There is an Italian restaurant here in Tucson that used to do a relish tray; I always thought of it as Tucson’s supper club.
If any Chicago area dopers are jonesing for a pretty authentic Wisconson-style supper club, there is one on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park called Millie’s. Their fish and chips is the best I’ve ever had, anywhere.
Pickles, the drummer, is famously from tomahawk WI. So it can’t be all bad.
Tomahawk , Wisconsin…used to have a cottage up there. Best Bloody Marys .
I’ve never been to a supper club, probably never will. Nothing against them, but it would be a bit of a trip for me.
But I’d go to this place…
Sadly, The Gobbler’s long gone. I never did get there.
I did! Got taken there as a kid. My parents were aghast at all the purple plush carpeting all over EVERYthing. Those photos are old and faded, but imagine being surrounded by maximum-saturation purple.
DO click that link, then click NEXT a couple of times, and imagine what it would be like to be trapped at dinner with old people where there was purple shag/plush/velour carpet on the handrails, the dividers and every wall… those parts that look like pink drywall? Nope, that was just a lighter purple velour!
The intangibles were creepy, too. It was The Gobbler because almost every menu item included turkey in some form, even the cocktails had turkey meatballs as garnish.
And notice the polyester sportcoats and combovers on the patrons? That was the target audience for The Gobbler… add in the fact that every part of the restaurant was revolving at different speeds, and it was hypnotizingly horrific.
Even as a pre-teen, I knew I was experiencing a level of Kitsch I’d never obtain again.
… Please congratulate digs, who has earned the elusive Instant Doper Cred Badge
I worked at a grocery store in the 70s and 80s, where I made hundreds (and hundreds and hundreds) of relish trays, much like the one below. The only place I can remember seeing them in restaurants, however, is in Germany a couple of times.
ETA I just looked more closely at the picture, where are the mini pickles and olives??
that’s no relish tray.
This is a relish tray. https://www.theginghamapron.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/IMG_2222-1024x836.jpg
Got to have pickled vegetables in there, spreadable cheeses, and the best ones have pickled herring!
Oh! I just realized, my mom always puts a little tray of olives, pickles, carrots, and celery on the table for meals. I just thought this was just a thing she did. I just now realized that she does that because she’s from Wisconsin.
Newly moved to Chicagoland. Thanks for the suggestion.
We ended up.there once! Our car broke down near it so we called AAA from there as well as a family friend to come get us. I don’t have any memories of it except the purple shag carpeting.
Well, as I said, my Dad always did it too, and he didn’t come from Wisconsin. He never visited that state, and he didn’t even come from the US. So it can’t be just a Wisconsin thing. Maybe Wisconsin supper clubs publicized it better, however.
Anybody know how the tradition of the relish tray got started?
Relish trays really used to be a big deal. Dividing up my late parents’ extensive silver and crystal serving pieces, there were numerous relish trays. They were always put out at every dinner party or holiday. My great/grandparents were Canadian/Chicagoan, from Europe.
All good places. On your next trip, try the Nightingale in Sturgeon Bay, the Log Den south of Egg Harbor, or Donny’s Glidden Lodge in Whitefish Bay. Especially Donny’s, right on Lake Michigan. That is, if the lake hasn’t washed it away yet.
My best memories of Wisconsin supper clubs would not be complete without recollections of the Skip Wagner Show. Saw him at supper clubs both in Three Lakes and Milwaukee.
Be careful with those Gobbler photos… if you click on the TV ad, you’ll have “Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble Gobbler! Gobble gobble gobble Gobbler!” stuck in your head.