Wisconsin’s Supper Club Culture: Ishnala Supper Club & The Del Bar, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Have you heard of the concept of a supper club? If you're not from the Midwest, I think the chances are decent that you have not. Not only that, but you've probably never been to one either. One of the benefits of living in the state of Wisconsin is that these supper clubs are still prevalent and one can visit one relatively easily.

A quick Google of the history of supper clubs tells us that these places essentially transitioned from speak-easys to supper clubs soon after Prohibition ended. They morphed into legal establishments where one could enjoy a great meal, with people you knew from your town, for an evening of lively conversation & entertainment. They often had music or comedy during the evening as well. And when you decided to attend a supper club for dinner, this was usually the whole evening. You weren't getting up after the food to go to another place, you were in one place for the night. Part of that, I suspect is the car culture also starting to blossom around this time. Many of the clubs were a "drive" from a suburban area and once you arrived, you were not going to go back out driving. Plus, you'd probably had one, two, three plus Old Fashioneds by that point (also a distinctly Wisconsin thing). Better sit tight, let the hooch wear off by the time you and your group want to head home.

Today, they're often well-run dinner establishments with a focus on high quality meats, service, and cocktails. Often located on a picturesque piece of land or in a historic building, with the décor to match the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Think timber structures and lots of knotty pine inside.

To that end, I went to visit a couple in the Wisconsin Dells area, specifically the Ishnala Supper Club on Mirror Lake and The Del Bar, on a main thoroughfare in The Dells. I only went to check out the former spot, taking pictures all from the outside and the surrounding grounds. And I went into and had dinner at the latter. 

Take a look and see if you'd like to have an evening like these...

...Ishnala to start, simply in order of how I walked around...

Imagine if you were waiting for your table on a balmy summer night, had a drink in hand, and got to sit out here for a spell with your special someone or a larger group/family...

Even a somewhat out-of-the-way beach and what looked like a cool place to rent out...

The dining room is two stories, which I presume is to seat more people with views of the lake out back...

Kinda cool you could get some history as you were there wandering too... (this canoe is original Native American, found at the bottom of the lake, weighed down with large stones. The Native Americans used to "hide" their water craft before moving away for the winter, then come back in warmer weather and get the canoes back out - genius)...

And now for The Del Bar, which I believe was designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright disciple and is a great place to hunker down for some dinner & drinks...

People line up out here each day before opening to score a good seat at the bar, for their happy hour specials

Cool Prairie-like style in many of the furnishings of the place too... 

While they are one of the 2% or less of restaurants in the USA to serve USDAS Prime Beef, I went with their Pork Chop. It was delicious. I do want to go back for an appropriate occasion and have a steak though they also looked pretty awesome.

They're not always easy to find or easy to get to, but I think you should seek out supper clubs near or far from you and check 'em out. I know you'll be glad you did.

n+1 bike & beer, Verona, WI

I'm not sure the city and area of Madison WI gets the credit it deserves for being an awesome weekend town. If you have a 2-4 day weekend on the horizon, I would highly recommend this area for their small town feel (an technically actual size), restaurants, outdoor activities, Big 10 university, brews, coffee, and much much more (I've done a form of glass blowing here).

Anyways, I was in town for a weekend and with insider info from a Verona native, I wanted to check out this bikes+brews+coffee hotspot in the small(er) town of Verona WI. If you don't live in the world of bikes, the term "n+1" is a sort of inside joke. It represents that ideal number of bikes for a bike lover to have in their collection/garage. As in, if you have 6 bikes, the ideal number is now 7 bikes. And so on. It works out that way for most bike nerds too.

I have to say, this place did not disappoint in much. They had great service, beers, fancy bikes, coffee, and treats-a-plenty. The only thing I might suggest more of is more bikes for sale and on display. Now, I do understand that this is mostly a custom, made-to-order kind of bike shop, but still, people like to drool over things. And it helps plant ideas in their heads too.

I went in for a light brunch and was happy to sample a few things from the menu, like - cheddar-rosemary biscuit, coffee stout, ham&cheese sandwich and a hot chocolate. All were really good, high-quality items. I'd go back for more in a second.

Babcock Hall Dairy Plant & Store, #2 - The Eats, Madison, WI

If you had read Part 1, I'm sure you'll be as happy as I was to get into the foods on offer in the Dairy Store, so let's get to it.

They have ice cream available (of course!), but as this store is located in a university building, filled with people during the school year, and for that matter is located on a college campus filled with people during the school year, that's a lot of people. As such, they have done the smart thing offer a full menu of items, including sandwiches, soups, salads, etc.

I started my visit with lunch, and it seemed like one of their sandwiches was the way to go. I followed their directions and picked one of their Signature sandwiches... the Mendota Club. Let's do it!

