These 11 restaurants in Wisconsin really committed to their themes
At these Wisconsin restaurants, the food and decor really come together to highlight something important: the theme.
There’s a lot of decision-making that goes into opening a restaurant. Where’s the best place to have it? What will be on the menu? What kind of ambiance should the restaurant have? And for some places, there’s an even more important question: What should the theme be?
Themed restaurants are centered around a single subject matter (like ’80s movies or trains), and the restaurants’ decor and menu are made to fit within that theme—and Wisconsin is no stranger to them. In fact, Wisconsin has numerous themed restaurants throughout the state that are invested in providing their customers with a unique and memorable dining experience.
From the spy-themed restaurant in Milwaukee that requires a secret password to enter, to the Tigerton spot with a limited menu but plenty of decorative rocks, there are numerous restaurants throughout the state that are quite committed to their themes.
1. SafeHouse
779 Front St., Milwaukee
With an inconspicuous exterior entrance and a password to get in, it’s safe to say that SafeHouse, a spy-themed restaurant in Milwaukee, takes its theme pretty seriously. The restaurant, which first opened in 1966, celebrates its theme with authentic espionage artifacts, including a piece of the Berlin Wall and a cell door from a KGB prison, as well as pieces inspired by pop culture, like James Bond movie posters. Don’t worry too much if you don’t know the password; the restaurant has other tests to prove that visitors aren’t double agents, which sometimes include doing a dance or singing a song.
The spy theme continues throughout the restaurant’s menu, as seen in the Stasi Twists (named after East Germany’s secret police), and soft pretzel bites served with honey mustard and cheddar sauces. Or, try the Cuban Missile Crisis sandwich, a classic Cuban sandwich with slow-roasted pork, sliced ham, melted Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles.
2. PC Junction
7898 County Road A, Baileys Harbor
With its scenic views and abundance of family-friendly activities, Door County is one of Wisconsin’s most popular tourist destinations. But it’s not just the activities that are family-friendly; restaurants like the train-themed PC Junction are also great spots to dine for families on vacation. The train-themed restaurant first opened its doors in 1998 and has spent nearly three decades celebrating all things locomotive. The food at PC Junction is delivered by a train that travels along small tracks throughout the restaurant. The restaurant’s counter is also made up of old train doors.
PC Junction’s menu features classic diner fare, including cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, and salads, as well as Door County staples, such as a fried fish fillet served with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce. All of PC Junction’s menu items are named for different train components or features: the Conductor is a fresh mixed green salad, while ordering the Northbound Train will get customers a cod fillet sandwich.
3. Camp Trippalindee
601 Langdon St., Madison
Camp Trippalindee has gathered all the fun and nostalgia of attending a summer camp and packaged it into a rooftop bar and restaurant at the Graduate by Hilton Madison hotel in the Wisconsin capital’s downtown. The restaurant, which opened in 2017, is also inspired by the state’s Northwoods, and despite its summer camp influence, is open year-round.
Camp Trippalindee’s camp theme can continue to be found in the restaurant’s menu, which offers camp snacks, like pretzel bites and cheese curds, burgers, sandwiches, and sweet treats, including a camp-inspired classic: worms n’ dirt cup, with homemade chocolate pudding, Oreo crumbs, and gummy worms.
4. Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant
10698 North Bay Shore Drive, Sister Bay
While some restaurants are themed around pop culture or historical events, Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay is instead themed around a place: Scandinavia. The Door County restaurant, famed for its goats that call the restaurant’s grass-covered roof home, has a lengthy menu. One of its star dishes is its Swedish pancakes, which come with lingonberries, butter, and syrup. Other Scandinavian staples include the restaurant’s Swedish meatballs and pytt i panna, a Swedish roast beef dish that’s sauteed with onions and American fries, topped with an egg, and served with pickled beets.
Don’t forget to stop by Al’s Butik before or after dining to pick up Scandinavian-themed gifts, like flags for all of the countries within Scandinavia, gnomes, wool socks that were handmade in Sweden, or a jar of lingonberries to bring home.
5. Don’s TV and Repair
1100 South First St., Milwaukee
Don’s TV and Repair might just look like an electronics repair shop when you first walk in, and that’s exactly what the speakeasy and restaurant wants. In line with its hidden speakeasy theme, a password is required to gain entry. For really desperate customers, they’ll give the password out when a reservation is made—but Don’s TV and Repair wants customers to have fun guessing based on the hints in the entryway.
The front of the restaurant looks like any electronics shop, but guests continue to walk through (after getting the password correct), and enter a retro-inspired, highly decorated restaurant. Don’s TV and Repair offers all-day breakfast and diner classics like burgers, chicken sandwiches, and a Friday fish fry. It also has an extensive milkshake menu, with booze-filled shakes, and options to build your own super-sized milkshake.
6. Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty
411 State Highway 13, Wisconsin Dells
Most visitors to Wisconsin Dells are familiar with Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty, a breakfast institution in the city since the 1950s. The restaurant doesn’t have a traditional menu, where customers can pick and choose which dish they would like to order. Instead, diners at the Wisconsin Dells restaurant are served family-style with a heaping all-you-can-eat selection of buttermilk pancakes, sausage links, ham, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy, and homemade donuts.
