Dobie’s Restaurant & Lounge

I love the feel of the old supper club and this place definitely has it. We sat at the bar for half hour waiting for our table and the bartender was really nice and she made great drinks. My friends really enjoyed the old fashions. She was making some ice cream drinks that looked great and she gave us a sample of each.
After getting seated we got our lazy Susan of snacks and it was great. From the meatballs to the patte there is something for everyone. I ordered the shrimp and they were gigantic. They were cooked perfect and my potato was good with it. My two dinner mates got the huge porterhouse steaks. WOW! They were huge. They said it was really good. It smelled good!
If you are looking for a new fancy swanky restaurant, this isn’t your place but if you want a good meal with an old Wisconsin feel, head over. I suggest reservations!

Some friends and I made the treck from Chicago to have a supperclub experience. We were not disappointed.
We started at the bar, where the bartender was funny and so sweet. I wish I could remember her name. We all ordered brandy old fashioneds sour. They actually have a mix they make because they go through so many of them. It was a great drink (ok…great three drinks.) While we were sitting at the bar, we got to spy on others food. We were all planning on getting steak of some sort, but the fried shrimp went by – it looked and smelled incredible. We decided it was time to sit down to eat, since we were about to steal shrimp from some cute old man.
We sit down, and place our order. Different steak orders for all. I am trying to limit carbs, so I ordered mine without potato – and without hesitation, our waitress asked if I wanted both soup and salad. How nice! We were also brought the «susan» as they call it (the lazy susan relish tray) which had some tasty bites. It was a good size – not too much so we filled up before dinner.
I had the side salad with good old fashioned ranch, and the french onion soup. Dressing was great, and the soup was good – I wouldn’t come back here just for the soup, but it was good. Then came the entrees – I had the petite tenderloin. It was perfectly cooked, charred on the outside, still pink on the inside, perfectly salty with plenty of au jus. One of the best steaks I’ve had. Others at the table had the t-​bone (which was enormous) and the steak tips with noodles – which was also excellent.
We decided to top off the night with a trio of after dinner drinks – a grasshopper, a brandy alexander, and a pink squirrel. They were the perfect ending to a perfect meal. I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in the area. Good service, great food, and a nice comfortable atmosphere.

I love this place! …I come here with a friend often and we usually get the chopped steak. Some may think it’s just a hamberge but not how they make it. Its seasoned perfectly with this yummy juice!. It comes with a choice of potato I get the homemade hasbrowns and they are crispy and golden brown. It also comes with a choice of soup or salad and I get the fench onion soup. Its homemade and so good! It comes with homemade garlic chips and they are so yummy in the soup. It also comes with a thing called a last sousan. It has homemade meat balls, pickled corn, green beans, cucmber salad and beets. Is a really good appetizer! The place is older in style not very big but the food is top notch! I would recommend this place for sure! Service is pretty decsnt. Usaslly one server for the whole room but it’s not big so I guess it works.

Went for old fashioneds and dinner with coworkers after work and was surprised how much fun we ended up having here. Went on Wednesday and there were very few people there. A couple of regulars ended up buying us a few rounds of drinks, the owner came out and gave us a round on the house and the bartender gave us a round of birthday shots. The liquor was a flowin’. Shout out to Laurie and the other staff for being so nice and making us feel so welcome. We all ordered the beer battered fish special which came with 3 large pieces of fish, soup and your choice of potato for around $ 10.85. Definitely recommend the french onion soup. Yum yum. We will be back for more fun times!

A Wonderful dining experience. The way supper clubs are suppose to be. I find they make a GREAT Brandy olé fashion and they continue to hold true to the relish plate that comes before the meal. I especially enjoy when the seasonal homemade liver pâté is included. The wait staff is attentive and the meal was well orchestrated. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting to experience what a supper club of past days was like. If there is one complaint, it would be the closeness of tables and chairs near each other, but the food makes up for it. Worth the drive from the heart of Milwaukee.

