Caleb Westphal hasn’t missed a Friday fish fry since 2013. Follow his never-ending adventures—sponsored by Miller High Life—HERE. This week, fish fry #561: Dorf Haus Supper Club in Roxbury, Wisconsin.
The proverbial pot of gold was filled with fish, of course, but it was the long wait, ironically, as well as homemade fritters that shined the brightest at Dorf Haus Supper Club this past Friday. Located on County Highway Y in the town of Roxbury, three miles southeast of Sauk City and about 25 miles northwest of Madison (8931 County Hwy Y, Sauk City; 608-643-3980), the Dorf Haus has been in the same family for 65 years, and serves as a destination for fish frys, supper club staples, and German food alike.
Betty and Vern Maier bought Brownie Breunig’s tavern and dance hall in 1959—the same dance hall where they had their wedding dance nine years earlier. At first Vern used the hall for a woodworking area for his construction shop and just the tavern was in operation, but in a few years time the tavern and dance hall became a supper club, drawing in patrons with its one dollar, family-style, all-you-can-eat fish and chicken dinners, and then became the Dorf Haus. Vern and Betty passed away in 2012, but two of their children, Monte and Rebecca, carry on the tradition today.
I’d been to the Dorf Haus once before, with my cousin Josh in the summer of 2021, for my 400th consecutive Friday fish fry. This past Friday we joined together again, and arrived at the restaurant at 6:25 p.m. With the parking lot full and cars spilling onto the road, we knew we were in for a long haul. We were told it would be an hour and 40 minutes for a table, but were also told that the back bar past the dance floor was open, and moments later found ourselves in a Wisconsin Wonderland where Old Fashioneds were flowing and live polka music was playing. If only there was a word to convey the feeling. Ah yes, it’s Gemütlichkeit.
Along with a few others, Monte was tending bar. A picture of Betty and Vern hung over the fireplace in the attached room just past them, on the back end of the building, and it was as if the original owners were smiling over their son and the whole establishment. We ordered a round of Brandy Old Fashioned Sweets ($6) and grabbed a small table. Bright and bubbly, with a light fizz, cherry, and orange slice atop, they were classic supper club Old Fashioneds, the kind towards the top of the non-muddled Old Fashioned pyramid.
What does one do when they are only 20 minutes into their hour and 40 minute wait and they’ve already downed their Old Fashioned? They get another! And so we did, but first took seats at the bar, an elephant tusk of a creation that previously did time at Rohde’s in Madison. Conversation flowed back and forth through memories of the nearly four decades of our lives that we’ve been friends. The Joe Pera quote I used in last week’s article was at work again: “It’s fried fish. Of course it tastes good. But the wait and the company make it taste, uh, really good.”
The tables covering the huge dance floor continued to fill in, until what once was a half empty room was mostly full of people, who looked to mainly be eating fish frys. Two of the members of the band eventually took to the floor, moving between the tables as they played. About an hour after we had arrived, and two drinks in, we also felt like moving, and made our way to some seats between the game room and the front bar, near the CD jukebox.
We flipped through the jukebox. Along with what you’d expect to find, we came across Smash Mouth‘s Fush Yu Mang, Rock The Pack, and the soundtrack from The Wedding Singer. We had some seltzer waters. I eventually began walking around and taking a few pictures, and we slowly made our way towards the host stand. When we were only a few steps from it, our pager went off. The wait had been about an hour and 45 minutes—not much longer than we were told it would be, but about as long as I’ve ever waited for a fish fry.
I’d already looked over the menu during the wait and knew I’d be getting the three-piece deep fried haddock with french fries, but I still asked if all-you-can-eat fish was an option anyway. It wasn’t, and our server wasn’t sure when they’d gotten rid of it. (Upon further research, it appears they still had it in 2019 but that it was gone by the summer of 2020. Was it a casualty of the pandemic?)
Items listed under “Friday Specials” on the menu are fried haddock (two-piece for $16/ three-piece for $18), baked haddock (two-piece for $17/ three-piece for $19), and deep fried chicken from the Maier family recipe book ($17). Each comes with a choice of German potato salad, french fries, or baked potato, as well as coleslaw and fritters. Apart from the Friday specials, seafood is found elsewhere on the menu, including salmon, shrimp, and scallops. I ordered a mug of light German beer from Hacker-Pschorr to go with my fish fry.
It wasn’t long before two small dishes of coleslaw and a basket with two fritters appeared. The slaw was evenly coated with a lip-smacking dressing, not being overly saturated, which is probably why it gave a good crunch and could be served in a shallow dish and didn’t need a deep bowl. Besides the dressing, the slaw drew flavor from rich cabbage and a dusting of pepper.
The fritters soared. Served freshly baked, from a Maier family recipe from their grandmother, they are made with bread dough as sweet as—if not sweeter than—a doughnut. They were served with whipped butter, making them even better, which hardly seems possible.
In just shy of 15 minutes the main course was delivered. The french fries were soft (but not too soft), lightly salted, had a smidgen of skin on them, and were splendid when dunked into ketchup.
Visibly seasoned, the exemplary breading on the haddock walked a line between mildness and light spiciness. The fish was clean and porcelain and plenty bulky. A lightness permeated the tartar, and a pickle chunk could be found here and there throughout it. I asked for a second cup to go with the third piece of fish.
Halfway through the meal we asked if more fritters were possible, and our server said she thought they’d be throwing more in—which made me think that these would be the last of the evening to be made, since they stopped serving dinner at 9 and it was quickly approaching that time. Two more fritters came out as we were finishing our meals, and were just as good as the first ones.
Before we paid, we were asked if we wanted dessert, but I said that wasn’t necessary—the fritters had been dessert enough for me. After I finished my last sip of beer, I looked at the time and it was 9:00 on the dot. Assuming it had been Monte who had been serving at the bar, but not knowing for sure if it was him or if the restaurant was still in the family, I had been meaning to ask someone about it before leaving. So when a worker stopped at our table to grab our payment, I asked her. By some chance it was Rebecca Maier-Frey, one of the owners. “We’ve been here for 65 years…but I’m not 65,” she quipped.
There’s a reason readers of Madison Magazine just voted the Dorf Haus the best fish fry and third best Old Fashioned in Madison even though the restaurant isn’t even located in Madison. For me, the Dorf Haus was more enjoyable because of the long wait, not less enjoyable. Emerson said that “to finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom,” and if that’s the case, there is plenty of wisdom that can be gained while waiting for a fish fry at the Dorf Haus. The Old Fashioneds and fried fish were outstanding, and my one and only critique is that the restaurant should somehow, some way, bring back the all-you-can-eat, family-style fish. And if you’ve never had their fritters, well, get there to try them now. The pot of gold is within your reach.
Takeaways: Gemütlichkeit pre-gaming with live polka and excellent non-muddled Old Fashioneds; instead of rye bread there are fritters and they are amazing, and you can have them before your fish fry and then order more and have them for dessert; evenly coated and crunchy slaw; keeper fries; beautiful breading on high-grade haddock.
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