Black Otter Supper Club

Great all around, from large soup & salad bar to very friendly staff. We ordered the rib eye special and both steaks were cooked perfectly and had the most amazing flavor! A must try when in the area or even worth the extra travel time just to try out! You won’t be disappointed.

This was a great experience! My sister has been in Wisconsin for a few months and her colleagues recommended this supper club to us. It’s definitely a different style of dining than what we’re used to (we’re from Canada) — sitting and ordering in the bar before being sat in the dining room. Everyone was so friendly — the hostess, the bartenders and our server were all welcoming. We had an appetizer of fried cheese curds while waiting for our table — because, well, when in Wisconsin!
The salad bar was alright — nothing fancy. What really stood out were our steaks! My sister and I had the small (9oz) tenderloins and my dad had the «small» 32oz prime rib. The meat was tender and juicy, all cooked to perfection (medium rare). I would recommend the Black Otter Supper Club — especially for tourists who aren’t familiar with these types of establishments!

Fantastic place!!! I have eaten here at least 25 times and I have never had a bad meal. Great service, great drinks, great salad bar. Top notch supper club!!!

Black Otter is the place to be in Hortonville on a Friday night! Great old fashioneds with huge olives. Good food selection and a great salad bar to start off your meal. Great portions, too! Blackened haddock was perfectly seasoned. It does get crowded in there, so be patient and have a couple of drinks at the bar.

Prime rib and steaks are all perfect. Cooked as requested and the au jus for the prime rib is out of this world. Nice salad bar with lots of options, good soups and rolls. BUT the wait sucks. We have waited over two hours on two different occasions. Wish they would allow you to enjoy an after dinner drink at your table since there is never any place to sit in the bar area. Bottom line, excellent food but really crowded and very long wait. They don’t take reservations.

One of the best places to go for dinner. Everything on the menu is great. The portions are HUGE and the prices are incredible. The wait staff is extremely freindly. Always on the list of places we must eat when we are in WI.

Parking can be a challenge. The lot is on the smaller side so you might have to park on the adjacent side street. When you first get there, you go to the hostess where they give you a number. Armed with menus, you sit down at the bar area. Grab a drink or just hangout. Within 10 minutes, a server came by and took our dinner order. 5 more minutes goes by and she’s back and tells us to head to our table. Once seated, the server will take your drink order. They have a full bar and an ok beer selection, maybe 10 – 12 choices. You can help yourself to the soup and salad bar. Salad bar wasn’t huge but was adequate. They had Beef Barley and New England clam chowder. I tried both which were decent. For my entrée I had the ribeye and fried lobster combo which came with a potato. Ribeye was a 2, fried lobster was a 3. I would not go out of my way to go again but if in the area, I would go again and will try a different entrée. Service was good, no complaints there.

I have a few friends that told me that I HAVE to try this place! I finally got a chance and was prepared to be blown away… I was but not all in a good way.
I knew that the Black Otter was known for large portions and a great salad bar. What I perceived as a huge portion was surpassed with what actually arrived at my table. I ordered the Prime Rib that was so big it almost freaked me out! Think the rack of meat put on the window of Fred Flinstone’s car… You know the one hat tips the car over!!!
The Prime Rib comes in 4 sizes… Really big, even bigger, too god damn big and you have got to be kidding me!!! I have the 2^nd smallest and I took over half home with me to the next day. If you eat either of the bigger sizes you get your picture taken and added to the wall of many other idiots who had to have gone home sick!
I ordered my PR to be medium rare but it definitely came out rare. Like most men, I wouldn’t send it back (nor will I ask for directions). Another person in my group ordered his medium and his came out perfect. Even though it was too rare my meal was very good. The left overs were even better the next day when I fried them in a little olive oil!
As a side dish I tried the potatoes and fried onions. They were excellent! So was the said bar. I really like the blue cheese dressing but was let down with the soup and the shredded lettuce. The soup said careful HOT, but it was far from it, maybe luck warm at best.
Overall, good experience. Had some fun, laughed at the amount of food on my plate and enjoyed most of the meal. Be prepared to wait on a weekend because they do not take reservations.