I was extremely happy with my tenderloin steak sandwich. It was a giant butterfly cut cooked a perfect medium rare. It was simple (no lettuce or tomatoes): German style roll, a jus, and came with soup or salad and fries or a baked potato. The baked potato was awesome and came out piping hot. I skipped the French Onion soup in favor of the clam chowder which was light and tasty. All for under $ 15.
We really liked the relish/​salad plate that came out — I think this only comes with entrees but I’m not sure. It came wjth a light tasting liverwurst, hot Swedish meatballs and some very good cucumber salad. The other stuff was very 1950s and fun to eat. It felt very central European with some crackers and high quality mini rolls. The relish/​salad made me happy.
My brother got the tenderloin and jumbo shrimp. The massive shrimp were like fish filets but he was expecting a round tenderloin cut but they served a side length cut. He absolutely loved loved loved the jumbo shrimp and while the tenderloin cut was a surprise he rated it good. He did say our sandwiches looked amazing.
They are not just a steak joint. They offer several fried fish options, chicken, pork chops and even fried liver and grilled onions like your uncle used to cook. Oh, and I wanted to try the sirloin hamburgers.
I dug the décor and our server was a very friendly young woman. There were regulars at the bar so there is a neighborhood hang out vibe. While not in your face welcoming like TGIF at the mall the server/​hostess was nice and walked us to our table. We had the sour old fashioned (next time I’d opt for sweet here) and these were good.
Thus what you get here is a Milwaukee original that looks and feels like the supper clubs that once dotted the whole city in the 1950s. That in and of itself is worth a visit — and that tenderloin sandwich… Yum! So, if you’re expecting a pop up restaurant or a hipster take on Happy Days era Milwaukee you won’t find that here. If you’re from Milwaukee you went to places like this as a kid — and they have a kids menu here too!
While some other reviews are Luke warm on the big dollar steaks as was my brother I’d come here every time I’m in Milwaukee for a damned good steak sandwich and an old fashioned. With such a mix of options at several price points I see this place as both a steak joint where you can drop $ 100 a person with drinks or $ 15 – 40 with a drink. If you get the burger or steak sandwich I’m sure you can get in and out for less than $ 40 for two. Not bad at all.
I do plan to come back and try the fish. Interestingly, they had quite a few options in the fish category — as much as the steak so while it is a «steak joint» I think fish lovers are a big customer base as well. The fish options seem like the hidden gems here.
I’ll be back!

Was given a steak with tons of grizzle and strings, ordered med rare, served well done. Server gets 5 stars chef told server when she took steak back, she didn’t. Do her job.

We have been to Dobies many times over the years, last evening was the first time in about 3 years and the quality has really gone down hill. Drinks were weak, the French onion had no onions in it and a tiny lump of cold cheese floating on top. We were asked if you want cucumber and tomato on our salads, WHAT? It is a salad of course we want the salad ingredients on the salad. Hash-​brown was soaked in grease. My steak had to be sent back as it was not cooked properly and their cheesecake, well lets just say J-​E-​L-​L-​O. The one up side is that once the steak was re-​done our actual main entrees were quite good. Cant say we wiill be going back anytime soon, will probably make the drive and spend the extra $$ and go to Packing House. It really is a shame because Dobies used to be amazing.

Great supper club with GREAT food! Service was decent as well. We will definitely go back again and again. They accommodated our group with anything we needed. We were a group of 25 adults. A+

My husband and I went on a busy Saturday night. The dining room looks like a giant living room, which we found amusing. Service was very friendly. We each had a brandy Old Fashioned, which was excellent. Relish tray was good but as I remarked to my husband, it tasted like my childhood, in a good way. The salad was ok. Mostly iceberg, a few bits of cabbage. We got blue cheese crumbles as well but it was a bland and dry cheese.
We wound up at Dobie’s just by an internet search. We were very hungry and we knew we wanted steak in a supper club. So, that’s how we landed there. The steak selection is not great, for my tastes. T-​bone, filet, strip, porterhouse and a sirloin (don’t know from which part of sirloin). I like fatty, fatty goodness when having a steak; prime rib or rib eye. I like a filet with some sort of crust on it, like blue cheese or horseradish, etc. My husband got the sirloin and shrimp and I settled on a t-​bone.
The sirloin wasn’t bad. The texture was tender and had a beefy flavor, but not much sear or color. The shrimp were deep fried and were like the size of a chicken leg. My husband liked them. I didn’t try them. The T-​bone was very difficult to saw through. The cut was uneven and there was silver skin, unrendered fat and gristle throughout. The sear was not even. They broil the steaks and the flavor was that of a gas broiler. A small part of the steak had no color at all. And the biggest bummer is that the steak was livery and grainy. Blech. I don’t think it’s a higher quality steak than the grocery. And for the price-​absolutely not. Anyway, there is no reason we will be back as don’t live near there. If you want a delightful brandy Old Fashioned in an old school atmosphere, check it out.

A delightful Suprise… I visited this old world steak house and was truly satisfied by the food quality and presentation. My Steak was cooked to perfection and the sides were of equally great. It compares to any chicago steak house. If you have not visited this place you should. This is not a chain restaurant and I can assure you that the meat quality is much better than a Outback Steak house in which one reviewer compared it to. Saint Francis has a restaurant they can be proud of.

