My Favourite Unique Places to Eat in Wisconsin Dells | USA

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A big draw to the Wisconsin Dells are the big waterpark resorts. The majority of these resorts have many restaurants and places to eat within them. However, it’s worth exploring the rest of what the area has to offer and there are several quite unique places to eat in Wisconsin Dells!

Unique Places to Eat in Wisconsin Dells

Grateful Shed Truckyard

• 🗺1470 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy
• 🕖Open from 11am
• ⭐️Unique decor & seating options

The Grateful Shed is one of the most unique places to eat in Wisconsin Dells! It’s located in an old Greyhound bus depot and features several permanent food trucks and a bar. My favourite part is the seating options. You can sit in the backs of old truck beds, a REAL converted bus that’s ABOVE the bar or in Volkswagen buses!

There are currently 4 food trucks:

• Pasqual’s Cantina (tacos)
• The Beat Box (pizzas)
• Melted (grilled cheese sandwiches & burgers)
• Moo (desserts)

The decor is SO colourful and there’s an outside seating area with a fire pit, giant Jenga and Bags. The food trucks close up at 10pm/11pm but the bar, serving cocktails and several different beers from local Wisconsin and Midwest breweries, is open daily until 2am and 2.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

They have live music nights and other events such as Harry Potter trivia nights!

Moosejaw Pizza and Dells Brewing Co.

• 🗺110 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy S
• 🕖Open from 11am (Sometimes open for buffet breakfast, check website for details)
• ⭐️Great food and microbrewery

First things first. You are not too old to wear the moose antlers!! Every visitor is given cardboard moose antlers to wear…obviously they are optional, but I’m not going to lie, I did judge the adults that chose not to wear them! Even the delivery cars have giant moose on the roofs.

Yes Moosejaw is considered a pizza restaurant, their thick crust pizza bases are most certainly very THICK (and tasty), but they have a wide menu with many other dishes to pick from! These include: burgers and sandwiches, pasta, salads, steaks and more. I had the Friday ‘cod special’ which was very nice.

For adults visiting the Wisconsin Dells, upstairs is the Dells Brewing Co. microbrewery which has 12 beers always on tap.  For the designated drivers (or children), they also make their own sodas with free refills, I had the Kiwi Lime soda. Both the sodas and the beers are available to buy and take away!

Moosejaw also offer a buffet breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings during the off peak season and every day in the summer season.

Buffalo Phil’s Grille

• 🗺150 Gasser Rd
• 🕖Open from 11am
• ⭐️Food delivered by miniature railway

Buffalo Phil’s is the sister restaurant to Moosejaw so has the same Dells Brewing Co. products. However where Moosejaw has the novelty moose antlers, Buffalo Phil’s deliver food and drinks to the tables via miniature railway!

I don’t care how old you are, everyone gets excited when you see your food coming in a restaurant, so imagine how much more exciting it is when it comes on the back of a train!

There is also a large ‘Lego Brick City’ in the middle of track which is fun to look at too.

The menu includes: burgers & sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, ribs and more. On one of my visits I had the pulled pork sandwich. It gets delivered to the table plain (which is how I had it) and then you can pick from 6 different flavours of BBQ sauce to mix with it!

They also have an all your can eat salad bar, which you can pay extra for or have as a meal itself. The salad bar is self service though so if you specifically wanted the novelty of the train track delivery, you’ll need to order a basket meal.

Buffalo Phil’s Grille located next to Knuckleheads (with a door connecting the 2 businesses) which is a trampoline park with kids rides, bowling, an arcade and virtual reality games. If you are visiting the Wisconsin Dells with kids, this may be a great option for somewhere to eat!

Monk’s Bar & Grill

• 🗺220 Broadway
• 🕖Open from 10.30am Saturday & Sunday | Open from 11am Monday – Friday
• ⭐️Established in Wisconsin Dells in 1947

Monk’s Bar & Grill is a Wisconsin chain restaurant that started in the Wisconsin Dells in 1947 and has since expanded across the state. There are two locations, one is on Broadway (I visited this one) and the second is at The Wilderness Resort. It has been at the current Broadway location since 1962.

