They say time sure flies when you’re having fun, and that couldn’t be more true with the past 15 years at the High Rock Cafe! Our restaurant has grown and changed greatly since we opened the doors in 2004. Justin and Wade started out when they were just 22 years old, with a small menu, plastic utensils and a staff of just the two of them that first summer. Now 15 years later, they’re running a thriving full-service restaurant with over 40 employees!
High Rock is consistently striving to bring relevance to the restaurant scene with an ever-changing eclectic menu. In the early days before Justin and Wade opened High Rock Cafe, they traveled all over the U.S. working in restaurants and gaining knowledge of dishes and flavors in places like the Florida Keys; Portland, Oregon; Tempe, Arizona and Vail, Colorado. High Rock continues to be a unique staple of the Wisconsin Dells area because it regularly bring a wide variety of flavors to an area that wouldn’t normally be exposed to them.
A fun fact about the building where High Rock Café is located is that it is a fourth-generation restaurant for the Drapers. Justin’s great grandfather and grandfather previously owned and operated the Dells Cafeteria restaurant in the building from the late 1940’s to the late 1970’s. Justin’s father Dennis revamped the space that gives High Rock the greenhouse feel it has today when he ran the Upper Crust restaurant in the 1980’s. Justin and Wade took ownership of the building in 2004 and in 2010 they took the space a step further with a large renovation which expanded the restaurant into the downstairs space creating more indoor seating, outdoor deck seating and a large bar area.
We are proud to be a staple in the Downtown Dells area, and we can’t wait to see what the evolution of food trends will bring to our menu and our guests. Cheers to the next 15 years!
