barry liss on 
Kathy Tepsa on 
clhughes on 
There has been a lot of press, blog entries and chatter about the closure of the Pub and the impact on the local music scene. There was considerable coverage of the Pub’s auction [it was unique to watch decades of history be divided into lots to be sold to the highest bidder]. What has not really been mentioned is that downtown Wausau has also lost another restaurant.
Yes, Scott Street was a great music venue, but am I the only one missing sizzler steaks, Pub Burgers, and grilled tuna sandwiches? Great food, great prices. The grill was open for lunch, stayed open later than most other downtown restaurants, and one of the few that operated on Sunday. As much as I miss playing at 124 (and 126) Scott Street, I truly miss stopping in to eat.
When I moved to the downtown area three and a half years ago, there had been considerable development to ‘save downtown’: the Heinemann Building apartments, the Gateway at Washington Square – including the Jefferson Street Inn and City Grill, the Jefferson Street Ramp and the River Place building (all connected via sky bridges!).
Since then, there has been more development: Opening the pedestrian Mall (a two phase project), the Dudley Tower, the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin project, and Rogers Theater converting into the Filmore.
The irony here is with all that development, there are fewer restaurants downtown now than even two years ago. I’m not implying the restaurant business is easy, [nor am I ignoring the fact that some of the closures are the result of really poor management, odd hours, etc.] but what I am saying is that with all this development downtown, there are fewer places to eat. That puzzles me.
Here is a list of recent downtown Wausau restaurant closures:
- Scott Street Steak and Pub
- Gelato Cafe (part of the ‘save downtown’ development buzz)
- Stoney’s (replaced by Freddie’s)
- Little Italy
- Kelly’s Martini Bar (sometimes served food, replaced by III which will serve food)
- Back to the Grind (coffee & snacks, replaced by Whey Cool)
- Whey Cool (replaced by Allister Deacon’s Coffee House)
- McDonald’s (rebuilding south of the Mall)
- Subway on Third (will have a spot in the renovated Mall food court)
- Maid-Rite (that had replaced a Subway that moved across the street, now an RStore Deli)
- Jeannie’s Coffee (thankfully replaced by La Prima)
- Big Apple Bagels
In fairness, I should mention that there are still great places to eat downtown:
- The Mint
- Peking
- Chang Garden
- City Grill
- La Prima
- Allister Deacon’s Coffee House (coffee house, snacks)
- Mongolian Barbecue
- Erbert and Gerbert’s
- The BK Steak House (Burger King)
- The Back When Cafe
- Intermission Bar (more of a bar, serves some food)
- Downtown Grocery dot com (daily food specials)
- Subway (in the Olson renovation)
There are specialty restaurants (bistro’s, Chinese, Mexican), fast food joints, sandwich shops, coffee shops, and cafe’s (The Mint comes to mind), but Scott Street was the last of the traditional ‘bar and grills’ in downtown Wausau. A piece of downtown Wausau history has been completely overlooked.
That is a really pretty picture
I hear you on the restaurant closings. Looking at the list though, there are only two or so that I really miss. Little Italy had great food, lousy service. Words cannot describe the loss of Scott Street for a lot of people in this city. The rest? Meh.
I have to ask – was Freddy’s left off of your list because they didn’t fit under the “great” food category or was it an oversight? I mean no ill will; I just wonder if that is why they struggle…does everyone forget about them?
I concur on the several points made in the initial article.
Although Scott Street was a fine place to consume pub food, there was in no means a gastromomic “must” when it came to their fare… the ambience MORE than made up the difference however. There was always a fantastic story to hear, new friends to make and the music was usually worthwhile to see and hear. I have had the pleasure of dining in some fantastic pub grills in my life and the Scott Steet cooks can hold their heads high with the food they served.
I am a saute chef at aforementioned City Grill and though their selection is somewhat limited since the leaving of Chef Rodney Drake,the quality has remained intact and the atmoshere is quite “chic” ….. chic meaning a bit overpriced and clientele that are the …ahhemmmm.. beautiful people and business persons willing to pay those prices. Even though I work there, I would still go there for dinner on a special occaision.
