As a child growing up, I remember going out to eat with my parents - usually on a Friday night. Friday nights in Wisconsin were (and still are) all you can eat fish night. The place my parents almost always went to was a local supper club.
Supper clubs were a slightly more formal version of the local Country Kitchen. Cloth table clothes, printed paper placemats and a candle on the table. Since supper clubs were generally located on the edge of town or in smaller cities, patrons didn't dress very formally.
After being seated, drink orders of Manhattans, Tom Collins, Old Fashions or martinis were ordered (along with a Shirley Temple!). Then the relish tray was delivered. Not being a veggie kid, I forsook the carrots, celery, radishes and dips and dove straight into the bread basket. Onion and garlic packaged "breadsticks", Town crackers, rye crisps and saltines were available. My parents piled their plates high from the salad bar before the main course was served.
Supper Clubs have all but disappeared from the scenery. I'm not sure if it is from the proliferation of franchise restaurants or overhead became too expensive for these rural businesses. This is a huge shame to have lost the atmosphere and community of these local meeting places.
There are a still a couple of the supper clubs of my youth, though I'm not sure whether they still identify themselves as such. Syl's Place in Barre Mills and Rocky's in Stoddard, a few miles outside of La Crosse are the ones I remember from my youth. The atmosphere is somewhat changed, but they are still local community meeting places and anchors. I think that the relish trays and the printed paper placemats are a thing of the past, though.
Do you have a supper club that you remember from the past?
Image above is a supper club in Minnsota offered for sale by Kelly Meyer
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