Wisconsin Supper Clubbin’
Forget, for a moment, about fine riding. Let’s talk instead about fine dining—specifically, supper-club dining. If you aren’t familiar, a supper club is a uniquely Midwestern institution that artfully combines elements of a restaurant and a social club to deliver a certain type of “high-class” dining experience. Focused on serving “fancy” American cuisine in an elevated (but still affordable) environment, the best supper clubs create an intimate atmosphere that encourages relaxation and conversation, in addition to cooking good, honest food.
Today, the supper club is mostly a relic of the past, almost entirely replaced by fast-casual restaurant chains, overstimulating sports bars, fake-gourmet gastropubs, and other evidence of Western civilization’s general abandonment of taste and class. There is, however, one place in America where traditional supper-club culture still survives and even thrives. That place is my home state, Wisconsin.
Through some unlikely mix of nostalgia, stubbornness, and appreciation, some of the best supper clubs in the nation have survived intact and unchanged for decades here in the Dairy State. In celebration, I set into motion a four-day culinary tour across Wisconsin to experience the best examples of traditional, old-school supper clubs—and the great motorcycling roads that connect them.
But first, I had to select just the right ride for this gastro-tour, as it certainly wasn’t my daily, dirty BMW R 1200 GS. I needed something more relaxed and refined, something that would shift both my body and brain into a mode more suited to the casual elegance that the supper club experience entails. In the Midwest classic car scene, there is a certain genre of vehicle affectionately referred to as a “supper clubber.” If the Chevrolet Corvette is America’s sports car and the Chevelle SS the national muscle car, then the Impala—preferably in a lower-level Biscayne trim, with four doors and a six-cylinder engine—is America’s supper clubber. It’s not going to win any stoplight drags, but it’s tailor-made for ferrying the whole family to Sunday supper, windows down with a gentle Lawrence Welk melody humming from the single, central dashboard speaker.
Motorcycle & Gear
2025 Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic
Helmet: Arai Quantum-X
Jacket: Merlin Shenstone II Cotec Air
Pants: Merlin Dunford D30 riding jeans
Boots: Red Wing Classic Moc
Gloves: Merlin Glenn
Comm System: Cardo Packtalk Edge
With this in mind, I contacted Harley-Davidson and arranged to borrow a 2025 Heritage Classic. Sure, it’s a totally modern machine complete with the latest Milwaukee Eight V-twin, selectable ride modes (Road, Rain, and Sport), traction control, cornering-ABS, and more. Yet, with mid-century bones and the perfect combination of comfort, convenience, and nostalgic vibes, the Heritage Classic is exactly the right machine on which to search for supper club nirvana.
HobNob
For my first eating adventure, I selected an iconic Wisconsin tradition: the Friday night fish fry. I would get my treat at HobNob in Racine, one of the state’s most authentic supper clubs. Due to a large Polish and German Catholic population, who historically abstained from eating meat on Fridays, and an abundance of cheap, fresh fish from the nearby Great Lakes, the Friday fish fry has been a near-sacred cultural institution in Wisconsin for well over a century. Wisconsin supper clubs have raised the fish fry to a veritable art form, and HobNob’s is among the finest.
Like most proper supper clubs, the HobNob is an out-of-town affair located midway between the cities of Racine and Kenosha, high on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The ride into the countryside is an important element of the supper club experience. Opened in 1954, the HobNob is housed in a long, low mid-century building set off with red neon lights, which looked great reflected on the Heritage Classic’s gloss-black finish, inviting you to “Wine & Dine at HobNob.” Don’t mind if I do.