Encyclopedia Dubuque
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LEISER'S SUPPER CLUB / SWEENEY'S SUPPER CLUB
LEISER'S SUPPER CLUB / SWEENEY'S SUPPER CLUB. While technically in Sageville, Iowa, Leiser's Supper Club advertised its location as being in Dubuque, Iowa. It began in 1920 as "Leiser's Gardens," a catering house, with the work of Michael F. Leiser. Although he died on Christmas, the following year, the business was continued by his wife, Olive.
Leiser's Gardens was a popular site for family outing, wedding dinners, and business meetings as well as a meeting site for clubs and organizations. Fields nearby were used for softball, horseshoe-pitching, and other athletic events. The business had a few problems with the law over the operation of slot machines, but that was common for roadhouses of 1930s and 1940s. Fire destroyed the wood-frame building in January, 1940 but a brick building replaced the old construction within a year.
In 1957 Joe Wittstock, the bartender, and his wife Frances purchased the business. Joe was the bartender and Frances was the cook. The name of the site was changed with the dropping of the word "Gardens" in favor of "Supper Club." The couple and their two children lived in an apartment over the restaurant. Since liquor-by-the-drink was not legal when Joe and Frances were the owners, tubes were run from the spigots in the bar to liquor bottles in the basement. If a call was received warning of police inspections, the spigots were quickly hooked up to soft drink dispensers.Their son, Keith, trained as a civil engineer, but he and his wife Cheryl moved back to Dubuque in 1976 and purchased the business. Prime rib was sold every night along with fish and steaks.
The Wittstocks sold the business to Jim Sweeney and his wife, Mary. The tradition of prime rib was continued with the addition of homemade soups, frog legs, turtle, and "catfish collars." Competition from the gambling boats for banquets hurt the business as did local competition from other local restaurants and the difficulty finding staff. The restaurant was closed in 2010.
The 1951 through 1980 Dubuque City Directory listed Sageville Road. The restaurant, known later as Leiser's, was sold and became Sweeney's Supper Club.
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Source:
"The Tri-States' Supper Clubs," (Supplement to the Telegraph Herald) October 17, 2024, p 16