Hobnob Restaurant

The last vestige of supper club catering, the staff is crazy attentive, food is exquisite, menu is full, come back and feel like an important customer at a place that takes care of you with each detail. Love the Nob!

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Racine. We love being able to take our time through dinner and enjoying ourselves. I have never had anything that wasn’t delicious — though not spectacular. I like the food choices and usually can’t even eat dessert. We have been back to the Hobnob regularly. Most recently on January 15 with the whole family. For this area, it’s a five star, absolutely our favorite, but not really amazing food. It’s the culture, the consistency of the supper club ambiance that makes this a favorite. Try to get a booth for the best experience, even though you don’t get a view of the lake. The addition has better views, but the room is pretty vanilla. We generally have exceptional service.

I was in snowy Wisconsin last week to film «The Book of Birdie,» a new feature from London-​based Melancholy Star Productions that’s destined for next year’s Berlin Film Festival. Absolutely fell in love with Kenosha and the surrounding area (a slice of Midwest «real America») and Hob Nob, one of the more than 300 supper clubs for which Wisconsin is deservedly famous. Many of the Supper Clubs reportedly started as roadhouses during Prohibition, then stayed on as «destination» restaurants where you could spend the whole evening, from cocktails to dinner and nightclub-​style entertainment.
Hob Nob, on the shore of Lake Michigan, fits the bill. The interior is right out of a movie set. Purple ceilings, chartreuse lighting. Behind the bar is a picture window overlooking the lake. You expect to see Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the whole Rat Pack in one of the white tufted-​leather booths. Our group was there on a Saturday night (1÷9÷16) piled into one of the booths near the bar and close to where a keyboardist was playing piano show tunes. It’s the first time I’ve heard the theme from Billy Wilder’s «The Apartment» (Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine) outside of the movie itself. I was in Heaven.
The fare is straightforward American (steaks, seafood, chicken, pork and lamb chops, etc.) with the usual sides. The waiter was professional, but with Midwestern friendliness. Everyone in our group raved over the décor and the food. I started with an Old Fashioned cocktail (Of course!), then went on to the French onion soup, spinach salad, and hangar steak with citrus coulis. The steak came cooked to perfection and covered in a crunchy layer of french fried onion strings. I finished with a flourless chocolate cake, which was terrific, but wish I had tried one of the many dessert drinks (an alcohol-​ice cream concoction piled high in a stemmed glass) that kept floating by on trays. Next time for sure.
Hob Nob Supper Club is a step back in time that makes dining out an event. You go here as much for the atmosphere as for the food. The evening was delightful. The most fun I’ve had in a long time.

Not rating the food or dining experience, but the bar. Came here on New Years Eve and enjoyed a vintage atmosphere with live piano music and brandy old fashions. Food reviews seem pretty mixed, but if you want a fun bar experience with views of the lake, it’s a winner. I like the old décor and the oil painting of the past owner as you walk in the door. It’s a throwback to a different time and place when roadside supper clubs were a key fixture of the Wisconsin landscape. So it scores points for the history factor. Perched on a bluff overlooking the lake is a pretty nice bonus as well. If I were a guy who went on dates, it’s a great first date night place. Get a cocktail, break the ice. See where the night leads.

I have heard about this place for a while and finally decided to go this past Wednesday for an anniversary. We almost didn’t because of all the negative reviews. What on earth are these people talking about!!! The food and service were great! I’m sure that the restaurant has probably made some mistakes as every restaurant does, however any bad review given most likley was written by some entitled whiny baby who doesn’t know how a restaurant works. Allow me to defend what most people are complaining about… First off is the prices. They range about 23 dollars and up. About 30 to 40 for a steak. The entrees come with a soup AND salad. If you want baked French onion soup it’s 5.50. I got a FULL rack of ribs for 25 dollars, which is comparable to crappy restaurants like chile’s and TGIF fridays. These ribs were delicious! Slow cooked and tender made with homemade hickory bbq sauce. Not your average run of the mill sweet bbq sauce, but nothing too experimental. It was perfect. This is a very nice place with good food. If you are on a mission to pinch pennies go somewhere else. It is NOT overpriced. You are paying for quality food, so it is more than a casual restaurant will be. Also, people seem to complain about portion size… what??? The French onion soup and salad were more than enough! I couldn’t finish all of the ribs, and the ice cream drinks were piled so high they were leaning!!! My boyfriend got the duck and he couldn’t finish his either. The last thing that bugs me the most is people complaining how long everything takes. Are you kidding me??? It’s a supper club! You sit and enjoy food and company! Our whole experience took 2 hours and I loved it! You are not rushed in and out after eating low quality food! Also the reason why it takes so long is because they are taking time to prepare your meal! It’s not just heated up or coming from a bag! I understand that just because I had a great experience, doesn’t mean everyone does. I could also see that of it is really busy, they might have a hard time keeping up. So I would go on a weekday to avoid any possibility of something going wrong. And again EVERY restaurant makes mistakes from time to time, but that does not in any way mean that is how the restaurant should be judged as a whole. Very upset that some people’s reviews almost stopped me from going to this wonderful establishment. Go try it for yourself!!!

the food there is great. love the atmosphere of an old fashioned supper club

We went there for an anniversary dinner expecting a real treat as we heard it was a real good supper club I was very disappointed with the quality of the food and the portions and when I shared this with the manager she didn’t seem too interested in my distress of being disappointed with a anniversary meal I would not recommend this restaurant.