They have a range of ‘MonkBurgers’ and ‘Monk-wishes’ served in baskets. Monk’s is a good budget friendly option for lunch or dinner.

Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que

• 🗺31 Meadowview Dr, Lake Delton
• 🕖Open from 11am
• ⭐️Good for meat lovers

Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que is a chain restaurant with locations across the US, as well as overseas. There are actually two Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Ques in the Wisconsin Dells. The Lake Delton location is close to the Kalahari Resort and is open year round, but the one on Broadway is only open during the summer season.

They are known for their ribs, but there also serve burgers, sandwiches, chicken etc. Just like Moosejaw they have paper pig hats/ears that you can wear!

Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty

• 🗺411 State Hwy 13
• 🕖Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• 📅Seasonal
• ⭐️Great ‘all you can eat’ breakfast

I went to Paul Bunyan’s for the all you can eat Lumberjack buffet breakfast. Rather than it being a typical buffet, all the food is served in ‘small amounts’ to the table, the idea being if you finish anything you can then ask for more!  

The breakfast includes:

• pancakes
• sausage
• ham
• scrambled eggs
• fried potatoes
• biscuits and gravy
• fresh (warm!) homemade donuts
• orange or apple juice
• coffee and water.

We found what was served up was plenty for 2 of us to eat without needing anything else, we only asked for a juice top up!

Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty closes for the season near the end of October and re-opens in early spring. They are also open on various days for lunches and all you can eat dinners. What is served for dinner depends on the day, it will be chicken with either: St Louis BBQ pork ribs, jumbo beef back ribs, old-fashioned beef pot roast or haddock fish fry on a Friday.

They also have a lovely gift shop, with home decor as well as Wisconsin Dells merchandise. Next to Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty is the Dells Lumberjack Show which has shows between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

On The Bucket List

Hot Rocks

• 🗺399 Co Rd A
• 🕖Open from 4pm
• ⭐️Cook at table

I never made it to Hot Rocks as it is a little on the expensive side and during my visits to the Dells we decided to opt for more budget friendly options. The meat (steak, chops, seafood options) is served on a lava stone heated to 750F. The idea being that you are able to cook it to your exact liking!

It has a Tiki bar theme, so you can also get cocktails which as served in a takeaway Tiki cup!

Mr Pancake

• 🗺1405 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy
• 🕖7am – 1pm
• ⭐️Great for breakfast

One of my readers recommended having breakfast at Mr Pancake. Mr Pancake has been serving breakfast in the Wisconsin Dells for over 50 years!

The restaurant is in a building that looks like an old fashioned paddle steamer. The owner loved this style of boat that travelled up and down the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. Of course their menu is filled with pancakes as well as waffles and omelettes with various toppings and fillings.

Bobbers Island Grill

• 🗺750 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy S
• 🕖Open from 11am
• ⭐️Caribbean themed restaurant

Bobbers Island Grill is a Caribbean themed restaurant with seafood and jerk flavoured dishes. For those after a challenge, take on the ‘Big Juicy Bobber Burger‘, if you finish within 30 minutes you get a free T-shirt and get added to the hall of fame. Of course they also have tropical themed cocktails on the menu and there’s also an arcade. In the summer they have an outdoor patio area.

Final Words

As you can see, most places listed open around lunch time. If you are staying in a regular chain hotel, such as the Econo Lodge, Super 8, Hilton Garden Inn etc, breakfast is often included in the room rate.

There are also all the typical chain restaurants that are open for breakfast (McDonald’s, IHOP, Denny’s). I recommend Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty, however if you are visiting out of season, another option could be ‘The Keg & Patio‘ (🗺732 Oak St, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965, United States). They open from 7.30am and serve breakfast platters, omelettes, french toast and more.

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