Spring Green and Dodgeville WI?

Hi,
for our anniversary, my husband and I are going to Taliesin in Spring Green, WI. I did a search and found:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... ring+green

Anything new since this last post? What about near House on the Rock? We'd like to have one really nice dinner to celebrate, and a mid price dinner for the other night. Also, anything for lunch recs would be great.

Thanks, will post when we return!

From a google search:

http://www.springgreen.com/dining.asp

I saw something about the Feed Mill on the Food Network, one of the travel shows. Looked like a place they brought bus loads in to.

I did not see much in Dodgeville. There was a pretty good small bakery across from the Lands End outlet store on Main St.

Roughly in that vicinity, you might want to check out this thread:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... =eat+local

messycook wrote:Hi,
for our anniversary, my husband and I are going to Taliesin in Spring Green, WI. I did a search and found:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... ring+green

Anything new since this last post? What about near House on the Rock? We'd like to have one really nice dinner to celebrate, and a mid price dinner for the other night. Also, anything for lunch recs would be great.

Thanks, will post when we return!

Messycook!

My boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary in Spring Green this summer. We had dinner in Madison at L'Etoile and then drove to Spring Green for a production of Much Ado About Nothing. I don't know if you're set on staying in Spring Green for your meals, but I highly recommend L'Etoile for a special occasion. Also, I'm kind of an architecture nerd so I think it's way cool that you and your husband are celebrating at Taliesen! I'm planning on going up before the summer is over, once I finish reading Death in a Prairie House and Loving Frank, which are at the top of my summer reading pile now. In October, I'm driving to Fallingwater.

I was hoping to find a breakfast in Spring Green and was surprised at how little there was in restaurants in its downtown area. We ended up north of the town on the highway at a diner I would not recommend.

New Glarus is a different story. Lots of places there. Dodgeville I don't know about.

Anything new since this last post?

When I visited last year, we did eat at the Feed Mill and found it pretty much as promised (good, charming, nothing to write home about). We also had breakfast at the Spring Green General Store. I thought it was terrific. Everything seemed to be homemade and fresh. The place was offbeat and fun. Definitely worth a visit for breakfast. But overall, the area immediately around Spring Green is culinary wasteland.

Spring Green General Store
137 S. Albany St.
Spring Green, WI 53588
Tel: 608-588-7070

Unfortunately the area cannot seem to support restaurants of any caliber. Figjustin's mom ran a breakfast/lunch place called Grace in Dodgeville and just closed up shop after two years of horrible business. Her menu wasn't ambitious at all, but she actually made stuff (versus buying it from Sysco) and had some really loyal customers (just not enough of them). She also ran the small cafe at Shakerag (http://www.shakeragalley.com ) in Mineral Point, and even though business was (seasonally) better there she still wasn't paying the bills. Hopefully, more Chicago and Madison tourists will start discovering this area and demand better food (we still have to visit and now his mom doesn't have a restaurant )

Hi!

Sorry I didn't notice this post until now...it might be too late, but as a transplanted Chicagoan who now resides in Spring Green, I can, also, alas, testify to the strong lack of dining options in and around.

That said, here's the (really, only) places to eat:

The General Store is the go-to place for breakfast, brunch, and lunch in Spring Green. They have a small, veggie-friendly menu, and everything is fresh, local as they can get it, and tasty.
http://www.springgreengeneralstore.com/

The new(er) Local Choice Farm Market on Winstead Street has a nice selection of sandwiches made from local meats & cheeses. It's a definite place to grab & go...although get there early for the best selection.
http://www.localchoicefarmmarket.com/

The next town over, Arena, has a small, charming new place with a Scottish bent, the Luckenbooth. They make their own Lorne sausage, Yvonne will happily brew you a cup of tea, and the baked goods (including the potato scones) are to die for.
http://www.luckenbooth.org/

If you're stuck in Spring Green with nowhere else to go for dinner, the Grandview Restaurant at the House on the Rock resort is certainly passable country-club food. I think it's on par with the Old Feed Mill in Mazomanie, and you don't have to drive 20 minutes...each way. I find the Old Feed Mill disappointing for the hype. If you're going to Mazo, I would recommend the Wall Street Gallery as your alternative.
http://www.thehouseontherock.com/HOTR_Lodging_Resort_Dining.htm

http://www.wallstreetgallery.com/

The Shed in downtown Spring Green does good pie and has local beer on tap.
http://www.explorewisconsin.com/TheShedRestaurant/

The Hi-Point Steak House in Ridgeway, near Dodgeville, is a classic oldy-timey supper club/steak house deal. Worth going to just for the ambience. The steaks are quite passable. The same cannot be said for the wine list.
http://www.hipointsteakhouse.com/

Slightly further afield is David W. Heiney's in Black Earth. But then, you're almost to Middleton. And you might as well keep driving.

Our saving grace is that a new restaurant/wine bar, The Bank, is due to open soonish in Spring Green proper. So, when you come back next year, I have high hopes that you'll have a proper place to have dinner here (besides my house, of course...)

