This Supper Club in Wisconsin Is So Good, You Can Plan an Entire Day Around It

I’m honestly not sure how one plans a Wisconsin road trip and doesn’t include a supper club. So when we started exploring the state, I knew we had to find the best, oldest, and most iconic supper clubs that were also kid-friendly. What I didn’t expect was that our favorite one would serve surf and turf in a small town, almost 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean. And that’s precisely why the Norwoods Supper Club in Minoqua is one of the best road trip stops in Wisconsin. 

Why This Stop Is Worth the Detour

Although not quite old enough to be called the oldest supper club in Wisconsin, it is likely the oldest one in northern Wisconsin. It originally opened in the 1930s. Despite being in a small town of fewer than 5,000 residents, being fairly remote, and having undergone multiple ownership changes, it’s a legend that still lives on. The nearest big city is Green Bay, 2.5 hours away. So while it might not be realistic to go out of the way for dinner here, it’s still an excellent and unexpected place in Wisconsin to prioritize on a road trip to Wisconsin’s Northwoods.

What To Eat at Norwood Pines Supper Club

 As skeptical as I was, rumor had it that the best thing to eat at Norwood Pines Supper Club was the surf and turf. In fact, many locals proclaimed it was the only thing I should order here. I found it very hard to resist the urge to order cheese curds and fried fish, the state's most famous dishes—and the rest of my family refused to accept the challenge. The 6-ounce Angus beef steak was paired with a 6-ounce lobster tail, which was by far the blue-ribbon dish on our table. The fried calamari appetizer and RumChata crème brûlée were also exceptional, perfect bookends to this Wisconsin supper club story.

Nearby Road Trip Attractions in Wisconsin

As you might expect, I didn’t road trip all the way from Iowa to Minocqua just for steak and lobster. The primary appeal of Minocqua itself is its urban access to the Northwoods, where you can flit from waterpark hotels and boardwalks into the depths of a second-growth forest in minutes. 

At one time, this area of the Northwoods fell victim to over-logging and railroad development, so there are only tiny patches of true old-growth forest. But the next best thing is second-growth forests, typically planted around 150 years ago. One of my favorite ways to access them is via rails-to-trail projects. These are retired railroad lines, where the tracks have been removed and turned into public, multi-use trails. I look for them all over the country, and we specifically came to Minoqua to travel the Bearskin State Trail. This 22-mile trail was worth the effort to reach, and eating at Norwood Pines Supper Club was the proverbial icing on the cake.

Want to plan your own Wisconsin road trip with unexpected but epic detours? Try plugging it into Only In Your State's AI-powered itinerary planner!