The restaurant is themed around its namesake, Paul Bunyan, the giant lumberjack and folk hero, with its massive breakfasts suited for a gigantic folklore figure. Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty is designed to evoke the feeling of dining in a log cabin alongside fellow lumberjacks, serving breakfast on metal plates and coffee cups. The 30-foot-tall statue of Paul Bunyan doesn’t give diners a chance to forget the restaurant’s namesake, either.
7. The Breakfast Club & Pub
214 Main St., La Crosse
Technically, there’s never any breakfast in the 1985 John Hughes film “The Breakfast Club,” but that’s not the case at all at The Breakfast Club & Pub, a restaurant in La Crosse that’s themed after all of owner Mark Goede’s favorite ’80s flicks. The restaurant, which opened in 2015, is a dream for anyone nostalgic for the pop culture of the ’80s.
The decor is a blast from the past, with framed ’80s albums lining the walls, and murals of the characters from the restaurant’s namesake film. The menu is also inspired by the decade, with options including The Farmer Ted, a dish consisting of eggs, breakfast meat, potatoes, and toast, that’s named for Anthony Michael Hall’s character in “Sixteen Candles.” Or try the “Those aren’t pillows!” biscuits and gravy, named for a quote from the 1987 film “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” The theme has even spread to The Breakfast Club & Pub’s weekly specials, such as Molly-Mosa Saturdays, where customers can get a $1 discount on all mimosas, which are, of course, named after ’80s film star Molly Ringwald.
8. Wausau Mine Company
3904 Stewart Ave., Wausau
With hanging stalactites and walls that look like they’re made of stone, Wausau Mine Company, a restaurant in Wausau, visually captures its mining theme well. Through its decor, the restaurant has recreated the atmosphere of a mine shaft. It even features donated authentic mining artifacts throughout the restaurant, like tin for the bar’s ceiling, and a cart that was used in a real mine.
After a hard day of work in a mine, the restaurant serves up hearty fare, including the Miner’s Special, a filet tenderloin that’s served with a salad, garlic bread, and an additional side of your choosing. But the restaurant really specializes in its pizza. Customers can create their own concoction, or sample one of the restaurant’s pizzas featured on its menu, like The Mine Coop—a pizza topped with chicken and a choice of either barbecue sauce or Alfredo sauce.
9. Jet Room Restaurant
3606 Corben Court, Madison
When your restaurant is located at an airport, it only makes sense that it’s aviation-themed, right? At least that’s the case for Jet Room Restaurant, located inside the Wisconsin Aviation Terminal Building at the Dane County Regional Airport. Although not everyone is allowed to just wander through an airport, the Jet Room Restaurant is open to the public and offers an unbeatable view of the regional airport’s private jet strip.
Try some of the restaurant’s aviation-themed menu items, like the Pilot, a three-egg omelet filled with bacon, American cheese, mushrooms, and sour cream. Want a truly unique dining option? Order the restaurant’s $100 burger certificate — you’ll receive a scenic, 30-minute, private flight for two around the Madison area, as well as your choice between a burger, a benedict, or anything else on the restaurant’s menu once you land.
10. Rocks for Fun
N4581 US-45, Tigerton
There aren’t a lot of food options at Rocks for Fun, a pasty shop in Tigerton, but there are plenty of rocks. The shop, which sells pasties—baked pastries filled with savory ingredients—also showcases a quite impressive collection of rocks. Rocks for Fun has hundreds of decorated rocks, some shaped like a Packers helmet and others set in Christmas scenes. Customers can also receive their own lucky rock from the store, which has handed out more than 75,000 rocks throughout its years in business. In addition to Rocks for Fun’s actual stones, the shop also sells more than 30 different varieties of pasties and pizza rocks, small pastries made of pasty dough, pizza sauce, cheese, and all of the toppings found in Rocks for Fun’s pizza pasty (except for the black olives).
An individual pasty costs between $6 and $10, but for the shop’s four classic pasty flavors, the price gets lower as the number of pasties ordered increases. For 25 classic pasties or more, it’s $4 per baked pastry—and if you can’t eat them all at once, put them in the freezer for up to six months.
11. Little Bohemia Lodge
142 US-51, Manitowish Waters
If an infamous crime happens at a business, it’s not always advertised or discussed by the business. But when it’s an infamous shootout between John Dillinger and the FBI, you can bet Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters is going to talk about it. In fact, the restaurant is themed around the famous shootout and botched FBI raid.
In 1934, the Dillinger Gang checked into the lodge for a weekend of relaxation, but the vacation went awry when the lodge owner’s wife, Nan Wanatka, had a friend alert the police that the gang was at the lodge. Arriving agents shot at three of the restaurant’s customers who were driving away, alerting the Dillinger Gang inside to their presence. None of the Dillinger Gang members were caught after the raid.
In 2008, scenes for the Dillinger biopic “Public Enemies” were filmed at the lodge. It continues to operate as a restaurant today, celebrating the events that occurred more than nine decades ago, with menu items like the Gangster Get Away Sandwich and the Eggs Dillinger. For lunch, customers can also order the Dillinger Dip, a shaved beef sandwich with sauteed mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and provolone cheese.
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