I am in the process of (with a partner) possibly leasing the Little Italy restaurant in the next few months. We would be changing the menu drastically, in fact changing to more vegetarian and eclectic fare. We both want to do more “cutting edge” cooking instead of the usual breaded mushrooms, 18 different cuts of steaks, shrimp scampi and the such that nearly every other restaurant except for the Wright House is offering. We would love to feature a very limited regular menu but offer at least 6 alternative specials per day. We want to cook with the freshest ingredients, more homegrown than not, so our daily specials would reflect what we find while shopping and what the purveyors could deliver.
Now… Freddy’s. First of all, tucked away nicely in the basement of Washington Square is not an optimal location. How may people do you see walking around downtown atfer 6 at night…..very few if any. What they offer in menu is not all that much different than what other Mexican reastaurants offer, the atmosphere is rather commercial in appearence, the wait staff unattentive as all get out so there is not much to draw me there. IMO…Food Court food …. Freddy’s… not much difference. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone, just my opinion.
City Grill’s Maytag Burger = delicious.
Freddy’s = best Mexican in town.
I am in agreement that Freddy’s has a lot to work on. It is not one of my regular stops, but some people do enjoy it. It’s just when I didn’t see it on the aforementioned list, I wondered if some people simply forget that it exists. (To be fair, Jim did reference that Stoney’s closed, which was replaced by Freddy’s)
Best of luck if/when your new venture happens…I am always up for uniquely prepared foods. I think the Wausau palette is starting to decipher if fresh ingredients are used or not. I think you will find a real niche in this market. One suggestion? Don’t forget to save money to advertise like so seem to!
I must say of that list I truly miss Gelato, and Scott Street. There are a few rumours and speculation surrounding their closure, but I have heard nothing concrete. At the time they were open, downtown was inundated with coffee houses.
- Jeanies
- Allister Deacons
- Somethings Brewing
and of course Gelato. The Brew and Gelato were open late, which is something Allister and La Prima don’t do. Where to go? Starbucks. It’s a sad thing. A downtown needs a great coffeehouse open decent hours.
Making my way to Scott Street– one of the great travesties of that whole ordeal is that as soon as McDevCo buys the Dwellers building, they will level all that history to make way for… parking.
Come to Wausau! A great place to park!
Scott Street Was like home away from home for me on the weekends, Good music, good company and many laughs. Tom and I had some Great times there. I sure will miss it.
I agree that we need more to choose from downtown when it comes to the selection of food. While there are many places to grab a bite for lunch, dinner is another story. Chinese, anyone?
To TimothyP – Good luck on your restaurant ambitions. It sounds like a great idea. I know I will be there to support you and your partner. I have recently met a few couples that have moved here from the Chicago or Minneapolis areas and they ask me where they can get good vegetarian (or just plain healthy) food. I absolutely love Downtown Grocery, but if you are looking for a romantic sit down dinner (ala The Wright House) with your favorite someone – that may not be the best fit.
Freddy’s is a good addition to downtown and I applaud their decision to risk it in the basement of Washington Square, but I also have to agree with Timothy the chef when it comes to their food – - BLAH.
Sorry, just my opinion.
“You just don’t know what you got till it’s gone”
Tear down Scott Street, put up a parking lot!
In backsight, I wish I had frequented the pub more than I did. Every time I went there, except for the time I punched in the head, I had a great time and Dino had a big part of that….seeing he booked the shows that I wanted to see.
Rest in Pieces
A re-opening in the Little Italy location would certainly be welcome. A couple of potential developments over the coming six months or so could be promising, including the remake of the Rogers Theater and a brew pub with a menu planned for the 600 block of Washington Street.