The good: This place serves dessert drinks like Brandy Alexanders and Pink Squirrels. Which is becoming a bit more uncommon — so it’s nice to see a restaurant that still goes the extra mile when it comes to drinks.
The waitstaff is attentive and courteous. You won’t find better waitresses. The bartender is also extra friendly.
The downside: The food just wasn’t as good as I was hoping for. The Lazy Susan has been highly praised but I just wasn’t that impressed. I felt like I was eating at my great aunt’s house and she was serving me things that no one really eats anymore because she needed to clean her cabinets out. The veggies that come with it are pretty outdated. I knew I’d be eating from a menu created decades ago but it was worse than I was expecting. It’s possible to serve a menu from previous eras, but if you’re going to do that you need to make sure the food is actually done well. The meatballs tasted terrible and all of the vegetables came from a can. If you’re gonna do outdated menus, go all out and do them fresh. I half expected a jello aspic to show up. There was also high praise for the cheese sauce served in the center. It was just okay. It was pretty salty and I felt like regular old Wisconsin cheddar would have been better. We live in Wisconsin with ready access to Merkts or Kaukauna spreads which are by far better than the spread they make here, so I’m not really sure why anyone would like this stuff compared to what we can get at the supermarket.
The rolls were great though. They also make these bread «chips» which were also really good.
The entrée was just so-​so. Again the recipe was outdated and I know there is an attempt to preserve the old style supper club feel, but I think if you made some slight alterations to the menu and improved the recipes a bit it would improve things greatly without taking anything away from the supper club aspect.
Really the main reason to go here is for the bar. Friendly regulars, a friendly bartender who knows what he’s doing and again, those wonderful dessert drinks that never go out of style.
I’d definitely come back — but not for the food.

I was taken to Dobie’s on my birthday having never been there or hearing about it. Upon entering I was immediately swept off my feet and not set back down all evening. Dobie’s took up every single spot on my dance card, was unapologetic about it, and I was delighted the whole time.
You’re probably going to read reviews about «ohhh ohhh canned mushrooms.» And that might be true but I wouldn’t know because I don’t eat them because I’m not a street animal and I care about myself. So if you’re some kind of self-​appointed mushroom connoisseur get your life together.
The next thing you might read is it’s expensive and this part is true.
I’m going to try and cut to the most important part as soon as possible but don’t want to leave out interesting details. I ordered an old fashion sweet and was asked if I wanted olives in it. This may be part of some system of tests and quizzes that Dobie’s puts you through, but either way I didn’t let it ruin my evening. The steaks are actually really well prepared, flavorful and everything that’s important about a steak. It’s not the best steak you’ll ever have so calm down but it’s really good. The service was pretty good — I find old timey waitstaffs to be quite charming.
People will be dressed all over the board. I saw some corncob wearing a tuxedo shirt and then an elderly couples dressed to the elderly nines. I looked cool and articulate so aim for that and you won’t look out of place.
All this stuff is boring but factual. Here’s the most important part of the evening. THE LAZY SUSAN!!! How do you even begin to describe this?
For starters you’ve never had it before, you’ve never even seen anything like it. It sits on the menu next to assorted breads or something (I can’t remember the exact wording) and next to some other words. Go there, experience it, and you won’t be like «well it can’t be that special if he can’t remember the details.» It will be all you can talk about. It’s so bizarre and so good.
So you’ll order your whatever and then pretty soon a basket of bread will appear out of nowhere. It has the usual suspects: dinner roll, Saltines, french bread, etc, whatever. Then out pops a lazy susan. Now I guess I really had no idea what to expect. Maybe a bunch of bread stacked upon a round wooden table that spins. It’s not that. It’s like this weird round porcelain container that houses small glass pyrex bowls of treats. None of them really make sense in the context of the other ones. Some of these combinations I’ve never seen and certainly never imagined would be possible.
In the middle sits the king of the treats, the boss treat. Boss treat is some sort of cheese spread. Boss cheese is thickish, and slightly runny. It’s not immediately clear where this is supposed to go, if you just stick your fingers in it or what. But it’s excellent! Surrounding the king of the lazy susan is a bunch of odd pickled treats. One had green beans, onions and kidney beans. One was corn and something else. One had Swedish meatballs in it (because why not?). And the other ones I’m drawing a blank on but they were equally impressive and endlessly entertaining.
Really the lazy susan is something else. It’s important and it should be experienced. Best birthday dinner I’ve had in forever.

