-Fashioned Experience

By Ron Faiola

Wisconsin Supper Clubs is a resource for and about supper clubs throughout Wisconsin that includes beautiful photographs of the unique supper club interiors, proprietors, and customers, as well as fascinating archival materials. Also recorded in this book are the regional specialties served at these clubs, ranging from popovers and fried pickles in the northern part of the state to Shrimp de Jonghe in the south. One Northwoods supper club even features fry bread, a traditional Native American dish uncommon to most any restaurant.

The "supper club experience" is a tradition embodied by many long-standing restaurants scattered throughout the small towns of Wisconsin. It is based around a bygone idea that going out to dinner is an experience that lasts an entire evening. The clubs emphasizing food made from scratch, slow-paced dining, and family-run businesses. Combine this with stately dark-panel decor, complimentary relish trays, and the best brandy Old Fashioned sweet you'll ever have, and you have barely scratched the surface of the Wisconsin supper club's appeal.

Author Ron Faiola is the critically acclaimed director and producer of the documentary by the same name. Supper clubs are hugely popular with Wisconsin locals and regularly frequented by all Midwestern foodies "in the know." With Wisconsin Supper Clubs as a guide, these establishments are primed to be choice summer road trip destinations for anyone looking for low-cost vacations this summer. After the successful debut of Faiola's documentary, this book is sure to be a hit throughout the region and beyond.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Agate Midway
• Release date: Mar 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781572847231

Ron Faiola

Ron Faiola is an author and filmmaker who has produced and directed numerous critically acclaimed documentaries. He is the president and founder of Push Button Gadget Inc., which has been specializing in audio visual and business theater production for nearly 20 years. He is the author of Wisconsin Supper Clubs and Wisconsin Supper Clubs: Another Round, both published by Agate Midway. He lives in Milwaukee.

Reviews for Wisconsin Supper Clubs

[etxgardener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My family spent mot of their summer vacations in a little town called Chetek in Northern Wisconsin and we frequented a supper club called "The Spot" that was located down a county road in the woods. There my parents would warm up before dinner with an Old Fashion while my brother & I had "kiddie cocktails" loaded with maraschino cherries. Dinner was typically immense - batter fired fish caught in the nearby lakes or huge slabs of prime rib or steaks accompanied by a relish tray, rolls and abundant side dishes. The meal was rounded out by sumptuous desserts made in-house and then, for my parents a gooey after dinner drink, usually a grasshopper.How great to know that in an age of dreary chain restaurants these family run supper clubs not only still exist, but are thriving. THank you Ron Faiola for writing this book & giving me an excuse to make a nostalgic road trip.

[seschend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great flashbacks to the types of restaurants we'd frequent when I was growing up. Now I'd not be able to visit these without growing out!