Chippewa Falls Restaurants: Bridge Street to the Lake

The restaurants Chippewa Falls has fall into two camps: a short run of Bridge Street you can cover on foot, or a handful of destinations you drive to. Downtown is where the steak, the pizza and the tacos are. Kennedy Road and Lake Wissota are where the breakfast crowd and the supper-club regulars go. This guide follows that split, with what visitors say about each room and the limits worth knowing before you set out.

Bridge Street, where one parking spot covers dinner and a drink

Bridge Street is the walkable half: Wissota Chophouse, Casa Mexicana and Max's Bistro & Bar all sit within about 0.2 miles of one another, and JimBob's Pizza is a block over on River Street. The street has history behind it: boardwalks went in along Bridge Street in the 1870s, and the Bridge Street Commercial District has been on the National Register of Historic Places since July 1994. The Chophouse's Google profile lists a free lot and free street parking, which is worth knowing on a Saturday night.

Its own site describes Certified Angus Beef ribeyes, New York strips and filets, plus seafood and sides meant to be shared, and points diners to the green Wissota doors. Volume One covered it as a new chophouse in January 2017. Dinner runs 4 to 9 PM Monday through Saturday, and the restaurant is closed Sundays. Its Google price range is $40 to $90 per person, so this is the splurge on the street.

Reviewers who ordered the ribeye, the Chilean sea bass and the raspberry tiramisu came away happy, and one praised a server who was candid about which dishes he liked less. The calamari draws a warning: it is sautéed rather than fried, and one diner found the rings chewy. Another reviewer thought the bill was high for what arrived, so treat it as a special-occasion table rather than a default. Reserve through OpenTable or by phone at 715-720-0550, and ask about the 4 to 6 PM happy hour its site advertises with half-price taps and wine by the glass (call to confirm).

The counter sells hand-tossed whole pies and pizza by the slice, plus subs, stromboli and smotherella sticks. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 AM to 7 PM (its search snippet says daily, so call first), and most items fall in a $10 to $20 range. One reviewer called the smotherella sticks amazing, with almost a foot of cheese pull. Another waited longer than they liked with two people working the counter, and a third reported a gluten-free crust that tasted off, so the gluten-free option deserves a question at the register. The same building houses Market on River, a food hall with small shops and a rooftop on its fourth floor.

Two more dining rooms sit north of the Chophouse on the same street: Casa Mexicana at 324 N Bridge St and Max's Bistro & Bar at 213 N Bridge St. Travel Wisconsin's page calls Casa Mexicana one of the best Mexican restaurants in downtown Chippewa Falls, a line worth reading as the restaurant's own pitch, so call for hours before you go. A local guide from December 2024 named Max's a fan favorite and singled out the seafood pasta, while the county visitor page lists street tacos, fish tacos, seafood linguini and margaritas. The two descriptions of Max's do not match each other, and neither page lists hours, so check its menu and hours before you walk over.

For something sweet, Olson's Ice Cream is at 611 N Bridge St, and its site says the family tradition goes back to 1944.

If dinner should start with a beer, a flight at Leinenkugel's Leinie Lodge on Elm Street is about 0.5 miles up from the Chophouse and pours more than 15 Leinenkugel beers.

For something stronger, the bars along Bridge Street are close enough to string into one evening.

Kennedy Road, where breakfast runs all day

Chippewa Family Restaurant at 1701 Kennedy Rd is the daytime answer, about 1.4 miles northeast of the Chophouse. Its site says it is open seven days, 5 AM to 8 PM, with breakfast served all day.

The kitchen puts a daily special on its site: a Friday fish menu of cod or walleye, baked or beer-battered, a Thursday stuffed pepper soup, and a chicken dumpling soup it calls famous and serves every day. Reviewers back that up with the hot beef sandwich under gravy, the stuffed pepper soup, a mushroom-and-Swiss Hubby Burger, and a cinnamon roll one diner nearly finished alone. A table of seven called the sausage gravy and fluffy pancakes some of the best brunch they had eaten, and a party of ten was seated quickly. The one note of criticism is that a diner wanted crispier shredded hash browns. Google puts a plate at $10 to $20, the lot is free and the entrance is wheelchair accessible. Of the four main stops here, this is the one open every day, which makes it the Sunday daytime answer.

For sushi, Sakura Japanese Cuisine at 360 Chippewa Mall Dr is about 0.8 miles southeast of the Chophouse, serving familiar sushi and simple Japanese entrées, so call for hours before you go. It sits beside the Chippewa Mall rather than on Bridge Street, so it suits a group where someone wants something other than steak or pizza.

Lake Wissota, where the supper club sets the pace

Wissota High Shores Supper Club is the dinner out of town, about 4 miles east of Bridge Street on County Highway X above Lake Wissota. Volume One readers ranked it first for Best Supper Club in 2023, and third for Best Restaurant in Chippewa Falls.

The building has served diners since 1936, and it reopened under Brian and Kim Wogernese, who also own the Chophouse. The room has floor-to-ceiling windows, a patio, an enclosed pavilion, 20 beers on tap and ten boat parking spots at the base of the restaurant for guests who arrive by water. It follows the pattern of Wisconsin's supper clubs generally: a salad bar with the entrée, Old Fashioneds at the bar and a Friday fish fry. Hours run Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 9 PM, closed Monday and Tuesday, with entrées around $20 to $30 on its Google price range.

Reviews split, which is worth saying plainly. Diners praised the big salad bar, the soup and the prime rib, and one traveler the flight of Old Fashioneds. A Father's Day party reported a long wait despite a reservation, a dry steak and a thin portion of fish, and another table said the soup was cold and the steak was average. Book through OpenTable, since the restaurant's site links reservations there.

What to check before you go

The days catch people out: the Chophouse is closed Sunday, JimBob's is closed Sunday and Monday, and High Shores is closed Monday and Tuesday. A Monday dinner narrows to the Chippewa Family Restaurant until 8 PM or the Chophouse after 4. Menus and hours change, so confirm by phone for anything you are driving across town for. The distances matter too: the two ends of this list are about 4 miles apart, so plan a car for the lake.

A plan that fits the split: Thursday lunch at Chippewa Family for the stuffed pepper soup, an afternoon downtown, then dinner at the Chophouse.

A Friday plan swaps in fish at Chippewa Family for lunch and the supper club for the evening.

The Cobblestone has the Chophouse on its first floor, and there are other places to stay if it is full.

Whatever you book, there is more to fill the hours between meals than another dinner, from sightseeing around Chippewa Falls.

Pick Bridge Street or the lake, and the rest of the evening sorts itself out.