Davooda wrote:Shorty - don't know where you're staying but if you're at The Wilderness, Monk's has a new outpost on-site that we found to be pretty good in terms of pub grub and service.

The families also enjoyed Rivers Edge, which is on the county highway that loops around The Wilderness, on the banks of the river:

http://www.riversedgeresort.com/default2.htm

There is a large aquarium with native fish tooling around inside it that the kids enjoyed. Kid's menu was the usual stuff and served quickly and efficiently. Adult food was nothing to write home about but palatable...broasted chicken was well-received by the three persons that ordered it. Highlight for me - New Glarus Spotted Cow at $3 the pint! Since I wasn't driving, I mostly drank my dinner that night

Davooda

I already had River's Edge (for Friday fish fry) in my trip plan. Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like a family friendly restaurant.

Update from trip:
River's Edge Friday Fish Fry includes the following: boiled haddock, fried cod, fried perch, pumpernickel bread, mac and cheese, shrimp pasta, broasted (fried) chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, boiled potatoes, and baked beans. My family liked the broasted (fried) cod sandwich.

We also picked up some sandwiches and rollups from Zinke's Village Market-Liquor for a picnic lunch. Zinke's also has good pastries.

We really liked the burgers from Monk's Bar and Grill.

Looking forward to a couple days r & r up at The Dells in August.

looking for recent feedback on the following places:

Del Bar
Crabby's
Field's
Newport steak house
Kaminski Bros.
Cimarolis Supper Club.

also other suggestions(no breakfast places, pizza places, etc.).

thanks.

jimswside wrote:Looking forward to a couple days r & r up at The Dells in August.

looking for recent feedback on the following places:

Del Bar
Crabby's
Field's
Newport steak house
Kaminski Bros.
Cimarolis Supper Club.

thanks.

Have been to Del-Bar and Field's in the past ( couple years ) and found Field's to be underwhelming, and Del-Bar to be just OK. Del-Bar serves USDA Prime beef with soup,salad and potato included with your entrée (at least providing a decent value)
If you are in the mood for a good steak, your best bet would be to drive to Madison and go to Fleming's or one of that city's other steakhouses.

cito wrote:
Have been to Del-Bar and Field's in the past ( couple years ) and found Field's to be underwhelming, and Del-Bar to be just OK. Del-Bar serves USDA Prime beef with soup,salad and potato included with your entrée (at least providing a decent value)
If you are in the mood for a good steak, your best bet would be to drive to Madison and go to Fleming's or one of that city's other steakhouses.

thanks for the info on Del Bar.

driving to Madison is not in the cards(750+ miles a week doing my commute makes it so I dont want to drive much when I am on vacation. )

Also interested in Ishnala

I haven't been to any of those places, but I higly recommend High Rock Cafe (www.highrockcafe.com/). The food is wonderful, and if I could make the trip from Chicago every month if I could - just to eat here.

I wish I had pictures for you, but if you like Garlic, this place has a very nice selection of different dishes with garlic. I usually start with the Gilly Goat - which is a Goat Cheese and Garlic combination that is served with green/red peppers, a little hot sauce and some bread. It is fabulous!. I then have the Cusabi Wrap with Garlic Tator Tots. The wrap is a garlic shrimp wrap with a cucumber wasabi dressing.

The Tator Tots are wonderful - perfectly crisp with a paremsan and garlic and parsley combination on the tots. Wonderful!

My husband had the Texas Tri Tip the last time we were there - which was a steak with a blueberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and an arugula salad on the side. See the theme of garlic in our choices?!

We also have had their martini specials. The last time was a cucumber melon martini. It was a very unique taste - and quite good. They had cucumbers on the side of the glass and honeydew melons in the drink. Would recommend it.

We haven't had room for dessert at High Rock, but maybe one day we will...

Again - I highly recommend the place. I wish we were heading back there this summer, but we're off to Michigan this year.

