Fall color and prime rib on the same drive? Wisconsin is making a very convincing case for leaving the house.
The roads near Spring Green bring the scenery first, with hills and bluffs doing their October thing while dinner waits farther down the route.
Then the first Saturday of the month adds a little extra motivation: an all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet.
For 2026, that lands on October 3.
The leaves may keep their own schedule, but the buffet does not.
I’d check the color report, pick the scenic route, and let dinner handle the rest.
Arthur’s History Started With A 1940s Truck Stop
The story of the property begins in 1946, when Gene and Eleanor Rock purchased a truck stop at the site. It changed owners in 1951, and a new truck stop complex was built in late 1955.
A modern restaurant opened on the west side of the property in February 1956 under the name Truck-O-Tel.
The business continued changing through the 1960s. By January 1968, the restaurant was operating as a supper club called Mr. D’s Steakhouse. A later ownership change brought another name, House O’ Steaks.
Arthur’s arrived in July 1976, when Art and Shirley Baryenbruch bought the business and renamed it Arthur’s, The Place for Steaks.
The restaurant passed through additional family owners over the following decades.
John and Mary Pat Kaul purchased it in 1995 and completed a remodel that added a drive-through, dance floor, banquet space, and more dining tables.
The Stoddard family purchased Arthur’s in 2021 and continues to operate it as a family business. The building’s later additions also left Arthur’s with more than one way to settle in for dinner.
The restaurant portion dates to 1956, the supper club format dates to 1968, and the Arthur’s name dates to 1976. Today, dinner still centers on steaks, seafood, prime rib, and Wisconsin-style specials.
October 3 Brings The Prime Rib Buffet
Saturday, October 3, 2026, is the first Saturday of the month, which means the all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet is scheduled from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Prime rib leads the spread, but the buffet does not stop there.
The buffet also includes broasted chicken, butterfly shrimp, ribs, pulled beef roast, a soup and salad bar, baked potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, and vegetables alongside the prime rib.
sThat gives mixed groups several choices without requiring everyone to build the same dinner.
Start with the item that brought you in, then decide how much room to leave for the rest. A first plate can stay focused on prime rib and potatoes, while another trip can bring in chicken, shrimp, vegetables, or the salad bar.
Reservations are strongly encouraged, especially when you are planning around a specific event night. The buffet has a defined four-hour window, so an advance table plan makes sense.
If October 3 is the target, build the afternoon around the countryside first. The buffet starts late enough to leave several daylight hours for a drive before dinner.
Prime Rib Is Available Beyond Buffet Night
Missing the first Saturday does not remove prime rib from the plan. Slow-roasted prime rib is available each day the restaurant is open, with three portion sizes: petite, queen, and king.
Each dinner comes with a choice of one side. Side choices include baked potato, garlic mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, loaded baked potato or hash browns, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, mixed vegetables, and french fries.
Some upgraded potato options carry an additional charge.
The soup and salad bar can be added to a meal, or ordered on its own as an all-you-can-eat option. That gives you an easy way to adjust the size of dinner depending on your appetite.
Prime rib is only one direction. The steak section also includes New York strip, filet mignon, ribeye, top sirloin, and a Wagyu New York strip. Seafood choices include shrimp, scallops, walleye, salmon, and lobster tail.
Grilled and broasted chicken, pork chop, pasta, sandwiches, and burgers expand the menu further.
One person can stay with prime rib while another chooses walleye or chicken. The harder choice may be the side, because the potato options alone give you several directions.
Friday Fish Fry Adds Another Wisconsin Classic
If your fall drive lands on Friday instead, the fish fry gives Arthur’s another specific reason to stop. Friday fish is available fried or baked in two-piece or three-piece portions, with the option to add another piece. Coleslaw is included.
Bluegill is also listed as a Friday-only choice, served as five deep-fried fillets. For anyone who would rather skip the fish fry, the regular dinner menu remains available, so the table does not have to agree on fish.
The drive-through menu has its own Friday fish fry as well. It lists two-piece and three-piece meals and a fish-and-chicken combination, with baked potato or fries, a roll, and coleslaw. The drive-through helps when the day’s plans have run long and sitting down for a full dinner no longer fits.
Friday drive-through hours run from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The dining room opens at 4 p.m., giving you a little more flexibility if you want to arrive early.
The regular menu carries a soup of the day, while the drive-through menu lists homemade soup. Ask what is available when you arrive instead of planning around one particular flavor.
Wyoming Valley Adds Color To The Drive
Arthur’s sits close to a part of southwestern Wisconsin where fall scenery can fill the hours before dinner. Wyoming Valley brings wooded bluffs, hills, and rural roads into the area around Spring Green, and U.S. Highway 14 makes Arthur’s easy to work into the return trip.
October is a good month to watch the landscape change, but exact color varies with location and weather. Across Wisconsin, fall color typically develops from mid-September through October, and peak timing can differ even between nearby areas.
Early October can bring changing trees, cooler air, farm scenery, and the first stronger patches of seasonal color. Later in the month may bring a different mix of brighter hillsides and thinning leaves.
Build the drive around daylight rather than trying to chase a specific photograph. Leave enough time to explore before Arthur’s opens, then point the car back toward Spring Green as dinner approaches.
The restaurant begins service in late afternoon, so the road can keep most of the daylight. A scenic loop first and dinner afterward keeps both parts of the outing simple.
Arthur’s is at E4885 US Highway 14, Spring Green, WI 53588, near the junction of Highways 14 and 23. Entering the address before setting out makes it easier to return for dinner once the afternoon drive is finished.
Dinner Starts At 4 P.M.
Arthur’s is closed Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, the dining room is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday hours run from 4 to 8:30 p.m., while Sunday returns to a 4 to 8 p.m. schedule.
Those hours make the restaurant an evening stop rather than a lunch destination. If you are building a fall day around Spring Green, use the morning and afternoon for the road, then shift toward dinner once the restaurant opens.
The drive-through follows a slightly different schedule. It operates from 4:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Its menu includes appetizers, soup and salad, broasted chicken, burgers, sandwiches, dinners, and daily specials.
Indoor and outdoor seating are both part of the property. Arthur’s also has banquet space and indoor and outdoor waterfalls.
Reservations are encouraged. That is especially useful if October 3 is your target because the prime rib buffet is tied to a specific date and service window.
Let the day determine which format makes sense. A full dining-room meal works when dinner is the finish to the trip. The drive-through gives you another option if you need to keep moving.
Save Room For The Rest Of The Menu
The final decision may have nothing to do with prime rib. Appetizers include fried cheese curds, onion rings, fried pickles, crab cakes, chicken tenders, and walleye strips. Starting there can make sense for a table that wants to share before choosing individual dinners.
Dessert gives you another reason not to overload the first plate at the buffet. Choices include cheesecake, turtle cheesecake, Brown Cow cheesecake, a large brownie with vanilla ice cream, a large cookie with vanilla ice cream, and a seasonal dessert.
Availability can change, so let the menu make the final decision.
The soup and salad bar offers a flexible add-on. Order it with a regular dinner, make it the meal, or use it as part of the first-Saturday buffet.
For an October outing, spend the daylight hours around Spring Green and Wyoming Valley, then choose between the scheduled prime rib buffet on October 3, a Friday fish fry, or the regular dinner menu on another open evening.
Between prime rib, seafood, fish fry, chicken, and the soup and salad bar, a mixed group has plenty of ways to build dinner. Fall scenery changes week by week, giving the drive a different look as October moves along.
Ready to make Arthur’s your fall tradition too?