It's pretty much like a simple Subway sandwich shop, but wasn't as good as I was hoping for. It's just a sandwich. I think that's what I get for eating lunch at a dairy store full of ice cream. If you go, my suggestion would be to eat lunch first someplace else, then come here for the ice cream.

They have all manner of lunch options (I even heard their taco salad ordered more than once), but I didn't think mine was that great and I didn't even take a pic of my final sandwich. They were very nice folks and patient & helpful, even for a newbie like me. The lady helping me loaded it up with mayo (blech!), toasted it off to melt the cheese and then wrapped it in sandwich paper. By the time I opened it to eat it, the bread sweat had steamed all the bread and other ingredients into a mushy mess. It wasn't "toasty" at all, no crisp. Ah well. I'm learning as I go.

So, back to the important part, their ice cream. I went right back up to the counter after wolfing down my lunch to make my pick and get some frozen deliciousness.

The pricing is very reasonable for a good-sized dish of 2-3 scoops, and you can mix flavors too. So, I did... Peanut Butter and Chocolate (an all-time go-to) and Union Utopia (which seemed like a good idea)...

I went outside to eat it on their patio, which also let it get a little more melty and smooth. They were both very good and I would certainly go back to try more ice cream. 

They also have other dairy items available for purchase and take-out in the store... fine meats and cheeses and the like. As I understand it, all made there in the hall or at the university.

I'll certainly go back to Babcock for the ice cream (I'll skip the sandwich), and will take the faster main entrance to the store next time too.

Babcock Hall Dairy Plant & Store, #1 - Getting There, Madison, WI

Some time a few months back, I noticed an ice cream brand in the freezer at a local grocer that I hadn't heard of previously. It's called Babcock Ice Cream. I read the label on the package in the freezer and discovered it's a local brand started by the University of Wisconsin.

Now, a dairy operation, even an ice cream operation, is pretty common at universities (at least Big 10 ones). I think it has something to do with the availability of milk and the fact that ice cream is awesome... plus, this is the state of Wisconsin after all, dairy is kinda big. I didn't buy the ice cream that day, but put a mental note in my brain to visit the hall that houses this dairy production on the campus itself. The hall is called Babcock Hall (and Babcock Ice Cream, get it?) and is pretty easy to locate on the campus map. They also have their own store website and you can even check out the ice cream flavors and get your mouth watering and heart a fluttering.

I was able to make this "pilgrimage" in mid-July and, in this first post, I'll show you how it went just getting into the dairy store. I wasn't expecting it to be something to post, but that's how it turns out sometimes.

I found the hall just fine... and then it started to get interesting...

This was the sign on the front door of the main entrance to the hall:

So, I went to the next set of doors (for those that don't know, I'm pretty literal at times, especially with directions). The door looked like this:

Now, knowing this was the next set of doors, being a bit famished, and having a sister who is handicapped... I didn't think much of the handicapped symbol above. I mostly just read "To Babcock Dairy Store", just as the previous sign had told me, and proceeded inside.

That's when the maze began... Which hallway do I go through, which door, which elevator?...

Look, up there on that huge freezer door wall... a new clue... ok, this is kinda fun, but I really just want ice cream now...

It says, "To Babcock Dairy Store - Take elevator to 2nd Floor". Ok, this really is a maze to get some ice cream, but alright... I do as I'm told...

Emergency eye-wash station in case you need it... (where am I?)

Elevator?

Elevator?!?!

Ok, I found a huge freight elevator... but it said take it to the 2nd floor... so I did...

It led straight out into someone's office/dairy plant... which felt really odd, but I kept going as ice cream was near and I wanted it...

And I presume since it was the summer, there weren't many people milling about in any hallway or office that I came upon. There was one guy getting into the elevator after me that pointed me in the right direction, phew.

(I didn't know if that was milk or soap suds on the floor... no time to check now)

Finally... a few more turns and hallways, and then a real clue...

Yes! A store with people and ice cream!!!

I made it...

I realized later, as I exited the store through their main doors, that the entrance I had found was the entrance for someone who was in a wheelchair and couldn't use stairs. Even still, this seemed like an incredible maze of directions, hallways, elevators and turns to take in a wheelchair. I could only imagine my sister and a family member trying to navigate that maze as the rest of the family waited in the store for them to appear (or if we'd all just gone down the rabbit hole as a family, which does happen). And then I thought of handicapped people that aren't in my family. Do they actually figure all this out? Take a freight elevator? make the right turns and see all the signs? Maybe it's easy if it's for ice cream?

In any case, I've now made it to the store! The second post will be all about the food I sampled there, so don't forget to check back in a few days...