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Quick service, meaty meals are Schwarz's secrets

By Dennis R. Getto
Journal Sentinel dining critic
Published April 25, 1999

A few feet inside the door of Schwarz's Supper Club, I was worried.

The street outside the supper club was lined with cars, and the restaurant's lot was over half full. The bar was jammed, and we didn't have reservations.

Then I saw the sign behind the bar. "If you have reservations, you're in the wrong place," it read.

So I knew we'd get a table, eventually. I just didn't know how, because when we went to check in at the hostess' stand, the woman there simply handed us two menus and told us to sit in the bar and wait for a server.

We did as we were told. Five minutes later, a server took our food order and our name, but told us we'd have to get our own drinks at the bar.

I picked three tunes from the CD jukebox, but didn't hear all of them, because halfway through a glass of wine and a Virgin Mary, the hostess called our name over the loudspeaker. We were led to a table where a bread basket and a relish tray awaited. Our waitress delivered salads first, then entrees in short order.

"You seem busy tonight," I said to her.

No, she said. "This is light. It's usually busier."

"Even on a Thursday?"

"Every night," she said.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that I learned just how popular Schwarz's is with people from all over eastern Wisconsin. The restaurant has 160 seats, said John Schwarz, who operates the club with the help of his wife, Lisa, their son, Charlie, and Charlie's wife, Stephanie.

"On a busy Saturday," he told me in a telephone interview, "we serve 750 dinners."

In the restaurant business, that's a feat. Most restaurant owners hope for three sittings on a busy night. So 500 dinners in a 160-seat restaurant like Schwarz's would be great.

So how does Schwarz's serve the other 250?

The answer, John Schwarz said, lies in that odd system of having patrons order from the bar. Because customers have their drinks before they sit down and because the kitchen gets a jump-start on their orders, patrons spend less time at the table.

I've seen similar food service at places in Green Bay and at Coerper's in Milwaukee and never cared for it much. It seemed designed to get diners to spend more at the bar.

But at Schwarz's there was no pressure to order drinks. Our waitress couldn't serve them to us, John Schwarz said, because she wasn't old enough.

Over the past 40 years, Schwarz's, in a small town named St. Anna, in Calumet County, between Sheboygan and Lake Winnebago, has gained a strong following from people all over the eastern half of the Badger State, John Schwarz said.

"Some people come up for a Sunday drive," Schwarz said.

In 1997, the supper club was the subject of a color feature in Midwest Living magazine.

It isn't a fancy place. Dining rooms are bright and simply decorated with wood trim and stenciled designs on the wall.

Like the supper clubs of old, it's a place where beef is king: Sixteen of the menu's 34 entrees are steak or steak combination dinners. The menu told us that the steaks were hand-cut daily from prime beef and seasoned with a special mix of spices developed by John Schwarz's father, Ziggy Schwarz.

Unfortunately, neither a 16-ounce tenderloin ($14.25) nor a 6-ounce sirloin tip that we had with grilled shrimp ($12.25) impressed me. The meat was tender, but in my book it needed a darker, richer crust to really become memorable. These were good steaks, but not great ones. On the combination plate, I liked the shrimp better.

The beef that did impress me was prime rib, which I tried in a king cut (22 to 24 ounces for $15.50). Slow-roasted, moist and flavorful, the massive piece of pink meat was more than two inches thick -- and more than I could finish. Next time, I'll order a petite ($9.50) or a queen ($12.50) cut.

The other three entrees that I sampled in two visits were all very good. A large rack of pork ribs ($12.25) was chewy and nicely flavored with slightly sweet, smoke-scented barbecue sauce. Baked walleye pike ($11.25) was fresh, light and drizzled with melted butter to enrich its sweet flavor.

And for $5.95, broasted chicken was delicious -- still moist and flavorful inside a delightfully crunchy crust. With broasted potatoes (which we liked better than baked or french fries), it made a nice Sunday meal.

Dinners came with a relish tray of carrots, black olives, Oriental corn ears, gherkins and green onions; salads were mostly iceberg and served with a lazy Susan of four pretty standard salad dressings -- Thousand Island, French, blue cheese and Parmesan peppercorn.

