The most over-the-top restaurants in Wisconsin

For your next meal out, ditch the normal spots for one of these one-of-a-kind, wow-worthy restaurants in Wisconsin.

Everybody knows about sports bars, cute sandwich cafes, and Italian and Mexican restaurants. But what about those epic, once-in-a-million eateries that you can’t stop taking photos of while waiting for your order? Those are the kinds of spots that make a meal or a night out drinking even more memorable. It might be the aesthetic, such as a restaurant purporting to be a television repair shop, or the overall setting and theme, such as a lumberjack vibe.

Bring your palate and thirst for adventure to any of these seven spots. You will definitely not be disappointed.

1. Don’s TV & Repair, Milwaukee

Based on the exterior signage, you might assume this speakeasy-type eatery is a television-repair shop. That’s entirely the point. In fact, when you enter, you’re greeted by a window that seemingly accepts broken TVs. But, no, your “service appointment” is actually a dining reservation.

There’s a decadent weekend brunch menu (from Fruity Pebbles Waffles to the Naughty Brunch Burger, topped with bacon and a fried egg) and daily fish fry, along with weeknight specials, such as $.1 tater tots on Tuesdays, $.99 hamburgers on Wednesdays and $.10 martinis on Thursdays. If you’re a “Star Wars” fan, the interior décor will definitely wow you.

2. Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty, Wisconsin Dells

Naturally, the Dells is going to host over-the-top restaurants, and this ode to lumberjack Paul Bunyan is certainly one of them.

Both breakfast and dinner are served as all-you-can-eat meals. At breakfast, the sugar donuts have a nearly cult following, and the meal also includes flapjacks, sausage links, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, and biscuits and gravy. Dinner consists of fried chicken served with mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, coleslaw or salad, and bread. Salads, sandwiches, wraps, and entrees cater to dietary needs.

Be sure to allow time to linger in the gift shop, which is very much like Cracker Barrel in that it’s homey and packed with things you didn’t know you needed.

Photo courtesy of jpellgen (@1105_jp)/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

3. Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, Butik & Stabbur, Sister Bay

During the warmer months, you have to look up when you approach this Norwegian restaurant. Why? Because goats are likely munching on the green roof.

This Norwegian vibe extends to the menu and the gift shop (butik), too, where you can buy a cozy Dale of Norway sweater or Swedish clogs while waiting for your crepe-like lingonberry pancakes that are cooked to order. The stabbur is an outdoor space with lawn games that hosts a fish fry (Fridays only), Swedish shrimp rolls, lingonberry sandwiches, beer and cocktails, and more.

4. Tom’s Burned Down Café, La Pointe

Getting here is part of the fun, as La Pointe is on Madeline Island off the shores of Bayfield in Northern Wisconsin and within Lake Superior. The name is also a farce, as the bar has not been burned down and is actually a functioning business tucked under a tent.

Here, karaoke and live music pair with tropical-inspired drinks. You’d have to make several visits before you perused every single knick-knack, second-hand piece of furniture and whimsical sign.

5. Barnacle Bud’s, Milwaukee

Sit down at this spot—next to Skipper Bud’s, where boat owners repair and store their boats—at an outdoor table for a lobster roll, peel-and-eat shrimp, crab cake, or grouper sandwich, and you just might feel like you’ve been transported to the Florida Keys, which is entirely the point.

Yachts and other boats dock at the restaurant’s waterfront, which is ideal for sailing fanatics. Look closer, and you’ll find the décor is a bunch of seemingly washed-up items, whether it’s a lone flip-flop or sassy signage. Come winter, the indoor space becomes a supper club concept.

6. House of Embers, Wisconsin Dells

You literally can’t miss the building this restaurant resides in because it’s so unique. It looks as if it’s trapped in the middle of the 20th century, as any proper supper club should be. The kitschy—although somehow refined—décor includes framed posters advertising films starring Humphrey Bogart as well as a Tiki-style bar complete with a palapa-hut roof and a Tiffany room adorned with vintage glass light fixtures.

In addition to a Friday fish fry and Saturday prime rib special, other specialties include steaks, lobster, hickory-smoked ribs, walleye, and Alaskan king crab legs. Desserts are also distinctly retro, from the lemon meringue ice cream pie to Grand Marnier crème brulee.

7. SafeHouse, Milwaukee

Any restaurant that requires a password for a quick, efficient entry is already quirky. To get into SafeHouse, if you don’t know the password, you just have to do a little trick.

The spy theme extends to the food and drinks menu (such as Nachos Camp Stanley, Covert Chopped Salad, Snap-O-Razzo Spy Dog, and The Great Spytini) not just the décor. However, there’s so much hung on the walls that you may need a second round of drinks to peruse it all. 

Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk/CC BY-NC 2.0.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.