About Us
Manny’s Parkside offers a fresh, new take on American cuisine, serving food and drinks that are approachable, reliable, and nostalgic but forward-thinking in a warm, casual atmosphere.
Step out to Manny’s Backyard and enjoy food, drinks, live music, and games while overlooking beautiful Rest Lake. Cozy up to a fire pit or relax at the bar.
Our Story: It Starts With The Lake
Manny’s Parkside is the latest badge on the lakeside restaurant and bar located next to Koller Park and Rest Lake in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. We’ll tell you more about Manny’s—read on—but let’s start where the story starts.
Schroeder's Rest Haven, Established 1925
Known for big muskies and a wooden dam, Rest Lake has drawn vacationers and sportsmen to the North since the early 1900s. There were a handful of name changes to the roads and to the town itself before landing on Manitowish Waters, with US Highway 51 routed along the lake. It was on that old highway that Mr. and Mrs. Louis Schroeder built Schroeder’s Rest Haven, with rooms and cabins for rent, a gas pump, and meals “when you want them.” Their tagline? “Unusual-Yes."
Rudy’s Rest Haven: The House Of Good Food
Perhaps the heyday of the resort (well, the first heyday, anyway), Rudolph List grew the biz over nearly three decades, having purchased it in 1943. Leaning into the Supper Club experience, Rudy’s wife Garnet added a southern flair to the menu, while Rudy and his talking Mynah bird, Joe, served up a good time from behind the bar. They also helped to bridge Lake Life onshore, adding several docks and boaters’ amenities, and they offered a free meal as the prize for the local muskie catching contest... at least once.
Rest Haven Out. Bavarian Inn, In.
Rudy sold off the resort buildings and land separately in the late 60s. Bill and Rita Ehrich bought the restaurant and changed the name after a few years to the Bavarian Inn, importing German beers and focusing on, you guessed it—Bavarian specialties, like kraut and Wienerschnitzel.
86 Ehrich’s, Sub Swanberg’s
Swanberg’s Bavarian Inn replaced Ehrich’s name in 1991. The menu diversified a bit but kept the schnitzel. The Swanbergs, Greg and Eileen, were twice awarded Outstanding Restaurateurs of the Year by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association Northwoods Chapter—so you know it was good!
Yep, It’s Next to a Park
In 2007, the restaurant was sold and renamed the Parkside Tavern. A little less Bavarian, a little more classic American, the Parkside served up great food and drinks for over a decade. Although the resort faded away in favor of the public park and waterfront, the reputation for good food and drinks continued to live on within the framework of the same building that has been a part of Manitowish Waters history for the better part of a century.
Manny’s. We’re Here Now!
And finally, us. Our story. Our Lake Life. Local owner David Simon has been boating these waters since his childhood, and he bought the building to keep a great stop on Rest Lake going. At 100 years old (the building, not David), it was time for some renovation. We opened up the second floor with exposed beams, reworked the bar and dining rooms with fresh materials, and turned our backyard into a ready-to-party zone with extensive patio seating, a covered bar, firepits, and a music stage. Simon teamed up with Food Fight Restaurant Group, a Madison-based group of nearly 20 restaurants, to help with the renovation, launch, and operations of Manny’s Parkside.
Our food? Classic American—with a twist; nostalgic yet modern. Thick steaks and fried fish, smoked pork, house-made sauces and sides, freshly baked sourdough bread, all thoughtfully sourced and prepared.
And our drinks? Well, a killer Old Fashioned of course. All the classic cocktails plus exciting new specials and ingredients. And beer, because, Wisconsin. Plenty of local, heady, lakeside backyard beer.
100 years of good food and great memories with family and friends is quite a tradition to uphold— and we’re excited to keep it going.