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Food/Dining : Sturgeon Bay

The Hitching Post
County T
Sturgeon Bay
920-743-5735

DoorCountyNavigator.com Meets The Duke, "Hughy" at The Hitching Post!

You want authentic? You want a bar and restaurant just the way it was way back in the early 1950's? You want true character in both the place itself and the people who own it and work there? Well. . .come on into the "way back" machine and meet "Hughy" at The Hitching Post, come on in, hang your coat up on the hooks on the wall and get ready to have some fun! You might stumble upon this place in your wanderings around Door County, but we just found it after many, many years, and after a personal recommendation to take a look. Off of Hwy 57 at County T, not far from Donny's Glidden Lodge restaurant (which is also excellent - read our review), you will find this very rustic, log building, which was built in 1949, by Ewald Schmock, as a clubhouse for a golf course that was never built. So what do you do with such a building? Turn it into a super gathering place for people (read: Bar and Restaurant) - and this place definitely attracts the local folks, and in the busy season, tourists find their way to The Hitching Post - IF they know about it! It's made of real logs, inside and out, has a horseshoe bar and about 6 tables, a couple of video games, a juke and a dart machine. And lots of trophies on the log beams above the bar - "Hugh" sponsors softball teams and dart teams, and even some trap shooting teams - and they win! "Hugh" Daubner, the proprietor, is a genuinely friendly character who has owned the bar since 1989. We put quotations around "Hugh" all the time, because he always does when he writes his name - so we do too! But folks call him Hughy, and with his all-around helper Betsy Lauscher (she cooks, tends bar, etc. for the last 9 years), they run a super place, that serves very popular fish frys on Fridays (about 80 even in the winter - so this is a popular dish, and double that for the lucky ones who know about it in summer). Less than a quarter-mile from a boat launch, on a popular snowmobile trail, 1,000 feet from the Lake, good food from hamburgers, perch, chicken fillet sandwiches, fried, onion rings and the general side-dish fair and super friendly help and good conversation and you have a winner in The Hitching Post! So, stop in - this is a snapshot from the past, with real people, good food, and good drink. It says right on the front of the menu, "Still known for its good food, beverage, and conversation; it's a great place to sit back, relax, and have fun." We absolutely agree. And say Hi to "Hugh," (or The Duke as we've heard that heÕs sometimes called)!