Our personal fave in the Dells (and we go there at least once a year is Wally's House of Embers.
Thier steaks and Prime rib are great,
but what really shines for me are the coconut shrimp.
They also make house made breads in the bread basket,
and have cute little private dining rooms you can reserve, whica are a lot of fun.

Jim -send me your email address, I have a whole file of Dells recs that I will email you if you like
E

thanks folks, all info/tips help.

I've been to the Dells too many times as both a kid and adult. The food is about as underwhelming as it gets for a popular vacation place so don't get too excited for the eats while there. But your daughter will have the time of her life so it will be a blast for her and a good place for some rest and sun for you and the wife. One thing I always was able to find a good version of up there is prime rib and I would check out Wally's House of Embers for that. But if you don't like classic supper club style prime rib your options for decent chow are basically Monk's Bar & Grill for beer and cheeseburgers and a good breakfast spot, called the Pancake House or something which I know you said you didn't want and a good place that sells Chicago Style Dogs from an old train cart. I couldn't even tell you a place that has good pizza.


I wouldn't rec. anything out of the trash can either, but lots of food ends up there...

Your best bet for some good meals would be to stop in Madison on the way up or back. You would like The Great Dane, New Orleans Takeout, Vientiene Palace and a bunch of other spots, its a great eating town.

Da Beef wrote:I've been to the Dells too many times as both a kid and adult. The food is about as underwhelming as it gets for a popular vacation place so don't get too excited for the eats while there. But your daughter will have the time of her life so it will be a blast for her and a good place for some rest and sun for you and the wife. One thing I always was able to find a good version of up there is prime rib and I would check out Wally's House of Embers for that. But if you don't like classic supper club style prime rib your options for decent chow are basically Monk's Bar & Grill for beer and cheeseburgers and a good breakfast spot, called the Pancake House or something which I know you said you didn't want and a good place that sells Chicago Style Dogs from an old train cart. I couldn't even tell you a place that has good pizza.

thanks man,

the trip up there is all about Shay, so I can live with whatever food I get.

Thats a couple rec's I have gotten for House of Embers now.

I don't know if you would be interested in Ishnala, it's a long time super club on Mirror Lake. The setting is beautiful but I'm not sure that's enough to offset the prices. Baraboo is near by with the Ringling Brother Circus World which you might find fun. Log Cabin Family restaurant is in Baraboo on Ringling Drive for a pretty good breakfast Northwoods style.


http://www.ishnala.com/index.html

http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org/

LikestoEatout wrote:I don't know if you would be interested in Ishnala, it's a long time super club on Mirror Lake. The setting is beautiful but I'm not sure that's enough to offset the prices. Baraboo is near by with the Ringling Brother Circus World which you might find fun. Log Cabin Family restaurant is in Baraboo on Ringling Drive for a pretty good breakfast Northwoods style.


http://www.ishnala.com/index.html

http://circusworld.wisconsinhistory.org/

thanks,

Ishnala looked really interesting, also thanks for the Baraboo tip on the RIngling Bros. Circus world.

staying right on the main drag in The Dells, so lunches will be basic, quick and mostly liquid.

Del Bar, or Kaminski Brothers Chop House for one nights solo guy meal, and maybe Ishnala for the other dinner.

Just like Lake Geneva keeping my expectations in check.

I'm headed that way in a month or so, and I know theres a lot of places, to eat, but I don't want to get omething for sucked into a tourtist trap.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciaited. llWe will have 6-10 years olds with us, but they aren't very picky.

Thanks,

Bill

Its tough to avoid tourist traps in the Dells and I always lower my expectations when I visit, which is about every 2 years. There is an untapped market for good food there and slowly I think some people are catching on that they can serve good food in a tourist town. I think in about 5 years you'll see dining in the dells elevated but for now temper your expectations.

My number 1 recommendation would be the High Rock Cafe, http://www.highrockcafe.com/. The food is good (great by Dells standards) and its a very non-touristy atmosphere.