I think that all this talk of resturants completely overshadows other problems in the downtown area. The most important of these being that Wausau, though a wonderful place to live, has nothing for young adults to do. There is Vertigo and from what I hear it is great, but, maybe cost perhibitive for a lot of people. What Wausau really needs is something(free) for kids and young adults to do. Recently it was shown that Wisconsin is one of the worst states in the union when it comes to underage drinking and also binge drinking. Perhaps boredom has a lot to do with this, perhaps not, but I think it is something that is worth more of our time than weather or not a few resturants get closed downtown. I mean no offense to anyone on thoughts they have about the eats in downtown I just think we are looking in the wrong places to help our city become all it can be.
Another loss – this one involving over 70 trees in the Lakeview area of the North Central Health Care campus. These include beautiful old maples and pines that are homes to countless birds, squirrels, & ? The trees are on the shore of Lake Wausau and slated to be destroyed for the downtown airport clearance. Not only will it forever change the landscape and leave a variey of birds homeless but will also increase the carbon foot print the airport is already making. The trees to be destroyed are marked with a discrete red x painted so barely visible. Sounds like this was to be done before anyone could notice & voice opposition. All the trees around the historic lakeview bldg are slated to be removed. Any ideas on how to stop this or at least slow it down so options could be explored?
To cthulhu: Your point is well received. But nevertheless, the temptation for me to say the following is just to much for me to bare –
There was something downtown for young people to do that was free – it was called “Rockwater.” But the city decided to put them out of business for yet another parking lot.
Uh, what a shame.
I do agree that there should be more free things to do and I’d like to thank the people that do what they can right now such as Wausau Events, Marathon Park and the park system as well as the Yawkey. There is a need but how does one fund such a thing? Times are tough everywhere and places to go for free actually cost someone to fit those bills unless donations are made to make those ventures worthwhile and safe.
What kind of things wrere you thinking of? I would be happy to volunteer some time and energy towards a worthwhile project.
The problem with a lot of things that are free; is you have to fit into a description, poor, “at-risk”, etc, etc, etc. Why can’t it be something that is for the kids? I think that a group might be formed to check into the possibilities of what it could be. Any thoughts? I agree with timothyp that I would give time and energy to such a cause.
Sorry I am sure I will get major “slack” for this(especially Dino), but like everyone has said, IN MY OPINION…Scott Street is no loss what so ever to me. It was not that clean and the food was so so with an extra splash of grease. Also many times the employees were not very nice and the patrons, worse. Now I know there are many of you with many memories and emotions surrounding this place, so sorry, but this is how I feel.
Bring on the vegetarian/health restaurant, me likey! :)
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Ahh, the myth of the Wausau Teen. I was one. I wanted nothing for the programming offered to me. Years later, I spent a few years of my life doing just that…teen programming.
Who remembers The Ulitmate? Teen Night at Bruisers? More…yeah, I got nothing.
Teens are fine. They want whatever it is they want, I tend to think they want to be with each other, have the opportunity to be around those of the other sex, or the sex they prefer, and to find connection.
This idea that we can program for them…be it Rockwater or the night after graduation at the Y…A lock in? When you 18?
So I am 18, free from school. I know about the things my body is capable of, I might have tried some of it. And you want me to get locked in at the Y, to play basket ball, or swim…man do you know how hard I worked on this hair, and these parachute pants arent for show man.
My favorite night as a teen was one night at a school in Kronie, sitting on the swings with Trowb, Matt Schulz, Jennifer Salzman, Pat P, Cyndi Mc, Jennifer R…just having fun.
Not the Y, not school dances, not any of that.
Teens are going to hate everything. Its what they do. Everything is lame.
I offically know 2 teens…they seem to be fine. I said there was nothing to do, my brother said there was nothing to do…heck I am 36, I still ssay there is nothing to do.
But I dont mean it.
I am a contrarian.
How about the cool things that teens do? Jason Garvey and Dwellers teamed with the YAC to do that big event at the skatepark. There was like 500 kids there. It was awesome.
Why doesnt the city reach out to Jason?
Great job getting this blog going…I predict fame and fortune for the founding members….
Barry
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