When you go to a restaurant you haven't visited in over twenty years, you expect to find things changed. The menu is usually different, or the food quality something less than you remember. So imagine my surprise when I stopped at the Sister Bay Bowl, in Wisconsin's Door County, on a chilly off-season November evening and it was almost as if I'd stepped into a time machine.
The origin of the Sister Bay Bowl dates back to 1950, when the Willems family began operating the Sister Bay Hotel. In 1958, Earl and Rita tore down the dance hall and constructed a six-lane bowling alley. By 1964, the bowling alley included a supper club, which became today's Sister Bay Bowl.
I first visited the Bowl in the late 1970s, when I was a faculty member at the Birch Creek Music Academy in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. My friend and faculty colleague, clarinetist Karl Diekman, introduced me to the Bowl and I was tremendously impressed with both the food and the service.
The Bowl is still the same great spot where you'll find top-notch steaks and seafood, at great prices. The decor and ambiance hasn't changed, and a third generation of the Willems family still runs the place. We sat at the bar, facing the bowling alley and Penny brought us tap beers, menus, & silverware.
The T-bone steak is an eighteen-ounce masterpiece, tender and delicately seasoned. The Rib Eye is a bit smaller, at twelve ounces, and is equally tender and flavorful. You can get the usual specialty menu items, including broiled (or broasted) whitefish or perch, shrimp, scallops, chops and barbecued ribs, in addition to an array of generously-sized sandwiches.
On Fridays and Saturdays, try the Bowl Prime, a 9, 12 or 16-ounce cut of prime rib that's butter-tender and lean. The prime is the best I've sampled anywhere during a Door County visit.
Copyright © 2007 by Eric Kodner, All Rights Reserved
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