Fond du Lac, WI

We took a short trip up to Fond du Lac for the Easter weekend.

On Friday afternoon, we stopped at Schreiner's Restaurant, a local landmark family restaurant that is popular in the area. They have a varied menu and offer a number of good fish dishes. Perhaps what they are most known for is their baked products. Fresh pies, rolls and turnovers complement the rest of their homemade foods.

On Friday evening, Salty's Seafood and Spirits which is a popular bar and restaurant located off of the waterfront park in downtown Fond du Lac. Salty's serves some of the better fish and seafood oin the Fond du Lac area. Our selections - the haddock supreme and the lake perch were well prepared. Food is reasonably priced.

On Saturday, we drove up to Appleton, WI for the Houdini exhibit at the local county museum. We stopped at the Taystee Bakery which had a couple of whole wheat donuts that were very good. Also, their turnovers were served up warm from the oven.

Then, we headed over to Zittou to the Union Star Cheese store ... which was located in the front corner of the Union Star Cheese plant. They make a good variety of cheeses and are quite popular despite its remote location. Zittou does NOT make the state map. It is located six miles southeast of Fremont on State II It is well worth the trip, especially during the week when they are producing cheese.

Several people directed us to Simon's Specialty Cheese in Little Chute, WI which is outside of Appleton. They have a wide variety of cheeses but seemed to be more of a tourist trap and not worth a long trip to get to.

Our biggest disappointment of the trip was Gino's Italian Grill. The place was one of the most pleasant places that I have been to - warm dining room with a great fireplace. Unfortunately, the food was terrible. The fried calamari consisted of calamari rings that reminded me of rubber bands. The eggplant parmesan was served as a casserole over some type of noodles which were overcooked.

However, the worst part of the meal was the "Tortellini Carbonara" which I expected to be a white cream sauce. No, it was served in a red sauce with a large amount of prosciutto and served in a au gratin dish covered by a pile of mozzarella cheese. It was a poorly conceived dish that was poorly executed.

On our next trip, we will stop at the "Nun Better Bakery" located at the Villla Loreto ten miles east of town. The sisters at this retirement community raise fainting goats and bake goods for sale.

Hope that helps.


Schreiner's Restaurant
168 North Pioneer Road
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
(920) 922-0590
http://www.fdlchowder.com/

Saltys Seafood & Spirits
503 N Park Ave,
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
http://www.fdlfeatures.com/DINING/Salty's/salty's.htm

Taystee Bakery
609 W College Ave
Appleton, WI 54911-5803
920-733-4997


Union Star Cheese
7742 County Road I I
Fremont, WI. 54940
920-836-2804 phone 920-836-0246 fax

Simon’s Specialty Cheese
2735 Freedom Rd. (Hwy N)
Little Chute, WI 54140

Ginos Italian
584 W Johnson St,
Fond du Lac, WI 54935

Schreiner's and the Union Star Cheese Plant are two food stops on our way to Manitowish Waters. We stop at Schriener's for rhubarb pies and the cheese store for cheddar cheese curds. When the cheese shop is closed, they display a sign reading "SHUT."

thanks for the reviews, we pass through FDL on our way up north and I've always wondered about some of these places.

Union Star has always been a favorite of ours, too, on the way to Manitowish Waters (Hwy 41 -> US 10 -> Stevens Point). Not all the cheeses they sell there are made on the premises, but many of the best ones are.

I thought that the Habernero cheese would be a LOT hotter than it actually turned out to be. I was sort of afraid of trying it at first.

The Swiss cheese was a rich creamy smooth cheese.

I have about six more varieties to try out.

Union Star does offer about 10 cheeses (limburger, bleu, etc.) that it does not make. However, you head there for their cheese. It is NOT a roadside place that you drive by and drop into.

Great place.

nr706, where do you stay when you're in Manitowish Waters?

chicagostyledog wrote:nr706, where do you stay when you're in Manitowish Waters?

We stay at Keith Island in Big Lake, about 5 miles east of Manitowish Waters on County K.

We had a leisurely drive up to St Germain this past weekend and were due to hit Fond du Lac around dinner time. As I had forgot about this thread I started searching for places to go. Remembered that I had read some good things about the fish fry at Wendt's on the Lake http://www.wendtsonthelake.com/ We showed up at 5:45pm and of course the place was in full Friday fish fry swing, an hour wait. We opted to keep driving.

About a mile or so north of Wendt's, we passed by TJs Harbor Restaurant, at 55mph the parking lot looked packed but then we noticed some open spaces and turned around to take a chance.

We were seated immediately and at the right time as 15 minutes later, there was a line out the door.

Started with the bruschetta, very fresh ingredients and tasty.

Lake Perch fish fry was outstanding, easily one of the best I've had.

My friend's son had a prime rib sandwich which was dry. Suggest other items.

A special appetizer was asparagus with over easy duck egg on top, WOW, unexpected and quite a hit. Other Italian dishes looked promising, Oxtail w/gnocchi, lamb w/5 finger cavatelli.

TJs isn't exactly close to 41 but it was worth the detour.

TJ's Harbor Restaurant
7098 S US Hwy 45
Oshkosh, WI 54902
Phone: 920-688-9047
Hours: Open daily at 11:00
http://tjsharbor.com/
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We took a different route (for us) us to Calumet, MI last week. We stayed overnight in Fond du Lac. That allowed us to have breakfast at Schreiner's and make a detour to Union Star Cheese in Fremont. Schreiner's has been around since 1938 so definitely has old school charm. I had the quiche of the day (bacon cheddar) that came with a small cup of decent cantaloupe and choice of a muffin. I don't think any of the muffin choices were nut-free (preference for me, not an allergy) so I had cranberry. Mr. X went with eggs benedict. We would have taken a pie to go, but nothing appealed to us. It was a good stop.

Union Star is off the beaten path! Fresh curds made it worthwhile. We also bought a gouda and the Ste. Jeanne, a semi-soft Trappist style. The curds didn't last the weekend. Haven't cut into the other two yet.

Union Star has always been a favorite. Too bad it's off the main highway (in Zittau) now.