Monk's Burgers (I've only eaten at the downtown Monk's, not the newer one at the Wilderness Waterpark) has very good burgers in a lively pub setting.

Sarento's - Decent enough Italian. Nothing special though. Haven't been there in a few years but recall enjoying our meal there.

I haven't been there but have heard mixed reviews on Field's Steakhouse. Some have said it was great, while another foodie couple told me it was good but not worth the price. I'd probably go to The Del-Bar instead just because its a cool Wisconsin Supper Club and I like the vibe there. Another spot I haven't been but have heard good things about is Cimarolis Supper Club. Everyone raves about the flat iron steaks.

The Cheese Factory The beer cheese soup is really good. To me its more of a lunch spot because I like having a beer with my dinner while on vacation and they don't serve alchohol (or meat). They have a old-fashioned soda fountain which is pretty cool.

Moosejaw - Decent food but I come for the brew. I like the burgers and thin crust pizzas. Love the Milk Stout when they have it. Pretty much every single trip to the Dells we end up here at least once. If they didn't have their own craft-brewed beer I doubt we would go as often.

Kahunaville Restaurant in the Kalahari resort was pretty decent, though I had probably 5-6 beers in me before dinner so take that into consideration. I had coconut shrimp app. and some ribs that were really good, though I believe they were oven braised then grilled, not smoked.

Not to plug my own website, but here is something I wrote this summer:
http://eatwisconsin.wordpress.com/2010/ ... sin-dells/

About a 25 minute drive is Wollersheim Winery. No food but a pretty cool place to kill an hour or so with a tour and tasting.

I missed the part about having kids, so if you are doing Monk's, go to the one at the Wilderness Hotel as it is more family-friendly. Also probably skip Field's Steakhouse.

Moosejaw is great for kids.

High Rock doesn't seem like a place that is good for kids when you look around the restaurant, but it actually is. Our 18 month old (at the time) son really liked people watching and it seemed that every other table had kids at it.

I have to second EatWisconsin suggestion for the The Cheese Factory. They make a fantastic grilled cheese sandwich that is made 'club style' complete with a few different types of cheese, tomatoes (in the summer they were ripe and delicious) and Italian seasoning. However, you should know that The Cheese Factory is a vegetarian restaurant, but the meat loving beau was perfectly satisfied with his lunch meal. They also offer a gluten free menu.

The Cheese Factory: http://www.cookingvegetarian.com/index.php

Mr. X and I recently spent a long weekend with friends up in Baraboo for some winter recreation. With the group that we had, I knew that some dining options were out of my control. Overall, it was a pretty good dining weekend.

Upon arriving Thursday evening, we took the easy route and ate at the hotel’s restaurant, Bonzo’s. I started with a house salad for something moderately healthy. Not sure if an iceberg lettuce salad qualified as healthy, but at least it wasn’t a basket of fries. I split a steak sandwich with a friend. It wasn’t bad for what it was. The meal was made better with Spotted Cow on tap.

Most of the group skied on Friday. I was still fighting off a cold, so I stayed behind. I ended up in downtown Baraboo for lunch at Jen’s Alpine Café and Soup Kitchen. It’s a charming place with a counter in the front part of the restaurant and wonderful wooden booths in the back part. A pressed tin ceiling added to the charm. I thoroughly enjoyed the chicken dumpling soup. Other soups that day included mushroom and wild rice, clam chowder, and chili. They also advertise homemade pie and I couldn’t resist. I had a slice of the rhubarb. I declined the offer to have it reheated in the microwave. I’m not sure if that was a wise choice as it was direct from the refrigerated display case. It was a decent piece of pie, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

Not food related but relevant to visitors in the area, the Spa Serenity in downtown Baraboo is a worthy stop for spa-goers. A facial and pedicure was a lovely pick-me-up. As a bonus, the hotel had 10% off cards.