Jacki

ItsBubbles wrote:I think it's on par with the Old Feed Mill in Mazomanie, and you don't have to drive 20 minutes...each way. I find the Old Feed Mill disappointing for the hype.

I agree - I went to the Old Feed Mill with reasonable expectations based on the recommendations of our hosts at the local B&B. Food was disappointing, and the wines by the glass were obviously oxidized.

It's a nice room for rural Wisconsin, though.

Somehow we missed the General Store in Spring Green. It looks exactly like the kind of place we would have liked to stop. There was a lot of road construction around the tracks. Maybe we did not explore enough.

thanks so much for the rec's - I will post when we get back! (Sept 23rd)

I'll also post about Taliesin

Hi everyone,
back to report about our weekend. We decided to go up on Saturday morning, because we wanted to camp for the night instead of stay in a hotel for two. When we saw how few places there were to eat, I thought it would be better to make our own dinner over a campfire We stayed at a really small, nice campground that was quiet and close to Taliesin.
Tower Hill State Park, Spring Green: http://www.stateparks.com/tower_hill.html

After we set up the tent, we went to House on the Rock. The woman told us to "budget 3 hours" to see all three tours, but we blew through there in a little more than an hour. This place just didn't hold our interest, made me feel claustrophobic, and we wanted to get back outside into the beautiful weather.

We went back to the campground and set up the fire and I started assembling ingredients for our anniversary dinner. On Friday I picked up 2 Prime aged steaks from Fox and Obel, and we brought one of the wines from Spain that we had purchased on our honeymoon and have been cellaring. (I'm not sure how to translate the label but it says: Marenas V & B IV Vendimia Semper Fidelis 2002 Tinto - the grapes are (were) Syrah, Tempranillo and Monastrell). We debated on what to drink it out of, since afterall, we were camping......So of course we packed the big fat Ridels. I think we're the only people who have gone camping with 100$ of steak and wine.

It was a really wonderful dinner. I made potatoes and onions in foil, and a yellow tomato salad to go with the steak, and everything turned out just right. The food combined with the wine and being outdoors in a quiet little spot with a fire going is, in our mind, perfect for an anniversary.

The next morning we went the the General Store for breakfast. It was pretty good, not great, as the food wasn't piping hot when it arrived at the table. The coffee was excellent and there were newspapers for sale to read while you waited. It was a very busy and it seems to be the place to meet on Sunday mornings.

We did the 10:15 two hour tour of Taliesin. I highly recommend it. After that we went to Blue Mound state park which afford some beautiful views, and hit the mustard museum. We also had lunch at Culver's (what you need after a huge steak is a Butterburger and custard.)

Thanks for all the rec's!

Dino's in Dodgeville, WI. , my kind of spot, a bar and a few tables for folks to eat. They also do their Friday fish fry all day - choices were blue gill, lake perch,walleye and catfish.



Too dark inside to get a picture, but the lake perch here was very good. Lightly breaded.

Dino's
110 Diagonal
Dodgeville, WI.

http://ronfrey2.wix.com/dinos

Dodge Theater - Dodgeville, WI.

Two quick recommendations for Spring Green:

Driftless Depot is a small gourmet store that also has a little eating area for sandwiches, soups, gelato, and coffee and espresso. The place is charming if a bit idiosyncratic, but the grocery and organic produce are extremely well chosen although pricey. Everything sold is first-rate. We were staying with friends nearby and got some delicious produce, especially an heirloom cabbage that I believe is Early Jersey Wakefield—a cone-shaped, very sweet and tender cabbage that we grilled with the rest of our locally-grown/made stuff. DD also sells beer—New Glarus, natch—and also, according to our friends’ son, it’s the only source for Guinness in the area.

Prem Meats is reminiscent of Miesfeld’s Market in Sheboygan: a big butcher shop, though not as large at Miesfeld’s, that processes meat including game and makes its own sausage and other prepared meat items. We bought their regular brats and their “River Valley” flavored brats. I’m usually not a fan of flavored brats, but these, with olives and a bunch of other things I forget, were really good, as were the plain ones. They were both milder than Miesfeld’s but excellent. Their seasoned chicken wings, not something I usually buy, were surprisingly good too, as were their stuffed jalapenos wrapped with bacon all ready for the grill. Their summer sausage was fine but not in Miesfeld’s league, in my opinion. The store has buns, mustard, charcoal, etc., as well as dog bones, cheese curds, and other necessities.

Driftless Depot
140 S. Winsted St.
Spring Green, WI 53588
608-628-1001
http://driftlessdepot.com/

Prem Meats
E5028 US-14
Spring Green, WI 53588
608-588-2164
http://www.premmeats.com/

My husband and our parents will be driving up to Spring Green, WI to see a show at the American Players Theatre on Thursday. We'll have opportunity to have lunch on the way up, down, and dinner in Spring Green (show is at 7:30). I've heard the Trout House in Palmyra is nice. Hoping the LTH might offer up a few more suggestions.

I can vouch for Rushing Waters Trout Farm in Palmyra. Bring a cooler and take some excellent smoked trout back. Extremely good stuff. Eat it straight up or make a smoked trout chowder. Of course, many places in Madison Area.