After my entry on the burger at House of Coates outside of Coates, MN (click here to see that entry), I got a couple comments that said I really needed to try a King burger at Kings Bar and Grill in nearby Miesville, MN. I was driving between La Crosse, WI and the Twin Cities recently and decided to get a burger at Kings. The only problem was that it was Monday and Kings is closed that day. Somewhat crestfallen, I saw there was a supper club just up the road that I had passed - Wiederholt's Supper Club. I U-turned back onto Highway 61 and went back to Wiederholt's. (see map)
There's not much to Miesville - it's a small blip on the map almost in the middle of a triangle between Hastings, Cannon Falls and Red Wing. The town features a few houses, a baseball/softball field and a couple three businesses. That makes Wiederholt's a destination place for diners south and east of the Twin Cities. And it all started out as a general store just before the Depression in the late 1920's. That's when George Wiederholt first began selling groceries and pumping gas out of a small building along the highway. And even though it was toward the waning days of Prohibition, George Wiederholt's little place was also a tavern. George and his wife, Kate, ran the place along with the help from their only son, Sylvester, also known as Cy. Cy eventually went away for military duty, but ended up coming back home after his service time was over to work with his father.
It was just after his military service was up that Cy married Harriet Weber. In addition to working at the store/gas station/tavern, Cy and Harriet began to raise a family and looked to do things in life other than running a small family business along a federal highway. While owning their own vending company, Cy traveled around Minnesota and Wisconsin and saw a number of supper clubs that were popping up in the post-World War II years in the early 50's. His dream was to turn the little gas station/tavern into a restaurant. When Cy and Harriet took over the business in 1961, his dream became a reality with the makeover of the place into Wiederholt's Supper Club.
Cy and Harriet ran the supper club for another 10 years before Cy's health problems forced them to sell the business in 1971. Cy passed away in 1972 and Harriet eventually took the business back over the next year. With the help of her two college-aged sons, John and Charlie, Harriet continued to run Wiederholt's Supper Club until the brothers eventually purchased the business from her in 1977. I understand that Harriet is still up and around, coming in to act as hostess over the weekends.
It was well past 8 p.m. when I pulled into the parking lot in front of Wiederholt's. I went inside and was met by a lady at the hostess stand. There are two sections on the main level of Wiederholt's dining room - one to the left and another on the right past the bar area (below left). It wasn't very busy at all and she said I pretty much had my pick of where I wanted to sit. I decided to sit at the bar and catch a game on one of the two TV's they have hanging on either end of the bar.
The bar area at Wiederholt's is nothing fancy. They had a few beers on tap and a number of shelves with liquor selections. I took a seat at the bar and was greeted by the bartender, Jesse, who turned out to be a third generation Wiederholt. He gave me a menu and said, "Our Monday night special is an 8 ounce filet with sauteed mushrooms for $17.50. You get a salad, choice of potato and relish bowl with that." He also said it was too bad I wasn't there the next night. "It's our prime rib special tomorrow night. That usually brings in the people." In doing research on the Internet on Wiederholt's, I read somewhere that they go through nearly 500 pounds of prime rib during a week. That's a lot of meat.
Jesse asked me if I wanted something to drink while I looked over the menu and I saw that they had the Summit Extra Pale Ale on tap. I signed up for one of those. He drew out a frosty glass out of a cooler behind the bar and poured me an ice-cold Summit EPA.
Wiederholt's does primarily steaks and seafood, but they are supposedly famous for their baby back ribs, as well. They smoke them in the kitchen using hickory wood and have been a favorite item for the patrons of Wiederholt's over the years. You'll also find chicken entrees, ham steaks and burgers on the menu.
I had a burger on the mind all day long on the way to Miesville, but the beef tenderloin filet special that evening pretty much made me forget about burgers. I ordered the filet - rare. Jesse said, "Oh man! Just how I like it. We get people that come in here and want their steaks medium-well or well done and I just go crazy. I'm thinkin', 'How can they even taste the steak when it's cooked like that?'!" For a side, I got the baked potato. I don't know why - I hardly eat potatoes that much. But rice and/or vegetables sounded boring to me. As I said, a salad came with it as well and they have a homemade Catalina dressing that I got with my salad.
Jesse brought out the salad with a basket of homemade croutons, a small bowl of carrots, celery and olives. A bun was wrapped up in a napkin along with the large croutons. And what looked to be a half stick of butter was included with the salad options. Years ago, there used to be a small supper club in Oakland Acres, IA, that I loved to go to - not only for the steaks, but they had a great salad bar that featured a sweet Catalina dressing. I've been trying to find something close to that over the years, but Wiederholt's Catalina dressing was about as close to that particular dressing that I've found. I may even go back and see if I can buy some of their Catalina dressing at some point, it was that good.
Since it wasn't very busy - and I ordered my steak rare - it wasn't long after I finished my salad that Jesse brought out the steak. It was a large chunk of beef filet topped with and surrounded by sauteed mushrooms. They were canned mushrooms, which weren't a deal breaker by any means. A very large baked potato with sour cream with chives came on the side.
I cut into the steak and it was perfect - it had a nice deep red color with a cool center. The steak was tender and very flavorful. There didn't appear to be any seasoning on the steak, other than from the grill. I've had steaks that were more than double in price at many other steakhouses over the years that were nowhere as good as the steak I had at Wiederholt's that evening.
Jesse came over and asked how my steak was. I said, "Perfect. Just perfect. Give my compliments to your grill chef."
It turned out that the grill chef was talking with some guys at a table in the bar and Jesse yelled over to him, "Hey, he liked the steak!"
The grill chef said, "Was it cooked rare enough for you?" I gave him a "thumbs up". It was an excellent steak.
Two things that I like finding on the road are surprisingly good places to eat and supper clubs. I found both at Wiederholt's Supper Club. If I'd only had one beer to go along with the meal, it would have been under $25 bucks. It was an amazingly great bargain for an amazingly great meal. Wiederholt's is simply one of the best supper clubs I've encountered in my travels. While I will still make it back to Miesville for a burger at Kings at some point, it will be tough to pass up another meal at Wiederholt's Supper Club.
We go to Weiderholts for the Friday night Fish Fry its the best I don't usually order fish as a meal because I have been disappointed so many times but the fish at Weiderholts is the best.
Posted by: Kathleen Peterson | September 10, 2015 at 09:04 PM
First time there!!!! Excellant prime rib and great service will be back!!!!!
Posted by: anna huebner | August 23, 2016 at 06:06 PM
I love Weiderholt’s!! I have to have their Walleye fingers and sweet potato each time I visit family. I get to Minnesota from southeast Louisiana a couple of times a year at least. While we’re famous for our food in Louisiana, I’ll take Weiderholt’s food any day! What a family legacy MIke and Jesse have continued!
Posted by: Barb Allen | November 19, 2022 at 07:12 AM