This was a wonders night. If you are interested in traveling back to the vintage Wisconsin supper club and this is the place for you. The Decour, lighting, the piano player and the menu — but especially a cocktail menu, throwback to days gone by. Eating at the hobnob is an experience.
We started the meal with fried calamari which was excellent. That was a statement not often made in the Midwest. Our entrées, my wife ordered the 8 ounce filet and I had the pepper corn encrusted New York strip, included both soup and salad. Everything was wonderful. Our waitress was young and attentive. The drinks were mixed just strong enough. All in all, I don’t have a single complaint.
If you’re going to try the hobnob you need to understand right out of the gate that you’re probably going to spend $ 50 per person. Just suck it up and own this fact or go somewhere else. This is not the sort of place I would visit weekly, or even monthly because it is inexpensive place, but for that special occasion this is the place you need to keep on your radar.
If you have never been to the hobnob you should do so at least once.

Group of 10 We’re in our 40’s. We were the young people. We had reservations and got right in. Our bill was about $ 500. Food was good, not excellent.
We would have tipped even on the gratuity if the waitress wasn’t so unpleasant. We were out to pour it on, wanted the service to be stupendous, but it was poor. Price tag on the menu is high. We wish we had been seated in the bar, instead it was like drinking in the church library! SHHHHHH! Not comfortable. One of our servers was great, the other not so much. We ordered. Beer and ended up going to grab our own at the bar cause she never brought it. I heard the setting outside is great, it was dark and chilly so we didn’t make it outside. The people playing in the bar seemed fun, wish we would of sat by the bar in the cool chairs. Worth it? Not sure if we’d go back. Did better at Sazzy B’s. Go there!!!

I drove up to this place from Chicago on the recommendation of a friend, and had a really nice time. If you’re a fan of mid-​century, Don Draper, Mad Men vibes, then this is going to be your joint! The setting on the lake is lovely, and the interior is unique and awesome. Clientele seemed heavy on folks 60+ who are un-​ironically down with the scene, but there were still some people in their 20’s or 30’s who were discovering something new and different.
Hobnob really is a throwback both in terms of menu offerings and experience. As it says (warns) on the top of the menu, your dinner will take 1.5−2.5 hours. Also, much of the food will be VERY RICH– much richer than most places I eat these days. Be warned, if that’s an issue for you!
The selection of craft beers was good, and so were the cocktails from the bar.
My companion and I shared an app, each had soup and salads, each got entrees, and had 4 alcoholic drinks between us. Total before tip was around $ 110. Seems like a very fair price for the food and ambiance and the view (but admittedly, I am coming from a perspective of dining out in Chicago, not Southeastern Wisconsin).
Would definitely go again!

Lovely location. Indifferent service. We waited 10 minutes before we saw a server. We then ordered drinks and a half hour later our new server said the bar was backed up and we would have our drinks soon. 10 minutes later we received our drinks and placed our orders immediately. We eventually got our soup, then later, salads. It was at the 2 hour mark we realized that the 3 tables seated after we arrived, already had their entrees. Our friend requested to see the manager and was told she was in the kitchen. He repeated his request and after a debate, the manager came out of the kitchen. He said we had been there for 2 hours and had not received our meals. She laughed and said she knew that. The 6 of us left, never to return.

We finally decided to try this place after living in Kenosha for years. We were seated promptly and received excellent service (I think his name was Sam? He really put forth an effort to save my husband’s dining experience!), however the food was just so-​so. I had the weiner schnitzel and while it was fine, it was nothing extraordinary, especially for the price. My husband first ordered the pecan crusted walleye and it was frankly bad, we had to send it back and receive something else. There was more breading than fish for one thing and once you got to the fish itself, it was overcooked and just old. Very fishy tasting. We eat fish a couple times a week at least, and our local grocery store has fresher fish than what they were serving! The cod my husband received instead was better, but still not all that great, especially again for the prices. Spinach salad okay, dressing seemed like it was missing something though. Clam chowder good. I don’t know if we would come back, this was sort of a «trial run» for a special occasion where we would potentially be ordering their $$$ steaks and after what we received, I have doubts as to the value and quality.

I’ve driven by here many times. thought it was a shabby old bar. looked it up on the internet and apparent its a nice restaurant so we went there to check it out. looked pretty nice inside and they had some cool jazz music playing. our waiter was pretty good too. that’s about it though. i ordered the walleye and it was deep fried, over cooked, overly breaded, and not fresh. i told the waiter to take it back. he was very nice. i ordered the cod instead. it tasted better but still over cooked and tough. very disappointed. the wife got the veal. it was OK. not what i was expecting for the price. all three plates where over priced. first and last time for sure. stars are for the waiter.

This is one of our «regular» restaurants, (technically don’t go out to eat that often). The view is absolutely amazing, and worth the visit.
We’ve never had a problem at the bar. The waitstaff service is hit or miss.
The food has always been very good, although I wish they would offer more specials.
We tried taking our nieces there for a special night, bad idea! The do not have a kids menu. They attempted to improvise, but it was pathetic.
Great Live Music!

We were here recently, I have never been compelled to write a review as I have never been impressed. This experience will probably be my last. We came here with a group of 10 to celebrate my son’s HS graduation. The service was nothing special and very slow. This meal cost us almost $ 700.00. Now normally this would not be an issue as we eat at expensive restaurants frequently, but this is just a poor value and in no way justifies that price tag.
We ordered the following:
Muscles — Half of the order of muscles wasn’t opened. I understand that shellfish dies, but you STILL plated it and sent it out. They shouldn’t have even sent it out. We notified the waitress, she didn’t care and it remained on the bill
Calamari — Standard
Soup — some had the baked French onion and some had the salmon chowder. My son found a bug in his Salmon chowder which caused everyone else to stop eating the chowder. Obviously disgusting. French onion was good.
Salads — They really need to rethink the upcharge for their Cesar. I am more than willing to pay for additional items but this is the most poorly put together Ceasar. They literally use grated Kraft parmesan. ZERO flavor and so lightly dressed, it didn’t taste like anything.
Entrees — We all ordered a variety of entrees, most of them were steak. My son ordered the surf and turf which consisted on Filet and lobster tail. We were informed that they don’t have the size lobster tail and that the surf and turf would be $ 150.00. They would not honor the price listed on the menu. That’s just bad business… He ended up with steak and crab legs. The crab legs were old. He’s young, so he was still impressed because he doesn’t know any better. There were actually several items that were requested that they were out of. I had the filet medallions and they were absolutely awful. I only could eat one. The texture was so off putting. No one finished their steaks, which speaks volumes.
I am a huge fan of supper clubs (Del Bar in WI Dells is my personal fave), but only if they are done right. This one is not. The one star I am giving is for the view of the lake and the French onion soup.
This place really needs to step up their game or I don’t see how this place can survive.

Fantastic view. One of the best brandy old-​fashions I’ve ever had, props to the bartender. Attentive and sweet wait staff made sure everyone was happy. Eight in our party and everyone enjoyed their entrees (though there was so much food before the entrees arrived most of us we’re full), from prime rib to lamb, to seafood.
Soup AND salad included. Warm breads. This is a classy place, so if you are looking for cheap eats in your jeans and Harley t-​shirt, you may consider someplace else. Didn’t find it overpriced at all. Think there are a lot of red neck whiners Unilocaling that need to find a Denny’s!

Went there as a group (about 20). We were treated rudely and ignored. We were not all wearing suits, but no one was dressed shabbily. Everyone ordered lobster. It wasn’t Maine lobster but the cheaper Aussie stuff. This was not disclosed on the menu nor was it reflected in the price. The bill was close to 750 with the tip. Very disappointing for the money spent.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten in the dining room here, largely because I was never terribly impressed by the food. However, the Hobnob is now one of my favorite places to go for dinner and here is why: the bar and it’s view.
The combination of the throwback supper club atmosphere with the view of Lake Michigan creates the perfect place to enjoy a cocktail.
My husband and I love going for a drink or two to enjoy the view. Often we’ll order the baked French onion soup while we’re there, along with the steak kabob appetizer. This is always enough food for dinner and is enjoyable while also being affordable.
The piano player/​lounge singer is also highly entertains if you enjoy a bit of kitsch, as are the bartenders while they make the signature grasshopper drinks for which the Hobnob is known.

Overall rating is it was just OK. Service was friendly but it took a long time. From the time of arrival we were immediately seated (reservations made in advance) but it took a while to take our dinner order. The amount of time that had passed between courses was unexplainably long. Food was ok. Steak was a bit over cooked and tough but had ok flavor. Prime rib was more tender but fell a little flat on the flavor side. Probably would not be top choice on my list of «must go to» restaurants.

I liked the old school atmosphere of the HobNob. Upon entering it was like going back in time (in a good way) to a 1950’s smoky supper club — today without the smoke. There was a jazz trio playing smooth, cool jazz serenading the patrons. The bar was old school and it looked out to Lake Michigan. Very nice! I ordered the Friday Fish Fry which was unfortunately flavorless. Salt and lemon did little to help this fish so ultimately I gave up trying. The Fish Fry was bad and the steaks were quite high-​priced so it is difficult to see myself returning to HobNob for the food. I shall be back for the view from the bar.