We drove to Dobie’s, which in itself is a stretch for us as we have plenty of dining choices within walking distance of home, on the advice of a local restaurant owner whose opinion we hold in high regard.
Arriving in the parking lot late afternoon, I noticed only a couple of cars in the lot, late model Buicks and the like. I didn’t think too much of it as it was not really prime dining hour.
We headed inside and found the place empty save for what I assume were a couple of servers, one was an older lady and one was in her 20s or 30s, huddled together chatting. The older lady turned to us and shot out «Can we HELP you?», somewhat sarcastically, it seemed. «Are we able to eat dinner at the bar,» my husband asked. «No.» was all she said. If we’d had our druthers, this probably would have prompted us to leave, but our friend had recommended the place and we wanted to try it out, so we pressed on. My husband asked for a table. «Do you have a reservation?» she asked. We didn’t, and apparently although they were deserted around 4 p.m., there was no way they could get us in and out before the dinner rush hit.
We left, and based on the way we were treated as first-​time visitors, I won’t be making the drive back to Dobie’s.

This place was just ok. I’ve had better steak at Outback and who uses canned mushrooms anymore. Glad I had a $ 25 gift certificate I purchased for $ 5 on Dine In/​Out. I would not recommend this place!

If you are looking for a place to be hip and be seen, this isn’t it.
If you are are seeking trendy «new American» cuisine, move on.
If you love little bits of food on a lazy susan, you might want to give Dobie’s a try.
My parents used to come to this place when I was a kid in the 80s on «date nights.»
My husband and I visit at least twice a year on our own date nights. One of the obligatory nights is New Year’s Eve, when they give you a free little bottle of Asti when you sit down. Even on a crowded night, I haven’t been disappointed by Dobie’s. The servers are usually high school aged girls who are not the most engaging, but accurately take orders. The décor isn’t fancy or interesting. The cocktails are great. I like to be old fashioned, and get an Old Fashioned as my first drink here.
This place is about steak and shrimp. I have had a consistently wonderful filet Mignon at Dobie’s over the course of the past 8 years. Always served with the included lazy susan. Never under or over-​cooked. Just right. I get it with onions and mushrooms on top, just like my mom used to. My hubby loves getting the giant shrimp. They are indeed HUGE. And the prices here are much less than elsewhere.
The dress code varies wildly. We like to «dress up» for dinner, and have seen others do the same. We have also seen folks in jeans and a sweater here. I prefer the former.
We like coming to Dobie’s for a nice night out. It is solid and dependable. What it lacks in trendy, it makes up for in taste and affordability. Highly recommend.

Went to Dobie’s by a recommendation from family; The staff was genuinely friendly and after a review of the menu, elected to order the breaded lake perch. Within moments, they brought out a small lazy susan tray with treats and other small breads. When the main course arrived, the cut of fish was very thin and overly breaded. After all was said and done, I was slightly displeased with what was served versus the prices paid. Would I recommend it to someone else? No, but I do hear they have a good steak. however, it’s at $ 32.95. I’ll pass next time…

My wife & I love this place. It’s like dining in the 50’s. The service is always good and the steaks are great. The prices are very reasonable, although they have increased significantly in the last few years. A weak wine/​beer list is made up for by great cocktails. We certainly don’t miss the cigarette smoke which, as one reviewer noted, used to be a real bummer in the relatively cozy dining room. The surf & turf (with lobster) is especially recommended, and pay the extra dollar for the hash brown potatoes!

I live in Crivitz Wisconsin 180 miles away from Dobies, it has to be the best place to dine out in the Milwaukee area so we go every time we get the chance. The lazy susan is great, home made soup is very good. They are known for their Jumbo Shrimp and they are fantastic ! Steaks are very good along with every thing on the menu. The atmosphere is quaint and quiet and the service is excellent.
Bruce Staedler

I really wanted to love this place… but I just can’t. It had everything going for it. I do love mom and pop joints and this sure looks and feels of it. Hell, it’s got to be good… it’s been around since 1954 right? Wrong!
Tonight, my wife and I arrived for dinner @ 6 pm. Upon walking in, we were overwhelmed with cigarette smoke… Strike 1.
There was no one to greet or seat us and no signage (please seat yourselves, please wait to be seated, etc.). After standing on the edge of the dining room/​bar area for several minutes, my wife went to the bar and asked if we could get some help. The bartender quickly came to our aid with some menus and asked us where we would like to be seated. We asked if there was a nonsmoking section and were told no… Strike 2.
There were seven empty tables to choose from, however four of them were sitting dirty from earlier customers. Once seated, we looked over the menu and made our choices waited for our waiter, busboy anyone to welcome us, get our drink order, tell us the specials for the evening… hell, just say «Hi folks, I’ll be right with you». Instead, nothing. Fifteen minutes later, still no one came to our table… Strike 3.
At 6:24 pm we got up, we walked out passed those four dirty tables never to return again. Sorry, I really wanted to love this place.