We had a super fun date night on Friday. We ventured over to Chippewa Falls and tried Josef's bakery and the Wissota Chophouse. As I have said before, date nights are essential to the well-being of our marriage. Also, because our travel schedule can be limited to certain times of the year, these mini adventures serve as little vacations for us!
First stop was the bakery because they close at six and we wanted to get dessert to take home. I had read about this new bakery in Volume One (a local website or culture, food etc.) This new bakery specializes in CHEESECAKE CUPCAKES! YES! SIGN US UP!
For the grand spanking total of $12 (very frugal indeed) we took home two cheesecake cupcakes that could have easily been split between two people. We wanted to try both flavors so we got two. I got the Mexican chocolate (cinnamon chocolate) and Chuck got the Leinenkugel's (a Chippewa Falls brewery) beer lemon cheesecake. Both were fantastic. We felt that we saved a little money by not getting dessert at the restaurant and had something fun to take home and keep the party going.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of the cheesecakes, but I can give an example here from the Josef's website:
Before I get into the details of our lovely dinner, I did want to clarify something about this blog. While this blog is called "Fairy Tale Frugal," the word frugal does not necessarily mean everything I endorse/explore is Dollar Store cheap. Sometimes it is; however, there is a difference between VALUE and expense. I am big on quality, value, and luxury items and experiences; however, with the income that we have in our household, frugal also means finding the best VALUE for the price.
On this blog, I am exploring how to get the MOST value at the most frugal price for high value items and experiences...which pertains to things like high end restaurants, trips etc. By saying I am frugal, I do not mean that I am cheap. This means you will see my family and I going to expensive places but attempting to get the best value for our money at those places. Ok, thanks for coming to my TED Talk...on to the fun stuff. :)
We had eaten at the Wissota before, but it had been about two years ago. For those not from this area, we ventured over to Chippewa Falls which is about a 45 minute drive from our home in Glenwood City. Chippewa is an old lumber town, but still has a very large and in tact historic district. The chophouse sits in a newer hotel in the middle of lots of cool old buildings downtown.
Because of the Corona virus stuff going on at the moment, we basically had the restaurant to ourselves. It was peaceful, quiet, and rejuvenating. We also received excellent service. As we were seated, we looked over the extensive menu and wine list.
I think the prices here are really affordable considering what you get, the quality of the food/experience, and comparatively speaking to a steakhouse in a big city. My husband and I both love wine. We dream of touring the Napa Valley, Argentina and Italy some day and drinking in the beauty. I tend to like reds more than Whites and chose a Malbec. For $9 a glass, I thought it was delish.
We looked over the menu and wanted to get a starter. We went with rabbit wontons. This was a great choice. They were tasty and different. We dipped them in a savory chili sauce.
For our main dish, we went with steak. Chuck and I are both big steak lovers, but the restaurant offers lots of seafood and poultry options too! I got a filet mignon and Chuck got the ribeye. I got Bernaise sauce to go with mine...it definitely took up the flavor game to a whole new level!
Sides are family style here...they were more than enough for 2 and probably could've served 4. Again, you are just splitting up how you pay for your food a little differently. I am sure we would've paid twice the amount for this food in the cities. They had many choices, but we went the traditional route with garlic whipped mashed potatoes.
We had great service, delicious high quality food at good prices, and a personalized evening. All in all, a fantastic adventure in Chippewa Falls!
