A Wisconsin Supper Club

Wisconsin Supper Clubs are slowly disappearing as new dining concepts take hold and the younger generations look for experiences more in tune with ‘their’ lifestyle.  So what is a Wisconsin Supper Club?

The theory is that the original Supper Clubs originated in the 1920’s as prohibition roadhouses where gangsters stopped while moving moonshine from place to place.  These roadhouses were outside most city limits and when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, liquor licenses were first granted to establishments outside city limits that served food with their alcohol.  The “Supper Club” was born!  A true ‘supper club’ is a throw-back, a step back in time with menus that frequently reflect earlier times.

This is the Pine Tree Supper Club at 115 West Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Tomahawk Wisconsin.  The sign out front states “Fine Dining and Cocktails” and the building itself “looks like” a Wisconsin supper club. 

The dining area of the Pine Tree Supper Club also screams ‘supper club’ with wood paneling, a salad bar and the feeling that it’s been there a long time.  Log walls are also popular in many supper clubs.

Here are the sisters and Carla at our table in the Pine Tree Supper Club.  (Laurie, Carla, Karole and Bonnie) Unfortunately, we weren’t hungry enough to really test out the menu.  We were there for drinks and snacks…

This was the bar scene at The Pine Tree Supper Club.  Not bad for mid-day during the week!  What kind of drinks does a typical supper club still serve?  How about a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned?  Sure, they’ll whip up more hip concoctions…but the old time drinks are still popular.

As I said, we were at the Pine Tree Supper Club at lunchtime but just for snacks.  I’m sure that you’ll note that everything we ordered is fried!  We had deep fried cheese stuffed jalapenos, fried cheese, fried cauliflower, fried shrimp and fried onion rings!

Now let’s talk about the ‘real’ food on the menu.  How about steak sandwiches, deep fried walleye, prime rib, bacon wrapped filets, stuffed shrimp and a 25 oz. sirloin...  Almost all on-line reviews talk about the ‘huge portions’!  I took special note of one ‘heart stopping’ luncheon special called “The Spirit”.  It is an open faced sandwich…toast layered with ham, mushrooms, asparagus spears and Hollandaise sauce loaded with melted mozzarella cheese over everything!

Laurie took this photo of Karole, yours truly, Carla and Bonnie near the bar.  Note the definite ‘north woods’ ambience!

This wall laden with lake trout trophies is typical of the supper club atmosphere… It’s “the look”.  Other popular decorative elements in supper clubs are trophy bucks, turkey, bear, etc. and/or paddles, canoes, fishing poles, etc.  Laurie and I always feel like we’ve come home to a place of comfort when we go to a supper club in Wisconsin!

It is extremely difficult to completely define a ‘supper club’.  An article published in the Chicago Tribune back in 2015 took a stab at it… Check it out at http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/chi-defining-wisconsins-supper-club-culture-20150119-story.html.  I believe that the author nailed it with his 4-point definition…but it’s too long for me to repeat here.

As of 2016, Wisconsin Supper Clubs.net produced a list of 300 existing supper clubs in operation across the state.  They even produced a map providing a list of towns or areas with supper clubs.  To learn more, go to https://www.wisconsinsupperclubs.net/.

The Pine Tree Supper Club in Tomahawk Wisconsin is open daily for lunch and dinner.  Phone: 715-453-4235.  They don’t seem to have a website but there is an unofficial Facebook site dedicated to this restaurant at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pine-Tree-Supper-Club/116350845055945.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave