My husband and I had a much needed date night this past weekend. We realized we hadn't been on a date since late June! As you all know, we are HUGE supper club fans. We love nothing more than locating and trying lots of supper clubs that are in a one hour radius. On Saturday, we ventured to a close one, Wilson Creek Inn, formerly Skoog's Parkside Grill for you locals, in Menomonie, WI. We used to enjoy going to Skoog's for Sunday brunch on occasion, so we were excited when we heard the place got new owners and a new look and feel.
I will be frank...the food scene in Menomonie is near to abyssmal. I know I may sound snooty, but we generally avoid it unless we are eating at Ted's Pizza, Menomonie Family Restaurant, Logjam, Jake's Supper Club, or Marion's coffee shop. We also love the food co-op and the newly added Donut Sam's. Other than that...eeek. haha. Nothing good ever seems to come and last. It is the closest large-ish town to us, but you'll much more often find us in Hudson which has a much better foodie scene.
Needless to say, when we hear reports of something new...we are thrilled. So, we ventured to Wilson Creek Inn for a date night. We love the tradition of prime rib on a Saturday night at most Wisconsin supper clubs. We were pretty much certain we were going to get prime rib before we even left.
As we arrived, we were interested to see that the restaurant has implemented social distancing and extra cleanliness policies but was not requiring guests to wear masks (or servers) even though our governor has mandated a mask policy statewide. You can read their cleanliness/COVID policy on their website, but if you have an extremely low comfort level with COVID, you may not want to visit here right now. We are fairly open minded with this stuff, AND the restaurant wasn't crowded so we felt comfortable dining.
I was impressed with how nice the interior of the place looked. They have made it cozy, pretty, and less busily decorated than before. I really liked the bar area. My one complaint had to do with lighting. We sat at a booth that had a fairly low hanging light over it that was EXTREMELY bright...so bright that my husband unscrewed the light bulb so we didn't feel blinded. The place has a great cozy vibe, so they should've probably opted for Edison bulbs or less bright bulbs hanging over booths.
For drinks, we started with cocktails. I got a Cosmo and my husband got the classic supper club Old Fashioned. We decided not to get an appetizer because the prime rib dinners came with so many sides!
We did indeed order prime rib, and that included a popover and a choice of soup or salad. The popover came with cinnamon butter which I loved, but they were slightly burnt. I think I am a bit biased here because my husband is such a talented baker who makes incredible popovers.
My husband chose the clam chowder which he said was very tasty, and I went with the traditional house salad. The restaurant makes a house made ranch that we loved.
For entrees, I went with the smaller portion of prime rib and my hubby ordered the larger. He chose a baked potato and I chose mashed potatoes. Both came with a seasonal veggie side (green beans and carrots). The sides were all very good, and they offered a unique baked potato topping of flavored cottage cheese (versus the normal sour cream) that my hubby raved about! Overall, the sides were excellent. The prime rib was GOOD...but we both thought it lacked flavor and saltiness. We would get it again, but it isn't our favorite prime rib we have ever dined upon. However, as you can see below, the prices were extremely reasonable for the amount of food given. I also enjoyed a glass of Malbec with my dinner that was fantastic. We managed to eat all this amazing food for under $100 which is also a great deal!
Overall, we enjoyed our experience and would return...but here's a break down of highs and lows.
Lows:
servers not being masked during a pandemic-I think all restaurants should be doing this, however it didn't deter us from eating there all together
service was overall good and attentive; however, our server wouldn't bring me a clean fork after the salad course. She told me to keep it...and it is a small thing. However, this sort of attention to detail is what separates good from great places (just like the lighting over our table).
prime rib needed a lot more seasoning-but that is our taste and preference
Highs
this place is still new and ironing out kinks; I do hope they can establish themselves as one of the only classy dining establishments in Menomonie. I think they are one their way.
price-great prices, lots of food
MUCH improved ambience and decor inside the eating area and outside with patio and landscaping.
supper club vibe/cocktails bar were on point
I would recommend this spot to friends and I look forward to trying it again. I try to give honest evaluations in my reports, even when I wouldn't give "five stars," I would still give a "good" review and recommendation to this newly opened restaurant!