And I'd rather our waitress hadn't taken our bread rolls and bread sticks to "warm them up" in the microwave. The bread rolls came back gummy and the bread sticks lost some of their crunch in the process.

But there were two other bright spots in dinners at Schwarz's. The first was the great selection of appetizers -- cheese-stuffed jalapeno peppers ($3.50) dipped in a tequila-laced batter; homemade onion rings ($4) served crunchy, sweet and golden; zucchini wedges ($3.50) lightly coated with sharp sourdough bread crumbs; and mesquite chicken quesadilla rolls fried crisp and filled with a warm, creamy mixture of cheese and jalapenos.

The second was dessert -- a thick slice of three-layer chocolate cake ($3.50) -- dark and rich, with a half-inch of chocolate butter cream between layers.

We ordered one piece and four dessert forks and had all we could do to polish it off.

Looking back at the two dinners, it was clear to me why Schwarz's has so strong a following. Portions were generous, prices reasonable, and most of the food homemade.

That combination goes a long way toward winning hearts -- and appetites -- here in Wisconsin.

THE TAB: The first dinner for two at Schwarz's cost $33.44 for two entrees, an appetizer, a soft drink, tea and coffee. Dinner for four cost $64.63 for four entrees, two appetizers, a dessert, a soft drink, two coffees and a tea.

Mainstay supper club still going strong

By Chris Martell
Wisconsin State Journal
Published Monday, June 5, 2000

This tiny farming town that straddles the Calumet-Sheboygan county border often seems like a ghost town. Yet, surprisingly, it's home to one of the most popular supper clubs in Wisconsin.

St. Anna's namesake landmark is a 19th-century church perched on a glacial drumlin; its graveyard has mossy stones dating back to the 1850s. The town is part of the ``Holy Land,'' a cluster of German Catholic farming communities northeast of Fond du Lac, hidden from motorists on Highway 151 by the Niagara Escarpment, the massive limestone ledge that becomes the backbone of Door County. An Amish settlement, drawn to St. Anna's quiet isolation, began to take shape nearby in recent years, so you'll see horse and buggy crossing signs.

Considering its tourist-unfriendly rural location, walking into Schwarz's Supper Club never fails to amaze me. By about 4:30 on almost any summer evening, the place is jammed. Since reservations aren't accepted, diners are willing to accept long waits in the bar, where notoriously strong cocktails are served. In addition to the local clientele, many of them farmers who like to eat supper early, there are people who have driven from larger Wisconsin cities, including Milwaukee. On race weekends at nearby Elkhart Lake, the crowds at Schwarz's are especially heavy.

I've made annual pilgrimages to Schwarz's since childhood, so I can vouch for the fact that the supper club's popularity preceded its being written up in Midwest Living magazine's ``Dining Out'' column in 1997 or the glowing review it received in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in 1999.

Many people claim that Schwarz's has the best steak in the state. The aged beef is never frozen and is hand-cut daily at the restaurant. Then there are the ``secret seasonings'' concocted by Ziggy Schwarz, who started broiling steaks in his one-room tavern 42 years ago. The restaurant is now run by Ziggy's son, John, and his family.

I've never had a steak at Schwarz's that wasn't immensely flavorful and tender, though there has been occasional deviation on what constitutes rare and medium rare. The sirloin, rib eye, tenderloin, New York strip, Porterhouse and T-bones are uniformly good, as is the prime rib, which comes in portions that range from 8 to 32 ounces.

The rest of the food is equally reliable. There is a full, old-fashioned relish tray, and crisp dinner salads with a lazy Susan of excellent dressings. Dinners also come with a choice of baked, broasted or french-fried potatoes, all of them consistently good.

Homemade onion rings are a Schwarz's specialty, and a full order, at $4.50, could serve as a dinner for a barn-raising crew, if such things still exist. On this summer's annual visit, I noticed that the menu has taken some baby steps away from traditional supper club fare. We decided, for that reason, to try the breaded portabella mushrooms, $3.75. Before the first bite, it seemed heretical to deep fry something so delicate. To our surprise, it was excellent, with the moisture and flavor of the mushroom holding up admirably against the deep-fried breading, served with a peppercorn dipping sauce. Also bordering on the trendy is the mesquite chicken quesadilla rolls, which are chicken sticks rolled in tortillas with Wisconsin cheese and jalapenos.