Most of the group decided to head off to Ho-Chunk for dinner after skiing. For me, I had a childhood memory I needed to confirm. Many years ago, my parents and I vacationed in Wisconsin Dells. I remember us walking down the street and turning around to determine the source of the tantalizing grilled onion smell. We ended up eating at the Monk’s Bar & Grill in the Dells because of that smell and the quality of the burger has stuck in my memory. I was hoping to re-experience that great burger at the Monk’s in Baraboo. I was not disappointed. Although I missed the grill smell wafting past me on the street, the burger lived up to my memory. Mr. X had the fish and chips and declared them very good. Our friend also enjoyed his burger. A definite win for us as our friends reported, not surprisingly, terrible food and service at Ho-Chunk.

On Saturday, Mr. X and I had a solo lunch at the Log Cabin. Mr. X went for the Country Chicken and Eggs from the Breakfast All Day part of the menu while I chose the Smothered Chicken Sandwich. Mr. X enjoyed a hearty piece of breaded, fried chicken breast topped with sausage gravy and served with two eggs (over easy) and hash browns. The Smothered Chicken Sandwich is a grilled chicken breast with Swiss & Colby cheeses topped with grilled mushrooms and onions on sourdough bread. Not completely remembering what was on the sandwich, I was a little confused when I saw barbecue sauce on what was delivered. I took a bite and shrugged, thinking I had misremembered. Soon after, our server came over apologizing that her manager had delivered the wrong sandwich and a new one was on its way. Because I was hungry, I was already half-way through what had been brought (the BBQ Chicken Supreme – barbecue sauce and bacon instead of mushrooms and onions). I said I didn’t really need the other sandwich, but she insisted so I ended up taking some of each home. Mr. X won the entrée game at this meal. His dish was much better than both of mine. Same with the pie we had. The peanut butter cream pie was far more interesting than the chocolate silk I chose.

Saturday night was our group dinner. A couple of our guys had scouted out some options in the area and decided the prime rib dinner at the Glacier Rock at the Clarion across Route 12 was the best choice. It seemed to be a better atmosphere than Bonzo’s, which also had a Saturday prime rib special. We should have been on our guard as soon as we were seated. We had made reservations for 12. When shown to our table, it was three four-tops pushed together with 6 spots on both long sides. When we asked if we could have another table added so we could have more space, the hostess said it was set for 12 and dismissed our request. Not particularly accommodating. We put a chair on either end and that helped. Our server was there quickly to take our drink orders. We waited a long time to get our drinks after that. The dinner order was similar. I was half-way done with my meal before the last person was served. Dessert was a complete fiasco. After 20 minutes of waiting after placing the order (only 5 of 12 even ordered dessert), we couldn’t even get our server’s attention to ask about the order. Elevating it to a manager-type person wasn’t any more satisfying. The service gaffes completely overwhelmed the food. My prime rib was medium-rare as requested and was what I expect from prime rib. Mr. X had ordered the pan-fried walleye, which was delicious. Baked potatoes that accompanied the meal were nothing spectacular.

On our way out of town on Sunday, Mr. X and I stopped back at Jen’s Alpine Café and Soup Kitchen to try their breakfast. They do a decent breakfast as well. They are quite busy on Sunday mornings, so expect a wait for your food.

Bonzo's Eatery & Pub at Best Western
725 West Pine Street
Baraboo, WI
(608) 356-8828

Jen’s Alpine Café & Soup Kitchen
117 4TH St
Baraboo, WI
(608) 356-4040

Monk’s
116 4th Avenue
Baraboo, WI
(608) 355-09773
http://www.monksbarandgrill.com/baraboo

Log Cabin Family Restaurant
1215 8th St
Baraboo, WI
608-356-8034
http://www.logcabin-baraboo.com/

Glacier Rock in the Clarion
626 West Pine Street, Highway 12
Baraboo, WI
(608) 356-6422 ‎

Spa Serenity
137 3rd Street
Baraboo, WI 53913
(608) 356-4727
http://www.spaserenitydayspa.com/

In September of '09, Ralph Starzyk graduated from Hot Dog University. Ralph immediately scored a piece of property in Wisconsin Dells and built "Hot Dog Avenue," a free standing hot dog stand, that opened it's doors in May. Hot Dog Avenue offers a full line of Vienna Beef products, Italian beef, gyros, and burgers. It's an authentic taste of Chicago in the Dells.

