Throughout the month of October, WHBY conducted its first ever Supper Club Bracket Challenge in which we gave our audience the power to vote for who they think the best local supper club is.
The contest was based on nominations we received in May, when we asked the public through a Facebook post, “In your opinion, what is the best local Supper Club?”
The response revealed just how passionate Wisconsinites are about this subject, as we received over 430 comments. We then tallied up the numbers, narrowing the nominations down to the Top 16 contenders.
The Top 16, receiving the most nominations overall, included popular spots like: The Roxy Supper Club, Roepke’s Village Inn, Geno’s Steakhouse, Black Otter Supper Club, Out-O-Town Supper Club, Van Abel’s of Hollandtown, Schwarz’s Supper Club, Hotel Seymour, Red Ox Seafood and Steakhouse, George’s Steak House, Mark’s East Side, Lox Club, Pine Tree Supper Club, River’s Bend, Altona Supper Club, and Marty’s Place.
The challenge kicked off on September 29 with the Top 16 showdown, featuring randomly selected matchups. Votes poured in, leading us to the Edible Eight, then the Old Fashioned Four, and finally, the Championship Round.
After intense voting and sharing, the top four supper clubs were determined to be Schwarz’s Supper Club in New Holstein, Black Otter Supper Club in Hortonville, Roepke’s Village Inn in Chilton, and Van Abel’s of Hollandtown in Kaukauna. During the Old Fashioned Four round of voting, Roepke’s and Van Abel’s engaged in a tight race, with Van Abel’s edging ahead by a mere 57 votes in the final hours.
We then moved on to the Championship Round, where Schwarz’s Supper Club faced off against Van Abel’s of Hollandtown. Ultimately, Schwarz’s clinched the title, securing the victory with 1,940 votes to Van Abel’s 582.
The challenge concluded with an impressive total of 41,751 votes! Northeast Wisconsin sure is lucky to have a number of outstanding supper clubs. We would also like to thank Fleet Farm for enabling us to award a lucky winner a $100 gift card to the winning supper club, Schwarz’s. Fleet Farm also donated $500 to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin to positively impact those who are facing food insecurity.
We look forward to the possibility of hosting a Supper Club Challenge in the years to come! It will be intriguing to see if the “best” supper club remains the same or if the verdict will change. Regardless, it was all in good fun, and we thank everyone for their passionate participation!