After reading other reviews and listening to hype from friends, my wife and I decided to try the Black Otter for our wedding anniversary dinner.
When we arrived, parking was a bit disorganized. There is an asphalt strip in front of the door that isn’t clearly parking, but cars parked there anyway. We parked in the dirt lot on the south side of the building just next to some railroad tracks.
When we went inside, we were greeted, asked where we were from, and given a number. They then sat us at the bar while we waited for the server to come take our food order. The bartender asked us what we wanted to drink and we couldn’t decide so she promised to come back in a few minutes. She never came back to take a drink order so we didn’t bother to order any.
After waiting ten minutes or so, the server came and took our food order. About five minutes after that, she came back to tell us which table number was ours, although she didn’t offer to show us to our table. She told us about the soup and salad bar.
We found our seat in the dimly lit dining room and went to the salad bar to get some food. After we had eaten that, our entrees came out. We ate, paid the check with a modest tip, and left. Here’s my breakdown of the evening:
Atmosphere/​décor: Dated and ugly. My wife noticed that the window shades were somewhat dusty and dirty. The place was altogether depressing and way too dim in the dining room to see anything. This place needs some serious updating and needs to get their décor out of the 1970s.
Salad/​soup bar: The salad bar was comically small despite our friends’ insistence that they had a «huge» salad bar. The ingredients at the bar were tasty, but the lettuce was obviously from a giant bag of shredded lettuce and not freshly cut. The soup was tasty but definitely canned or frozen and not made fresh. Altogether OK but not up to par from a Wisconsin supper club.
Food: Fairly good, but nothing terribly spectacular. My steak was slightly undercooked which was disappointing from a place supposedly known for awesome steaks. It was a very large portion for the price, making it an OK value.
Service: This is where the Black Otter really fell flat. Like I mentioned above the bartender didn’t seem interested in trying to take a drink order when we weren’t sure what we wanted the first time. The server did an OK job. She was very polite and friendly, but seemed to be doing the minimum amount of work necessary for a server. She never offered to take a drink order or asked if we’d like to order dessert (so we didn’t).
I really disliked being seated directly at the bar despite the restaurant only having five out of about 15 – 20 tables occupied when we walked in. Having our food order taken at the bar and then being seated to eat was also very strange. The whole thing reeks of this restaurant trying to maximize profit by minimizing your interaction with the server and maximizing your time at the bar even if you don’t necessarily want to be at the bar. No matter since the bartender didn’t seem terribly interested in selling us drinks anyway. I wonder what they do if guests under 21 come in for dinner? Do they sit them at the bar anyway? Sounds like a recipe for trouble.
Sorry Black Otter but we won’t be back. If we lived locally you might be good for an occasional dinner out but you’re definitely not worth the 35 – 45 minute drive otherwise.

Wow. I did not have steak, I had walleye, but it could have fed 3 people. Also sampled some ice cream drinks.
Would return.

I will miss this place. I have been visitng it once a year while going to the EAA fly in. Hotel rooms have gotten so ridiciulous though with their prices and policies, I think this will be my last year.
Anyway, the restaurant: When you come in they seat you at the bar area even if they are not busy. You sit there awhile, a waitress comes in and takes your order for dinner, then tells you she will prepare a table for you. Then she comes back in and tells you what table number to sit at. Seems odd all these extra steps you have to take. They make you wait even if you make it clear you are not going to order anything from the bar.
But, the wait is worth it. they have a wonderful salad bar and the New England clam Chowder is excellent. The meat servings are huge and reasonably priced. If you are staying in the Appleton area, definitely give this place a visit.

When my husband and I have a night out and we want a great dinner and nice friendly service, this is the place we pick.
The food is outstanding, I have yet to have anything that was not top notch, the salad bar and soup bar is great.
We have a date night this weekend and we are going to be there.

I have gone here a few times over the years and always enjoyed the service, décor, and food. Not the best supper club ever but a darn good one.