This Themed Restaurant in Wisconsin Gives You an Unreal Dining Experience

When I try to describe The Fireside Dinner Theatre to people who haven't been there, it sounds like I'm describing "it's a small world" at a Disney park. It is nothing short of whimsical. As you enter the building, you see shop faćades, as if you're walking through a town inside a museum. Windows give you a glimpse at one of the many adventures you can have here, from table to the stage. What makes this a particularly unique restaurant in Wisconsin, though, is its devotion to the theme of experience itself.

What Makes This Restaurant So Unique

As its name implies, The Fireside Dinner Theatre in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, is a restaurant complex that also houses a theater. But from the moment you arrive, you are swept up into the very notion of what makes the state's beloved supper clubs such a memorable meal—the experience. Whether you choose to hang out in the retro sunken bar area or head to one of the themed dining areas, you are bound to be mesmerized.

Above the sunken bar is a dining room devoted to the sky. It used to have little hot-air balloon decorations hanging from the ceiling, but now they are moon-like orbs hanging amid a sea of clouds on the surrounding walls. Back on solid ground, there are two more specially themed dining rooms, one all about the mountains and the other about the sea—which has always been my favorite. These meticulously curated spaces surround guests with imaginative scenery that is still wildly accessible. It's an elevated dining experience where anyone would feel welcome.

What It’s Like to Dine Here

Originally built in 1964 as a pyramid-shaped restaurant, The Fireside quickly became a local favorite, eventually snowballing into the dinner theater experience guests know today. Guests come to The Fireside to enjoy a meal before a musical theatre performance. Except when the restaurant serves buffet-style for Sunday matinees and Thursday evenings, guests are served a four-course meal that varies with the show.

The production of Million Dollar Quartet, for example, had a "Jam Session Salad," and one of the signature cocktails was "The Brandy Quartet." Like the shows themselves, the dining experience changes too. With all the decadent food, you'll feel right at home at this family-run cultural institution.

Who Will Love This Experience

With such a wide range of shows, curated menus, and the three vastly different dining rooms, I think this unique themed restaurant is perfect for families, couples, and groups of friends alike. In the many times I've been to The Fireside, there has never been just one type of audience member. Kids seem to love it just as much as the residents at the senior care facility where I worked in high school and college.

Theater people will undoubtedly love this experience in particular. Folks who, like me, feel like a night out at the theater should be an all-encompassing experience from start to finish. Being able to casually walk from a good meal straight to the theater, without rushing through crowds or streets to get between them, takes all the stress out of the experience and offers one of the most fun things to do in Wisconsin.

If you're inspired to try even more homegrown goodness, head over to Poyer's Farm Market in Fort Atkinson. Poyer's has jams and jellies, artisan cheeses, fresh flowers, and (of course) the homemade pies for which they're widely known.