SPOONER — A small film crew out of Florence, Ky., made the trip in its van up north to showcase one of Spooner’s longtime restaurants.
Tracks Bar & Family Dining in Spooner, owned by Dane Wisnosky, will be featured on a coming episode of “America’s Best Restaurants.” This is an online show featuring independent restaurants and helping them tell their stories and thrive.
Wisnosky said he had seen information about “America’s Best Restaurants” coming to Wisconsin on Facebook, so he applied and was chosen. After Skype interviews with the producers, “we were selected,” he said.
The crew, which consisted of the host and cameraman, came up in their orange van on April 2 to film at Tracks.
“We did about four hours worth of filming,” Wisnosky said.
The crew filmed the chef in the kitchen making dishes, and the entirety of the restaurant.
Wisnosky had invited people to pack the restaurant the day of the filming on Tracks’ Facebook page, and the room was filled.
On a Monday at 11 a.m., 120 people dined at Tracks, waiting in a line halfway down the block.
“We had a great response and a line out the door,” Wisnosky said. “The place was looking busy.”
People came from as far as Iron River, Rice Lake, Cumberland and Hayward to eat and maybe get shown on camera. The crew walked through livestreaming the event on Facebook. The crew also enjoyed lots of Tracks specialties while chatting with Wisnosky among the customers.
“We did the shrimp St. Jacques,” he said.
The host also tried the shrimp po’boy and chicken Acapulco, and they talked a lot about Tracks’ most popular item, the homemade pot pies. There were many pot pies made that Monday.
“We have made over 10,000 pot pies in a year,” said Wisnosky.
He added that he never would have guessed a meal so simple would become the biggest seller.
“This really has brought a lot of new people to the area,” Wisnosky said. “It’s all Internet-based. That’s the future, anyway.”
Tracks is the third restaurant Wisnosky has owned in 27 years; he grew up in Colby. The restaurant, located on Highway 70 West in Spooner, used to be Club 70 and Whiskey Creek before Tracks, which Wisnosky took over two and a half years ago. He owned a restaurant in the Florida Keys, where he was featured on another cooking show that was shown nationwide, so “America’s Best Restaurants” was old hat to him.
“(Filming) went pretty smooth,” Wisnosky said of April 2. “They were pretty easy to work with, nice people.”
Wisnosky said “America’s Best Restaurants” is on the road all the time, with a driver pulling their van and the crew flying into wherever they film.
More about Tracks
Wisnosky said Tracks is a bar and grill during the day, with a full salad and soup bar ready daily at 11 a.m., easy to grab and go for those on half-hour lunch breaks, and at night it turns into a supper club “without supper club prices.”
“A lot of people take advantage of (the salad bar),” he said.
Their steaks and burgers are all hand-cut; nothing is frozen.
“Everything on our menu is hand-breaded,” Wisnosky said. “This is all from scratch.”
The Sunday brunch menu is popular, as well.
Tracks has 25 employees and is open seven days a week, with extended summer hours until 7 p.m. Sundays.
“This will be a great boost after the horrible winter,” Wisnosky said. “It’s amazing how far people will drive up here to eat.”
With the rise of food costs and labor, Wisnosky said it can be hard to compete with chain restaurants.
“Support your mom and pop restaurants,” he said.
Wisnosky says to watch the Tracks Facebook page for information on when the show will air, and he plans to have an airing party that day.
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