I recently had the joy of spending a couple of days with my good friend Denny in Green Lake, completing my annual pilgrimage for the 14th year in a row. Here’s a rundown of my time in beautiful Wisconsin.
Green Lake 2025 – Another Year, Another Wonderful Trip To Wisconsin
I drove up from Chicago in the evening, a roughly two-hour drive, arriving in time for Moscow Mules and sausage pizza from Lou Manalti’s.
We stayed up late talking, but I got a good rest after a long day.
There was no agenda the following morning. After some more fellowship, I ventured out to find coffee, thinking I would go to Mugs in Ripon, WI, where I go every year. But I found out that Mugs had recently been sold and was undergoing refurbishment. I missed the grand re-opening by one day…the coffee shop is now called Wisco Coffee Company.
Seeking out other coffee, I saw there was an independent coffee shop in a small neighboring town called Brandon, with a population of just over 800.
The coffee shop was called Wake Up Whitetail and had a hunting lodge theme…and excellent cortados. The ladies working the coffee bar were very kind (cortado was not on the menu, but they knew what it was and did a great job).
Back at Denny’s, I still had work to do, but took several breaks to go out on the water on his son Terry’s Sea-Doo, which is always so much fun to ride. The weather was perfect; 82ºF and the lake was perfectly smooth (not that I mind a bit of chop, when on the Sea-Doo).
I took it out again and again… perhaps once too often, as I’ll explain below.
Denny and I were in the mood for prime rib, which is generally offered at Supper Clubs on Saturdays and Sundays. But there is one Supper Club–Schamburg Supper Club–that has prime rib on Thursday. At 6:30 pm I called and asked if they still had prime rib. Yep.
(A Wisconsin Supper Club is a traditional dining establishment that combines the feel of a nice restaurant with the comfort of a social club, often located in a rural area. These restaurants are destinations in themselves, offering a full evening’s experience that includes a specific menu of classic American dishes like steaks and fish fries, the iconic relish tray, and classic cocktails, particularly the Old Fashioned.)
Well, I guess that extra round on the Sea-Doo came at a high price, becuase when we arrived and sat down, the waitress informed us she was out of prime rib. It took a bit of cajoling for the kitchen to find one last piece, which Denny had, and I ordered fish. I do love the relish trays and found the food both delicious and reasonable…my fish was so good it was almost a blessing in disguise, they ran out of prime rib.
Back at home, our conversation continued while watching a pretty spectacular Rams vs. 49ers football game (and if you know me, you know I don’t generally give a you know about professional sports, but this was fun).
The following morning, I headed back to Chicago. On the way back, I stopped in Rosendale for coffee at a place called Village Grounds. The cortado here was the best I’ve had in the entire state…this is my new favorite place.
I stopped for gasoline across the street ($2/gallon chaper than LA!) before continuing my journey, chuckling at the t-shirt selection (Rosendale is known as a speed trap, as the speed limit drops to 30 mph in town).
Regular readers may notice something was missing: Chicago-style hot dogs. On my way to O’Hare, I stopped at Portillo’s in Deerfield and had a couple of Chicago-style hot dogs. Yum, yum, yum.
For reasons that will become clear over time, there may be more time in this beautiful region of the country in the future, though I remain an unapologetic “city slicker” in terms of my preference for living. Still, this was another fabulous trip.
I’ve written about my annual Green Lake trips for many years:
- 2024 – Springtime And Sustenance In Green Lake, Wisconsin
- 2023 – A Late-Autumn Visit To Green Lake, Wisconsin
- 2022 – A Sublime Weekend In Green Lake
- 2021 – My Serene Weekend In Green Lake, Wisconsin
- 2020 – My Weekend In Trump Country
- 2019 – In Search Of Great Coffee In Small Town America
- 2018 – My Weekend in Beautiful Flyover Country
- 2017 – Another Fabulous Weekend in Green Lake, WI
- 2015 – A Weekend in Small Town America
This reminds me of visiting my family cottage on Pine Lake, waaay up north. Such a wonderful spot to visit, used to go (from Cali) every other summer as a kid. The house was built by my maternal grandfather in the 1930s, on a small island. Later a road was built to it, aptly named after my family. Supper clubs, pizza, Friday night fish fry’s etc.
Thanks for a sweet post 🙂
I grew up in suburban Chicago. Travelling to that area of Wisconsin was always a pleasure. You brought back good memories and some envy. Did everybody notice how much the meal cost? I remember a friend telling a story, which I will recount with prices adjusted to today. She and her group entered a bar they had never visited and ordered a pitcher of beer. The bartender profusely apologized, “we had to raise the price 25 cents; it’s $4.25 now.”
The deer hunting coffee shop looks like 95% of the houses in central PA.
Matt I enjoy the endearing drive up I-94 and I-43 from Chicago to Green Bay, as I also usually fly into ORD. Wisconsin is good for beef, dairy and corn, but that’s about it. Good people though. Madison also has a large population of attractive young women (due to the University) and I really favor that. Happy travels, my friend!
Oooo moving to cbicago? Great city. Awesome for families.
You mentioned your wife and you had some business in Chicago.
Wisconsin is gorgeous and a favorite place. Especially up by Oshkosh
But… you are aware that having Chicago Deep Dish “Lou Malnatis” is almost akin to heresy that close to Green Bay?
watch out. they’ll call you a FIB
You mean ‘Fabulous Illinois Brethren’ right? RIGHT??
😉
look at you moving to new websites lately…
Aww, you noticed!
Quite exceptional Green Lake… If only there was an active rail connection too!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Wenn ein Freund geht, bleibt ein leerer Raum, der durch die Ankunft eines anderen Freundes nicht gefüllt werden kann.
Deerfield you were in the Jewish suburbs. After leaving left over deep dish pizzas at O’Hare hotels I had polish food last time I was in Chicago. Podlanska which is closed. Riding the Chicago metro was anything from yuppies going out to brunch to am I going to survive ? ; depending on the stops. Exceptionally well written piece.
Love it. For someone that lives in the Midwest for over 20 years, that lake experience is very common but it is great you can experience it once a year.
Lou’s and Portillo’s. Absolutely perfect!
If you ever get to Tampa and crave a Chicago Dog go to Mel’s on Busch Blvd by Busch Gardens. Long time Tampa institution that makes an authentic dog. We have a Portillo’s too but it has nothing on Mel’s.
Thanks!
Looks romantic! Hope you guys had an incredible time together. Especially luv the pic on the dock.
Hi Matt – I’ve enjoyed reading your articles for years. I live in the Chicago suburbs, and while I definitely enjoy traveling far in premium cabins it’s nice to see some local Midwest features as well. If you’re looking for other places locally to travel to, you might like the Marina Grand Resort in New Buffalo, MI. Great beach town with cool restaurants, good beach scene, dune hiking, and good fruit farms.
Also if you are moving to the Chicago area and have questions feel free to reach out. I live in Northbrook (one town away from Deerfield where you went to Portillo’s) and have lived in various places in the city and suburbs. It’s definitely a great place to raise a family but still have access to big city living. Best of luck, -Ari
Thanks, Ari.