Ron FaiolaWisconsin Supper Clubs: An Old-Fashioned Experience

If you’re from Wisconsin and you prefer to eat a Supper clubs over chain restaurants, you owe it to yourself to get this book. From cover to cover you’ll get an honest rundown on what’s out there….and there’s plenty out there! If you’re looking for a new place to try and don’t know where to start, start right here!

As described

Here’s the second recently published book on Wisconsin, or upper Midwest, supper clubs. This is more of a picture book, than the one by Dave Hoekstra. I recommend that you buy both, if you have an interest in this fascinating subject, because they balance each other out.While Hoekstra’s The Supper Club Book has many good photos and a lengthy though poorly written text, Ron Faiola’s Wisconsin Supper Clubs has a limited text and a lot of great photos.Faiola’s book also covers more supper clubs and organizes them geographically through Wisconsin.Because I have not been to many different supper clubs, just a few many times, I have not experienced the range of types, menus and locations that Faiola chronicles. But, that could be true of most people who go to supper clubs, visiting only one or two regularly all their lives.The thing that surprised me the most in this book is the record of the variety of foods on menus, and the complexities of the presentations overall. I’ve always associated supper clubs with wholesome but not adventurous dining, solid but unimaginative food. Well, you’re not going to get postmodern cooking anywhere at these restaurants, but the range of selection and preparations is bigger than I thought.Since I’m not from Wisconsin, I’ve still never had a brandy old-fashioned, but you get a recipe and photos of 16 versions of the drink on pages 220-221.One warning about supper clubs, from my experience, if you order wine, zinfandel means pink wine, not the dark red fruity California wine you might expect

While I did purchase the book and the DVD, I am a bit dismayed with the author's choices, especially in the book. Two come to mind right away, The Bartley House in Kenosha, WI and DeSmidt's in Crivitz. Both of these old time suppler clubs in my opinion should have been included. While the Hob Nob in Kenosha has a certain ambiance being on Lake Michigan, the Bartley House has been the supper club of choice for all Kenosha residents for well over 50 years. If you mention the Bartley House, the folks always say "best old fashions I have ever had". While I love the eclectic atmosphere at the Hob Nob and have been there on many occasions, the Bartley House is the true supper club of Kenosha.Desmidt's does not have a chicken dinner that the author apparently thinks Crivitz is known for (I have never heard that and have been going to Crivitz for 50 years), the do have one of the best Prime Rib dinners in all of Northern Wisconsin. They also have the what I consider the best salad cart ever!! The salad cart girl brings the cart to the table after you order and it is filled with so many items it is hard to choose (how about shrimp, sunflower seeds, etc). Once again, in my opinion, DeSmidt's should have been included in this book. I love the book and DVD. Great gift ideas for Christmas!

I just bought both of Ron's supperclub books and find them quite interesting - we can't wait to visit as many as possible in 2022+. A fun and delicious way to explore Wisconsin!

I returned this, not what i wanted.

Love discovering new places to try for eating with a great road trip to enjoy as well. The descriptions of all the supper clubs are accurate, and you will enjoy eating at each and every one of them!! This book and the other in the series are well worth their money!! Get them both!! They make a wonderful gift to that person who loves mini road trips and trying new places to eat, with the old supper club atmosphere and good ol" prices to boot!!

This is a very nice cocktail table book, and it profiles a lot of Wisconsin supper clubs. The author is apparently quite well known as an expert on these clubs and has done a filmed documentary, in addition to this book.That said, I strongly suggest that you don't rely too heavily on the book's reviews. I bought it just before taking a trip up north through the state, and I tried a number of the book's rated clubs. One (The Butterfly Club in Beloit) was absolutely fantastic, but several of the other highly rated clubs in the book were average at best -- and one was pretty much a dive.So buy the book, use it as a starting point for your visits, but then make sure you double-check your choices on TripAdvisor or some other travel database. When I mentioned my bad experience to one of the innkeepers at a local B&B, he told me, "the so-and-so club used to be great, but there are new owners now, and it's not what it was."