The rest of the menu stays safely within the confines of the classic supper club variety, with lake perch and haddock on Friday night, pork chops and ribs, chicken, shrimp, salmon, walleyed pike and orange roughy. And while I haven't personally observed many ``Lite Eaters'' at Schwarz's, there's also a menu for them.

The restaurant began in 1957 as a place to reward oneself after a hard day in the field. Most of Schwarz's customers these days, it seems likely, no longer toil on farms. But the idea remains the same: an unpretentious place to end the day with food you can count on, year after year

Dining Out

Great Easting at Midwest Restaurants

Midwest Living
Published October, 1997

Schwarz's - St. Anna Wisconsin

Charbroiled steaks hand-cut daily star among entrees.   Ziggy's secret blend of seasonings still flavors every cut of beef, from prime rib and tenderloin to T-bone and porterhouse.  Seafood lovers might choose baked walleye or grilled shrimp.  Friday's fare features six fish specials that include haddock and fresh lake perch.

It's hard for diners to resist desserts from nearby Amish bakeries.  You can sample a thick, warm brownie topped with a scoop of caramel-pecan ice cream.

"When we come back to Wisconsin, we always eat at Schwarz's," says Don Williams of Fargo, North Dakota.  He proposed to his wife, Viv, here 36 years ago.

Schwarz family serving up quality in St. Anna

By Dave Berth
Chilton Times-Journal food correspondent
Published February 14, 2002

In the quaint village of St. Anna lies one of the busiest and most famous of area dining establishments--Schwarz's Supper Club.

While it may be a little difficult to tell someone from another area exactly how to get there, we locals know the way by heart.  "Let's go to St. Anna" brings up visions of great food and good times.  Your taste buds stand at attention just hearing the words.

All right, I may be getting a little carried away.  We have many fine supper clubs in our area, and we will be visiting some of them in up-coming issues, but this week we are visiting Schwarz's Supper Club.

Ziggy and Evelyn Schwarz started it all with what was a one-room tavern almost 45 years ago.  One of the menus from the old days greets you when you enter Schwarz's.  Items like 2 Lobster Tails for $2,00, T-bone Steak (extra large) for $2.95, or the Deluxe Fish Fry for 90 cents, give you some idea how long the Schwarz family has been in operation.

Now don't go looking for those prices when you stop there today.  Times have changed, but one thing hasn't--a dedication to giving the customer a good value.  It is as important to John, Lisa, Charlie, Stephanie and Patrick as it was for Ziggy.  All of their steaks are hand cut on site and achieve that Schwarz's flavor with their own secret blend of seasonings.  From their signature sirloin tips, porterhouse or slow roasted prime rib it is a steak lover's paradise.

A full seafood menu also adorns the menu (the orange roughy is excellent) along with ribs, chicken and a daily special or two.  Whatever you choose, if it is on Schwarz's menu it is a proven winner.

That probably explains the huge crowds of people that make the pilgrimage from around the state.  During Road America weekends the overflow crowd spills into the parking lot.  Some even tailgate in the parking lot, waiting for their name to be called.  John had an outdoor speaker installed to play music and call names for those occasions.  As the sign behind the bar says, "If you have a reservation, you're in the wrong place."

What is amazing is that most people don't mind waiting.  Schwarz's ability to serve 700+ people on a busy night is an awesome feat.  What is more amazing is that the atmosphere isn't chaotic.  It is organized by an obviously well trained staff.

Then comes the family.  John stands guard at his usual spot at the end of the bar, overseeing his domain as he works.  Charlie and his wife Stephanie cover another area of the bar.  Lisa works the dining room with her ever-present smile and Patrick is manning operations in the fast paced kitchen.

They are all very good at what they do.  The mass of people know they are in good hands so they can relax, have a drink and socialize as they wait for their name to be called.  "It doesn't matter if the wait gets a little long," a regular customer explains.  "The food is worth it."

When your name is called and you hear those magic words "Your table is ready," you know a great meal in a friendly atmosphere awaits you.