Monk's Bar & Grill

The side dish to order, hands down, is the "fully loaded mashed potatoes" at the Kaminski Bros. Chophouse, a great restaurant in Wisconsin Dells restaurant located inside the Chula Vista Resort. This mountain of potatoes, enough for four or more, is loaded with flavors. Given the taste and the portion size, you’ll be happy to take home leftovers.

For entrees, we recommend the ribs at House of Embers, the walleye at the Del-Bar, and the burgers at Monk’s Bar & Grill in Downtown Dells. Let’s start with the ribs. In 1959, Wally Obois decided his new restaurant would be famous for hickory smoked BBQ ribs. And so it came to be. Today his son Mike uses the same technique to make these deliciously tender ribs using a specially designed smoke house and a secret BBQ sauce.

Over at the Del-Bar supper club, established in 1943 as a roadside steakhouse and also owned and operated by the original family, the pan-fried walleye is to die for. The staff, some of whom have been there 20 years, will be happy to recommend just the right wine from the restaurant’s extensive wine cellar to accompany the fish. Delish.

On a more casual note, the place to go for burgers is Monk’s. Just ask any local. This place has been serving "World Famous" burgers since 1947. Choose from one of 10 types of burgers on the menu and, while you’re at it, why not ask for a side order of deep fried Wisconsin Dells white cheddar cheese curds too. Monk’s has two locations - the original downtown bar and grill, and an expansive new restaurant at the Wilderness Resort, one of our lovely Wisconsin Dells resorts.

For the sweet tooths in the crowd, this culinary adventure is just not complete without a stop at the Cheese Factory Restaurant. The building was actually a cheese factory for decades, a Wisconsin Dells landmark of sorts, before being converted into an eatery. The desserts here are made the old-fashioned way - hand-made by specific bakers who are responsible only for that particular dessert. There’s Glorious Chocolate Cake and Hazlenut Torte, but our favorite has to be the Princess Cake -- vanilla cake between layers of lemon butter-cream frosting and raspberry filling and covered with roasted almonds. Check please.

Take the children to see the giant Glockenspiel with a musical re-enactment of the legendary Pied Piper of Hamelin every half-hour, on the hour. The legend goes that the Pied Piper rid the town of Hamelin of its rats and mice by charming them away with his flute playing. When the citizens of Hamelin refused to pay the piper the price they had agreed upon, he charmed away their children in revenge.

The German Glockenspiel with its fairy tale re-enactment is FREE making it one of the best Wisconsin Dells deals. It's located in the 400 block of Broadway, Downtown Wisconsin Dells.

Stroll the Dells RiverWalk with vistas of the Wisconsin River and its sandstone bluffs now easily accessible to the public for the first time in 75 years. This ¼-mile paved path offers Dells visitors not only a breathtaking view of the Dells' unique scenery, but sprinkles in game tables and comfortable benches along its expanse in invitation to sit a spell and take in all of Mother Nature's glory. Walk, bike or run the Dells RiverWalk, but be sure to put this special experience on your Wisconsin Dells itinerary. It's one of the most scenic Wisconsin Dells activities available and it never disappoints.

The Dells RiverWalk entrance is located at the 100 block of Broadway in downtown Wisconsin Dells. It's free and open to the public year-round.

If you plan to visit Wisconsin Dells during the warm weather months, you could stay at your favorite hotel or motel, and then head out first thing in the morning to spend the day at Noah’s Ark Waterpark, the country’s largest outdoor water park.  Noah’s Ark has the extremes, with the family friendly Tadpole Bay at one end of the spectrum and the new Scorpion’s Tail loop-de-loop extreme tube slide for bigger kids and adults at the other end.  Bring comfortable aqua shoes as you and your family will be covering 70 acres in your quest to try all 80 rides, slides and activities at Noah’s. 
 

When you’ve logged sufficient hours at the water parks, dry off the kids and head to the indoor amusement parks.  Kalahari Indoor Theme Park has a six-story high Ferris wheel, multi-level go-kart track, laser tag, 24 lanes of bowling, a ton of arcade games, a ropes course, climbing wall and mini-golf.  Let’s all pause to catch our breath.  Knuckleheads Bowling & Indoor Amusement Park also has two dozen lanes of bowling, a 4D theatre ride, bumper cars and go-karts, plus you can grab dinner next door at Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille, where their three secret-recipe BBQ sauces, made and bottled on premise, making family dining there triple the fun.

There are outdoor amusement parks that are must-stops for families who crave fun and exhilaration.  Timber Falls Adventure Park has a roller coaster called the Hellcat that features 70-degree banks and 10-story drops and is a favorite among roller coaster fan clubs.  You’ll get some air on the coaster, and even more air on their end-over-end ride called the Skyscraper.  It pulls 4 Gs at 60 mph 160 feet off the ground.

Time to move on to mini-golf.  Actually, you can stay put at Timber Falls and golf 72 holes, all in the shade of tall pines along the Wisconsin River.  There’s also Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf.

Large outdoor go-kart tracks are a favorite for families who like a little competition with their fun.  ADare Go Carts is everything you’d expect from a good track - hairpin turns, fast straightaways and racing through waterfalls (this is Wisconsin Dells, after all.)

Right about now you may be looking to cool off a little.  Take a jet boat ride on the Wisconsin River and you’ll cool off a lot, as in get soaked while the wind is whipping through your hair.  These rides are a blast, from the first 360-degree turn to the last, all under the power of a 1,200 hp engine.  There are two companies offering this option - Jet Boat Adventures and WildThing Jet Boats.

End the day with some family entertainment that plays with your senses - Dells 4D Special FX Theater is a good choice, as is the Rick Wilcox Magic Theater - and then a great burger at Monk’s Bar & Grill, either the original restaurant downtown or the expanded version at the Wilderness Resort.

There, that should be enough family fun and adventure for one Wisconsin Dells getaway.