Dining out in Wisconsin began with meals served in 19th-century stagecoach inns to travellers; their fare was typically home cooking made from whatever local food was readily available, such as meat and potatoes, wild game, fish, and pickled and preserved foods during the winter months. In cities, large hotels created restaurants that served a transient clientele associated with conspicuous consumption and overindulgence, and restaurants themselves were often seen as decadent and sinful. Only after automobiles became common in the 1920s did the modern restaurant evolve.

"Buildings with Taste: Restaurant Architecture in Wisconsin" by Jim Draeger at Wisconsin History Explorer.

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Restaurants in Wisconsin

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