Hot Dog Avenue
1321 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI
608-253-2728
http://www.dellshotdogavenue.com

Heading to the Dells this weekend, that hot dog place looks like a must-visit.

I'm headed to the dells in July. I am SO gonna hit HDA.
Tanks chicagostyledog, it'll be nice to have something edible in the Dells for a change.

My visit to the Dells wasn't the culinary adventure I had hoped for. Ahhh the pleasures of travelling with 2 kids, both under age 3. The plan was to hit up Monk's on Sunday and try out somewhere new for Pizza on Monday. For lunch we were going to go back to the Cheese Factory and then hit up that new Chicago Dog place the next day. We did none of this.

Our two year old was in a foul mood on Sun so we ate at the Loose Moose for dinner. It is in the Great Wolf waterpark where we were staying so we figured we could make a hasty exit if we needed to (we did). I had the burger. It was actually pretty decent and better than I expected. The burger was cooked to med rare as I ordered and it was nice and juicy. The bun was disappointing; it was too large and might have been a couple days old. Not terrible but a fresh bun would have been better. Fries were ok, typical frozen thicker style. My wife's chicken quesadilla was pretty good as well (kind of hard to mess one of those up. Beer selection was pedestrian but they did have Sam Adams Noble Pils on tap so I ordered a giant 22 oz glass of it.

The next morning we checked out Mr. Pancake (http://www.mrpancake.com/). I had the pecan waffles, which were pretty good though I would have prefered a crispier exterior. I thought the pecans would have been cooked into the batter but they were just sprinkled on top. What really made them good was the honey maple syrup, which also had a hint of cinnamon. They have 4 syrups on each table; honey, (fake) maple, strawberry, and blueberry. The honey was really good. The strawberry pancakes were good as well, but I am not a huge pancake fan so my opinion is irrelevant. The sausage links were standard fare. The coffee sucks and the interior is like every other run-down mom and pop breakfast joint. The place seemed kind of expensive too. We ordered what amounted to 2 meals (2 breakfasts, side of sausage, 1 oj, 2 coffees) and our bill was almost 30 bucks. I also didn't like the $2.00 plate sharing charge, particularly when we were just sharing with a friggin 2 year old. We should have just not asked for a plate for him. Service, on the other hand, was spectacular. I guess this is a good breakfast stop if you love pancakes, but I am not sure I'll be rushing back as the egg choices on the menu are very limited.

We ate lunch at a snack bar in the water park one day. It was what you'd expect from a snack bar. That night we just got pizza from the Pizza Hut in the hotel since it was getting close to the kid's bedtime. The next day we ended up driving to Blue Mound State Park so we didn't get to check out the hot dog place.

It was a fun weekend despite the pretty bland dining choices.

Interested in hitting the new Sprecher Pub up in the Dells on our yearly trip up next month. Opened July 5th from that I hear.

Sprecher Pub
644 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI.

(next to DelBar)

jimswside wrote:Interested in hitting the new Sprecher Pub up in the Dells on our yearly trip up next month. Opened July 5th from that I hear.

Sprecher Pub
644 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI.

(next to DelBar)

think I know where tomorrows MC ride is going to stop for sure!! Thanks

jimswside wrote:Interested in hitting the new Sprecher Pub up in the Dells on our yearly trip up next month. Opened July 5th from that I hear.

Sprecher Pub
644 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI.

