The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club

Book One Week Out — and Plan to Come Back

The single most useful thing to know before booking The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club: call or reserve one week to ten days ahead, not the day before. With only 25 to 35 tables spread across six intimate dining rooms, this is the kind of restaurant where last-minute availability is the exception, not the rule. During high season (May through October), the kitchen runs Tuesday through Saturday, 6 to 10 p.m. From November through April, it pulls back to Friday and Saturday evenings only. If a special occasion is driving your trip, lock in the date early and build the weekend around it.

What The Immigrant Restaurant Actually Is

The Immigrant Restaurant sits on the lower level of The American Club hotel in Kohler, Wisconsin, a Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star property in a village better known for Kohler plumbing fixtures and championship golf. The restaurant itself is divided into six rooms, each representing one of the nationalities that shaped early Wisconsin settlement: Dutch, German, Norman, Danish, French, and English. The result is a dining room with genuine architectural character rather than generic fine-dining uniformity. For a special occasion dinner in the Midwest, the setting does real work.

Chef Thomas Hauck runs a five-course prix fixe tasting menu alongside à la carte selections. The menu rotates frequently to track seasonal and small-batch artisanal ingredients. Dishes from the current rotation have included seared scallops with cauliflower puree, togarashi, watermelon radish, and pomegranate; foie gras torchon with spiced brioche and black truffle; and king crab roulade with citrus-poached endive and crème fraîche. Optional wine pairings are available with the tasting menu. An expanded chef's pick prix fixe format is in development.

A Multi-Visit Strategy Worth Planning

If you are staying at The American Club for a weekend or a golf trip, The Immigrant is worth two visits structured around different formats. On your first night, go for the five-course tasting menu with wine pairings — it is the clearest expression of what Hauck is doing with Wisconsin's seasonal larder. On a second visit, use the à la carte menu to focus on specific dishes, and make the Wisconsin artisan cheese flight a priority. The Evolution of Cheddar flight offers a side-by-side progression of a single cheese over twelve years of aging , a legitimate educational experience for anyone with an interest in dairy craft, and a strong argument for why the 40-plus cheese program here is not a gimmick. The bar program rewards a separate evening too: the restaurant holds a François Voyer "Très Vieux" cognac from 1936 (one of only 221 bottles produced), along with Rémy Martin Louis XIII. These are not bottles you encounter on standard spirits lists.

Is It Worth the Trip to Kohler?

For readers coming specifically for the restaurant: the Forbes Four-Star designation and the quality of the cheese and spirits programs give it credibility as a fine dining destination, not just a hotel restaurant. But Kohler is not a casual drive for most diners , it is a planned trip. The strongest case for the booking is a two-night stay that combines the golf or spa facilities at The American Club with two dinners at The Immigrant, structured as described above. For readers already in the Milwaukee area (roughly an hour north), it makes a strong anniversary or milestone dinner destination. For comparisons with peers in American fine dining, see the section below.

For more on what else Kohler offers, see our full Kohler restaurants guide, our full Kohler hotels guide, our full Kohler bars guide, our full Kohler wineries guide, and our full Kohler experiences guide.

Practical Details

Reservations: Strongly encouraged; book 7–10 days ahead minimum, earlier during golf season (May–October). Hours: May–October, Tuesday–Saturday, 6–10 p.m.; November–April, Friday–Saturday only. Dress: Jackets required for men; dresses, skirts, or dress slacks recommended for women , jeans and shorts are not appropriate. Format: Five-course prix fixe tasting menu plus à la carte; optional wine pairings available. Table count: 25–35 tables across six rooms. Booking difficulty: Hard during high season.

How It Compares

If you are benchmarking The Immigrant against major American fine dining destinations, the relevant comparison set includes Alinea in Chicago, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg. Against those venues, The Immigrant holds a distinct position: it is a Forbes Four-Star restaurant embedded in a resort setting, with a serious cheese and spirits program that few competitors can match on those specific dimensions. It does not compete on avant-garde technique the way Alinea does, and it does not have the farm-to-table integration of Single Thread or Blue Hill. Its advantage is the combination of historic setting, genuine regional character, and the kind of rare spirits list that rewards guests who know what they are looking at.

Other American fine dining references worth knowing: The French Laundry in Napa, Le Bernardin in New York City, Providence in Los Angeles, Addison in San Diego, The Inn at Little Washington, and Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How far ahead should I book The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club? Book one week to ten days in advance as a baseline. During golf season (May through October), when the restaurant operates five nights a week and the resort is at peak occupancy, lean toward the ten-day mark or beyond for weekend tables. Friday and Saturday evenings fill fastest year-round.
• What are alternatives to The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club in Kohler? There are no direct fine dining alternatives in Kohler itself. The closest meaningful comparison is driving to Milwaukee, where the dining scene offers more variety at the high end. If you are making a regional trip specifically for fine dining, Alinea in Chicago operates at a higher technical level; Emeril's in New Orleans offers a similar hotel-anchored fine dining format in a more urban context. The Immigrant's case rests on the resort setting and the cheese and spirits programs, which have no direct regional rival.
• What should I wear to The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club? Jackets are required for men , this is enforced, not suggested. Women are expected to dress at a comparable level: dresses, skirts, or dress slacks with a blouse are the norm. Jeans and shorts will leave you visibly underdressed and may affect seating. If you are arriving from the golf course or spa, plan time to change.
• Is The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club good for solo dining? It works for solo diners, particularly at the bar or in the smaller of the six rooms, but the format is built around the tasting menu experience, which plays well for two or more. Solo diners who want to focus on the spirits and cheese program , especially the rare cognac list , will find it a worthwhile evening. It is not a counter-service or bar-snacks format, so arrive with the intention of a full dinner.
• Is The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club good for a special occasion? Yes, and this is the clearest use case. The six historically themed rooms, the Forbes Four-Star property context, the five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, and the rare spirits list combine to create the right conditions for a milestone dinner. Anniversaries, significant birthdays, and proposal dinners all fit the format. The setting in Kohler adds an overnight-stay dimension that most urban restaurants cannot offer , the occasion can extend across a full weekend at The American Club.
• Can The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club accommodate groups? With 25 to 35 tables across six rooms, groups are possible, but the cozy scale of the space means large parties need advance coordination. Contact the restaurant directly well ahead of time , the multi-room format may allow a room or section to be reserved for a private event. For groups of six or more, do not assume standard reservation channels will handle the logistics; call ahead and confirm arrangements explicitly.