"There's always been a lot of support of the local businesses, especially when they open, there's always a lot of excitement," Elise Cruz, Oregon's director of community development, told WMTV in March. "But, long-term, are local folks continuing to support those businesses? Are they bringing friends and family?"
She was speaking about Doc's Place Supper Club, which was weeks away from opening at 113 S. Main St. Five months later, the restaurant has a fairly clear answer to her question. Each night it's open has a set special, the Friday fish fry is priced for a weekly habit, and the bar menu changed for fall. Each of those choices is about getting the same people to come back.
A Downtown Space That Sat Empty
Cruz told WMTV that downtown vacancy rates in Oregon tend to stay low, though some buildings turn over more often than others. The space at 113 S. Main had been empty since The Ready Set, a modern American restaurant, closed in August 2024. That left about a year and a half without a tenant on one of the most recognizable blocks downtown.
Doc's Place held a soft opening on April 22, 2026. Owner Kerry Enger said that night was fully booked, and the official opening followed on May 1. WMTV reported that it is the only supper club in Oregon, a village of about 12,000 people.
One Address, Several Lives
Most people know the building as a restaurant. Its history goes back much further than that, and each tenant has left something behind.
- The Oregon Drug Co. According to the Oregon Area Historical Society, the village's first public library opened in 1908, started by Mrs. Jean Mennes Bennett in the front room above the old Oregon Drug Co. at 113 South Main Street. Rent was $5 a month.
- The Oregon Masonic Hall. The restaurant occupies part of the hall, an eclectic commercial building from 1898 that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The nomination calls it the "best preserved of surviving reminders of the most prosperous period in the village history."
- Charlie's on Main. The Cap Times names it as the restaurant in the space before The Ready Set.
- The Ready Set. It opened in February 2022. Partner Nate Herndon told Madison Locally Sourced that his favorite feature was the pressed-metal ceiling, and he pointed out that two of the bathroom doors came from the state Capitol. The interior had also been opened up so diners could see into the kitchen.
Enger has talked about the building as one reason he wanted the lease. "I have a thing for these old buildings," he told WMTV. "I just feel a responsibility to keep them alive." One of his suppliers introduced him to the building owners, whom he named only as Jerry and Bonnie. "We sat and met and I gave them my plans," he told the Cap Times. "We came to an agreement, and here I am."
A Fire in Edgerton and a Staff That Came Along
Doc's Place started because another supper club was lost. Enger had been leasing the restaurant at the Lake House Inn near Edgerton, a property whose history goes back before Wisconsin statehood, and it was destroyed by fire in January. "All of a sudden, the wind picked up, and it just went right through," he told WMTV. Most of his staff lived nearby and watched it burn with him.
He planned to keep nearly all of that Lake House Inn team for the Oregon restaurant. That means many of the people working the Friday line on Main Street have done supper club service before. At Lake House, Enger said, "on a Friday, Saturday night, we would pre prep at least 80 old fashioneds."
"I grew up in Wisconsin going to supper clubs since as early as I can remember. My parents and grandparents were all members of the Moose Lodge. We'd go down for Friday night fish."
Kerry Enger, to WMTV
Enger grew up in Monona and started in restaurants washing dishes at 14. He later earned a degree in hotel and restaurant administration at Oklahoma State University. The restaurant's name also comes from Oklahoma, where friends called him "Doc," jokingly "a doctor of recreational medicine," and because, as he puts it, he has "a good knack for taking care of people."
A Week Built Around Regulars
Before opening, Enger described a classic format to the Cap Times: prime rib, relish plates, fish fry and "old fashioneds for days," plus pizza, pasta and late-night bites. By late September, that menu had become a fixed weekly schedule, laid out in a Sept. 21 post on the restaurant's Facebook page.
| Night | Feature | Advertised price |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Grilled chicken sandwich, loaded potato skins | $16 and $10 |
| Thursday | Chef's featured pasta, with chicken, shrimp or scallops as add-ons | $22 |
| Friday | Beer-battered cod, fries, coleslaw, fresh-baked roll | $18 |
| Saturday | 12-ounce prime rib, while supplies last | $49 |
The regular dinner menu is served from 4 to 9 p.m. on open nights, and happy hour from 4 to 6 brings $7 rail old fashioneds and $4 domestic drafts. The Saturday prime rib comes with soup or salad, a side, the vegetable of the day and a roll, served 4 to 8:30 p.m. Fridays also offered a $42 seafood medley in late September: baked cod or perch with two scallops and three grilled shrimp.
The restaurant's Sept. 29 post explains the fish fry price directly. "Here at Doc's, we know everything seems to cost a little more these days," it reads, saying the goal is to keep a Friday dinner out "affordable to the local community." The restaurant calls its $18 plate one of the most affordable fish fries in Oregon. That same week, posts said the previous Friday had drawn an "incredible turnout" and asked guests to book early. A Sept. 19 post said the restaurant was hiring servers, food runners, bartenders and kitchen staff as it "continues to grow."
Fall Behind the Bar
The fall cocktail menu, posted Sept. 28, gives regulars something new to order. The Fall Old Fashioned is made with apple cider, and the Fall Sangria uses red wine and fresh apple slices. Espresso martinis come in four seasonal versions: Pumpkin, Apple and Banana at $12, and Milk Candy at $14. The list also includes an $8 cider mimosa, a $12 apple cider mojito and a $6 Staghorn draft.
Desserts have followed the season too. A Sept. 25 post featured a pumpkin pavlova from the restaurant's bakery, and the weekly menu lists a warm cookie à la mode and a classic Brandy Alexander.
Booking a Table This October
The October calendar gives four Fridays for fish fry: Oct. 9, 16, 23 and 30. The prime rib Saturdays fall on days already busy in the village.
- Saturday, Oct. 17: The Oregon Firefighter/EMT Craft Fair, Used Book Sale and Rock the Pantry. The Village calendar lists the Fire/EMS Craft Fair at Oregon Middle School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Sauerkraut Saturday, listed by the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce.
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Trunk or Treat at Oregon Village Hall from 10 a.m. to noon, then village-wide trick-or-treating from 5 to 8 p.m.
The restaurant recommends reservations, by phone at (608) 909-2222 or online. Its Toast reservation page requires a credit card for parties of eight or more. The same page lists Doc's Underground, a separate experience with limited seating, on Mondays and Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. The prices and times above come from the restaurant's own late-September posts, so a quick call before a big group dinner is a good idea.
Enger took on a 128-year-old hall because he wanted to keep it in use. At New Home Advisory Group, we help Oregon homeowners and buyers with that same kind of decision, whether that means caring for an older property near Main Street or planning a new build with long-term value in mind. If you're weighing what to keep, renovate or build, Let's Get Started.