(next to DelBar)

I saw that it was under construction when I was there. OnMilwaukee has a nice article on exactly what these pubs are that was posted today. Sounds like a local franchisee of Houlihans converted a couple of his locations to these Sprecher pubs and worked with Sprecher (even though they don't own them) to get the beers and beer pairings down. What is most impressive is that they will have 14 Sprecher brews on tap. AWESOME!

http://onmilwaukee.com/visitors/article ... urant.html

eatwisconsin wrote:

jimswside wrote:Interested in hitting the new Sprecher Pub up in the Dells on our yearly trip up next month. Opened July 5th from that I hear.

Sprecher Pub
644 Wisconsin Dells Parkway
Wisconsin Dells, WI.

(next to DelBar)

I What is most impressive is that they will have 14 Sprecher brews on tap. AWESOME!

http://onmilwaukee.com/visitors/article ... urant.html

forgot to report back on our trip to the Sprecher Brewpub---it was one of those nice hot day that made it nice come in to a cool friendly place for a few pints--iirc we each had 3 different pints of the brews, shared a hummus appetizer that was tasty and on the spicy side with reasonably fresh pita chips--planning a return trip next Tues(8-30) to try the rest of the beers!

Based on a recommendation upthread, I hit the High Rock Cafe this past weekend while in the Dells for my kid's hockey tournament.

The meal started off promisingly enough with the Shangsi salad. A nice mixture of fresh greens topped by a chicken breast that was juicy and nicely grilled. My kid had the kid's mac and cheese, which looked similar to Kraft to me, but I've found out the hard way that he much prefers this to upscale versions.

The meal took a wrong turn when my entree arrived. When scallops smell fishy before they've been set down in front of you, you're in trouble. Not only were the scallops less than fresh, but some were gritty. The accompaniments were not much more impressive. If you're going to keep parsnip puree very basic, then I don't need a big lump of it. The sautéed vegetables were pretty pedestrian; the caramelized onions would have gone better with a Maxwell Street Polish.

I'm sorry, but if you can't do a basic dish like scallops correctly, you need to take a step back and retool your game. Especially when the dish is one of the most expensive items on the menu.

Da Beef wrote:I've been to the Dells too many times as both a kid and adult. The food is about as underwhelming as it gets for a popular vacation place so don't get too excited for the eats while there. But your daughter will have the time of her life so it will be a blast for her and a good place for some rest and sun for you and the wife. One thing I always was able to find a good version of up there is prime rib and I would check out Wally's House of Embers for that. But if you don't like classic supper club style prime rib your options for decent chow are basically Monk's Bar & Grill for beer and cheeseburgers and a good breakfast spot, called the Pancake House or something which I know you said you didn't want and a good place that sells Chicago Style Dogs from an old train cart. I couldn't even tell you a place that has good pizza.


I wouldn't rec. anything out of the trash can either, but lots of food ends up there...

Your best bet for some good meals would be to stop in Madison on the way up or back. You would like The Great Dane, New Orleans Takeout, Vientiene Palace and a bunch of other spots, its a great eating town.

At the top of the strip in the top middle of this picture you can see the sign for Caravelli's. During the summer they used to have someone hand making the pasta in the window but I'm not sure if that's still the case. I tried it thinking it would be typical dells tourist fare but I was really impressed with the quality and the portions were great.

The place you have to go is the log cabin in Baraboo. All their pies and breads are baked fresh daily I believe and all the food is the best tasting family restaurant fare I've ever eaten. Pie used to be .99 a slice but I think it's up to at least 1.99 now but definitely a must order. The square in downtown baraboo also has tons of neat indy shops and a great farmers market certain days during the summer, if it's going I recommend looking for the Amish looking baker that sells amazing rustic bread.

We went to Cheese Factory earlier this week. We learned that the restaurant converted to a vegan restaurant last year. This means that Cheese Factory has no dishes which contain cheese. =(

Our cake was made with soy butter.