Red Circle Inn in Nashotah sold to owners of Delafield Hotel
The Red Circle Inn in Nashotah has been sold and the dining room will be closed for six to eight weeks.
After three decades of ownership, the restaurant’s most recent owners, Norm and Martha Eckstaedt, decided to sell the Wisconsin restaurant that has been in operation since 1847, making it one of the oldest restaurants in the state.
Former owners include brewer Frederick Pabst and Aat Groenevelt, the owner and founder of Provimi Veal. The restaurant’s original Pabst bar was built in 1889.
A few months ago, the Eckstaedts reached out to Geronimo Hospitality Group of Beloit about the potential sale, and the restaurant group jumped on the opportunity.
“Martha and I have been very blessed to be the caretakers of The Inn for the past 29 years,” Norm Eckstaedt said in a news release. “The events, the guests and the staff are all most memorable, but the relationships and friendships that have been built over these many years are priceless and will endure forever. We are both looking forward to the next exciting chapter that Geronimo Hospitality will write. One that will embrace the history while providing an excellent product with gracious Lake Country hospitality.”
Jeff Whiteman, chief operating officer for Geronimo, said the restaurant’s history and opportunity to preserve that was what sold the group on taking over as only the fifth caretakers in the last century.
“As we looked at it, we saw the ways we can do our part to honor the history, and we just knew from that point of view that this is the perfect spot for us,” Whiteman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “This place is so rich with history and important to not just Lake Country, but the entire state of Wisconsin as one of the oldest operating institutions.”
New ownership has already begun, and it starts with refreshing the dining room, which will be closed for at least the next six to eight weeks, Whiteman said.
The plan is to restore and update parts of the restaurant, both interior and exterior, as well as furnishing and decor, including using and retaining old photographs that don the walls as a guide to restoring the room.
While the dining room is closed, the banquet hall remains open for the events that it had previously scheduled. Geronimo plans to continue operating as an events venue.
In addition to keeping the aesthetic around the history of the place, Geronimo is also planning to have its menu reflect both recent and historic menus of the Red Circle Inn.