Road Trip Sidetrack Saloon - Roberts, WI
Jul 17, 2012 During our last Iowa Foodie road trip to MN and WI, we decided to extend our trip for a few days to beat the heat that was scorching central Iowa. Yeah, that totally backfired on us as it was hot EVERYWHERE. But, it did give us the opportunity to endulge in one of our favorite activities - checking out more of the fine taverns across Wisconsin.
We were headed toward River Falls, WI, and it was nearing Happy Hour time. About 10 miles out, we thought an adult beverage or two would hit the spot and it didn't take long to find just the place.
This, is the Sidetrack Saloon.
Tucked away on a quiet Main Street in Roberts, WI, the Sidetrack is the quintesstential Wisconsin tavern - reasonable prices, friendly people, and usually something fun to look at.
In this case, it was the ginormous Hamm's beer collection. This was seriously the biggest collection of all things Hamm's I've ever seen. There was Hamm's beer bear stuff everywhere in the bar - it was damn cool.
Loved these vintage beer signs.
And, although not for Hamm's beer, this sign was one of my favorites.
And get this - $2 Hamm's tall boys! Grant was a happy man. My rum and coke also made me pretty happy. They do serve sandwiches, burgers, and some additional menu items in the bar.
One of the owners, Nate (that's him below), was great. Quick to answer our tourist questions and get us another round, he asked where we were from and when we said "Iowa," we found out that the previous owners were from Iowa and had actually been married at the Little Brown Church in Nashua! We meet such nice people as we wander around.
We ended up coming back the next day for Happy Hour, too, and met another former Iowan that had grown up in Perry. We just can't say enough about how friendly everyone at the Sidetrack was to these out-of-towners.
We found out that the Sidetrack Saloon serves breakfast on the weekends. We were heading out of town the next day, so we decided to stop back for their breakfast on Saturday. And we're so glad we did, because this was the special!
Tricia is also an owner of the bar and she was up early to serve us breakfast - and Grant was looking forward to his Wisconsin omelet. Imagine his joy when this plate showed up on the bar. A HUGE omelet stuffed full of bacon, onions, peppers, mushrooms and wild rice - there was also some sort of balsamic vinaigrette mixed in there, too, that gave it a great flavor boost. Served with hash browns and homemade bread - homemade bread, people! - what a breakfast.
I'm not usually much of a breakfast eater, but hash browns with onions sounded perfect and there was no way I was missing out on the toast - especially since it came with homemade jelly. Katy, the lovely lady that made our breakfasts, also makes the homemade bread and jam. The jam was a mixture of strawberry, rhubarb, and cranberry. Di-vine. People buy loaves of the bread to take home with them too, we were told. I guess that's why their T-shirts say "Breakfast at the Sidetrack - Where good friends go to get bread!"
And to think Katy created all of this homemade goodness on this small grill! Seriously, everything was excellent.
So, should you find yourself in Bobtown, WI, plan on a stop at the Sidetrack Saloon. It quickly became one of our favorite Wisconsin taverns, and we've been to, well, let's just say LOTS of taverns in WI. In fact, the Sidetrack celebrates Oktoberfest every year on the third Saturday of October and we're thinking of rounding up some friends and heading back to enjoy the festivities!
Road trips are all about trying new places and we hit the jackpot with the Sidetrack Saloon in Roberts, WI. Let us know if you stop in!
Sidetrack Saloon
112 W Main Street
Roberts, WI 54023
715.749.3891
Check out the Sidetrack Saloon on Facebook here
Reader Comments (11)
yummmmm......Hamms! ;-)
thanks sooo much for your visit..all the nice things you have to say and of course we hope you stop back soon nate and tricia
Wow! What a noteworthy omelet. Hash browns look good too.
I'm somewhat torn about Hamm's, now it's merely a minor brand in the MillerCoors stable. I'd much rather drink something more source identifiable, but in a taste test of so-called "crappy beers" at the old Buzzard Billy's in Des Moines I found Hamm's to be my favorite against other brews like Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, and PBR.
Isn’t it fun to get Sidetracked?! This review sums up the place perfectly! It is Saturday tradition to go into town for breakfast when Kate’s cooking. She has a knack for partnering up locally grown, fresh food and creating amazing menu items. The way you described the Wisconsin omelet has me craving one now-ha! It has those layers of flavors. Katy also makes a pecan-apple with maple syrup French toast recipe that gets all the farmers going. Everything is so-o-o-o delicious! And the Hamm’s bear is so darn cute!! The Sidetrack Saloon is the best. Iowafoodie, you did a great job recognizing the enduring value of a friendly village tavern and breakfast in the company of good neighbors.
I like your review.
Hi Nate! Glad you saw the post - we had a fun time with ya'll and will be back for sure!
@slakingfool, actually, Grant's favorite in that category is Grain Belt, but we both are Hamm's drinkers from way back. That omelet was awesome and the hash browns were perfectly cooked. This was a great find.
Hi Wisconsin Mom! Thanks for stopping by Iowa Foodie. That french toast sounds wonderful. We enjoyed our visits to the Sidetrack - we hope to be back soon!
Love the Sidetrack!!! Go Pack Go!
Us too! Can't wait to get back.
The Track is the finest watering hole this world has ever known. The wife and I are heading there now. Tricia's soups are the best and Nate makes a mean bloody mary. Its the Roberts "hot spot".
We attended Octoberfest 2013 at Side track. This place rock's with good beer, great German food and a great concertina band. We plan on attending the 2014 October Fest for some more fun.