Restaurants we'd send our parents to, breweries we'd send our brother-in-law to. Filtered by quadrant where it matters — sun on the dock at six, dinner by seven.
Green Lake's casual gathering hub since 1985 — brick-oven pizza, hand-crafted burgers, darts and pool, and a banquet room that seats 150 for the group that needs one. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday until May; the rest of the year it's the reliable fallback when nothing else has a table.
The Heidel House Hotel's waterfront fine-dining room, open to the public with the area's best wine and bourbon list — a calm, upscale room built around the lake view rather than a scene. Dinner Wednesday through Saturday; reservations recommended but not required.
A supper club on South Lawson Drive since 1948, lakeside enough that boaters tie up at the dock for dinner or a cocktail — prime rib, fresh walleye, and the classic supper-club menu that defines this part of Wisconsin. Closed Mondays.
A brewpub in Ripon's restored historic downtown, wood-fired pizza and small-batch beer from founder David Knuth — an outdoor biergarten, putting green, and event center attached. Closed Sunday and Monday; the wood-fired prime rib runs Saturdays only.