Opening of The Hiawatha Social breathes new life into historic Wausau establishment
New owner J-J de Roover talks community, legacy, and the ‘brass monkey’
Story by Wyatt Massey
Inside The Hiawatha Social, on a coffee table near a corner, is a book documenting some of Wisconsin’s most iconic supper clubs. If everything goes right for Wausau’s newest restaurant, the bar could be featured in a future edition of that book.
The Hiawatha Social, which opened Friday, is the latest iteration of the historic building bordering Wausau’s train tracks and is the handiwork of Clint Schultz and J-J de Roover. Last year, Schultz, who operated a popular food truck, approached de Roover about the opportunity to acquire the property, which had previously been a sports bar.
It was a challenging period in de Roover’s life as he’d been laid off from a software job several months earlier. But he loved the food industry — his mother was a chef in San Francisco and he grew up in kitchens. The Hiawatha carried so much history, de Roover told The Wausonian, and it seemed like everyone he knew had some connection to it. “I looked at it and I thought to myself, this place definitely has a past,” de Roover said. “And I felt like it’s not done. It’s not done being something in the community.”
This Wausau business story is sponsored by:
The Wausau Business Incubator is ready to give your business the space and support it needs to grow.
The transformation into Hiawatha Social
After purchasing the business, one of the first changes the team made was removing nearly all of the sports bar’s TVs. “We want people to focus on the food, on the drinks, on being with each other,” de Roover said. “Maybe take a break from screens a little bit and talk. And that’s why it’s ‘The Hiawatha Social.’ That’s why we added that word to it as part of our contribution to the legacy.”
The restaurant continues the Hiawatha name, a reference to the nearby trainline that previously ran from Chicago to Wausau. The building was constructed in the late 1800s and was a brothel in the 1920s before becoming a restaurant, according to the Wausau Daily Herald. The establishment has hosted celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, John Dillinger, and Calvin Coolidge, the newspaper reported. In the 1970s, the establishment became the Hiawatha Restaurant & Lounge.
The new menu focuses on elevated American fare, including steaks, fish fries and burgers ground in-house. Schultz will bring his culinary experience from the Urban Street Bistro food truck to the kitchen. De Roover designed the drink menu, which features several styles of Old Fashioneds, mocktails and de Roover’s version of a Sazerac, a classic New Orleans cocktail. While cleaning out the space, de Roover discovered a binder of cocktail recipes from the previous owners. He plans to revive several of them in the future. “That’s the kind of thing that can really allow us to move forward while still acknowledging the past that brought us here,” he said.
Schultz and de Roover also plan to occasionally barbecue brisket and ribs, which will be sold the traditional way: Smoked for hours, then available for purchase until it’s all gone.
The walls of the restaurant are cobalt and accented with warm wood. Beyond the bar are several nooks and booths to sink into. This fall, the owners expect to open additional seating, but for now folks can sit in the “brass monkey,” a series of booths in a triangular section that had previously been a transitional space between parts of the restaurant. The section got its name from the reused brass railings that now line the tops of the booths and a chandelier the owners installed featuring a golden monkey hanging from a rope and holding a light bulb.
Dogs are welcome on the outdoor patio. “We’ll have bowls of water out there for the dogs. Our hostess station is stocked with dog treats. So, if you’ve got a dog, they are welcome,” de Roover said. For big sporting events, the patio will have TVs, too.
After its first day of business on Friday, The Hiawatha Social will be open Thursday through Sunday at 713 Grant Street.
“We just want to bring something good to the community,” de Roover said. “I do think Wausau’s ready for another good restaurant. And that’s who we are. So that’s what I’m most excited about, is to be able to be a part of bringing that, you know, to be a part of that.”
Wyatt Massey is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to The Wausonian. Consider becoming a subscriber today to help support more local journalism from more writers.