Smoky’s
by admin on 02/22/10 at 7:03 am
As Featured in the February 2006 Issue of Madison Originals Magazine
Entering Smoky’s on University Avenue is like walking into a bygone era. I understand that this may seem like a cliché opening—the “dark and stormy night” kind—but, it is a necessary statement to describe a place like Smoky’s. Clichés gain their status because of familiarity, longevity and recognizability. One can honestly say that Smoky’s is the product of a bygone era, and a very successful one at that.
Janet and Leonard “Smoky” Schmock first met when Smoky was a bartender at the Cuba Club and Janet was working as a waitress at Frenchy’s (I particularly love this because it is also how my wife and I met). Together they opened the restaurant in 1953 under the name “Hogan’s Club” in a location one block east of where it now stands. This area of University Avenue, known as “Flack Alley,” was where all of the hip clubs and restaurants were.
Dark and inviting, Smoky’s immediately draws you in with an eclectic collection of items for your viewing, causing you to contemplate each one’s story. One such story is about “Sharkey.” Two businessmen were driving through from Toledo on their way to Minneapolis. Based upon a recommendation, they stopped at Smoky’s and proceeded to have a grand old time. They stayed around the bar the entire evening, feeling welcomed and at home with the crowd. At some point in the evening, the two struck upon an idea; they had just the thing the bar needed to spice up the décor. Back home in Toledo was a shark that they had caught and had stuffed. They were certain that it had to come to Smoky’s and hang from the ceiling so they phoned a friend and had him throw the shark into the car and head to Madison. Two days later a man walked into the bar with a shark and said, “I’m here!” He was given the same royal treatment as his friends, and “Sharkey,” over four feet long, still hangs close to the bar.
Like “Sharkey,” much of the décor at Smoky’s comes from devoted customers who feel the need to contribute, leaving a little piece of themselves. As one might imagine, a place like this has many regulars. One couple in particular had what they considered “their” table, and came in at the same time, on the same day each week for decades. Smoky’s was as much a part of their lives as anything else. When her husband passed away, the woman requested that his wooden golf clubs be hung above “their” table—they remain there today.
The curved bar at the restaurant is a classic and brilliant design that allows people to see each other, not just the bartender. The bar manager, with over 25 years at Smoky’s under his belt, is “Martini Bob” who started the Martini Club. The club now boasts over 1,500 members and over 100 different kinds of martinis. With martinis at the height of renewed fame and glamour, Smoky’s is the kind of place where they are never out of style. The menu offers a mind-boggling array of choices with something to suit everyone. And the very idea of a martini club with this many members reinforces the idea that this is a place to spend an evening. If you go to Smoky’s for appetizers and martinis, you will experience something special.
Brothers Larry and Tom Schmock, two of Smoky and Janet’s three children, now run the restaurant (sister Barbie is locally famous as the purveyor of “Barbie’s Cookies”). If you ask, they can tell you tales of growing up in the restaurant in the most literal sense; in a two-bedroom apartment above the restaurant.
Larry and Tom are tireless promoters of the way of life that Smoky’s represents. It’s a supper club and steakhouse in the most quintessentially Wisconsin way: family-owned and operated with the character and charm that can only be found in such a situation. Though Smoky is no longer around, Janet stays very involved. She makes the soups from scratch, pickles the beets herself, hand picks the steaks, and closely guards her recipe for the spiced cottage cheese. Uncle Carl also works in the kitchen making onion rings and butterfly shrimp, all by hand.
Smoky’s offers guests tradition in their food and service. A relish dish greets you at your table, and your entrée comes with all of the trimmings: soup, salad and bread. They even have marinated herring on the appetizer menu (a delicacy my grandfather taught me to appreciate). And beyond the Schmock family is the extended family of staff, some who have been there 25, 45 and a staggering 50 years. This in an era where the collective experience of the teenage wait staff at a chain restaurant look-alike seems to be roughly a week’s worth.
Larry and Tom impressed upon me again at the end of my visit that Smoky’s is a social place. You can go to see people, whether you already know them or not. It’s a holdover from an era when “going out” was an event, something to make a bit of a big deal out of. And as Larry adamantly stated, “I refuse to let it go away.”
Smoky’s is not only a Madison institution, but a Wisconsin one as well.
