Shrimp at the Supper Club

The Argonne House nears 100 years

By Geri Dietze | March 5, 2022

Charlevoix’s Argonne House, christened in 2020, is the present-day iteration of the Argonne Supper Club, the much-lauded shrimp house and the longest family-owned restaurant in Charlevoix County. Fred and Mary Taylor, who purchased the restaurant in 2018 from previous owners Steve Ager and Cindy Ager Whitley, were among those past generations who knew and loved the old Argonne, having grown up dining there with their families.

General manager Wendy Roberts recalls the feeling of taking on such a legacy business. “It was exciting,” she says, “and we knew we had big shoes to fill.”

A Bit of History
The Argonne House building was originally opened in the summer of 1925 as the Thurman Country Club, a dance hall and social center. It changed hands twice more before being purchased in 1948 by the Matzingers, who introduced the shrimp dinners and coleslaw recipe still used to this day. And, on New Year’s Eve, 1961, Ted and Clara Ager purchased the Argonne—and its recipes—and began the 57-year run that forever fixes the Argonne in its place as a legacy business.

Their daughter, Cindy Ager Whitley recalls, “[They] served all-you-can-eat shrimp for $2.75 and chicken for $2.00, and they had bands play a few nights a week. It was very popular.” This was the era of the supper club, a destination evening of dining, cocktails, and dancing. “For years people would come all dressed up in the finest clothes and come out to dance,” she says. “I used to come downstairs [from the upstairs apartment] to listen to the band and watch [the] people.”

Today, the Argonne House is both new and not-so-new: it honors its namesake and its traditional shrimp dinners, and its meticulous exterior renovation stays true to the original 1925 design. The interior has the same casual comfort for which the Argonne was always known. “We made some changes…but we kept the same feel,” Roberts says.

A u-shaped bar topped with Brazilian river stone fronts an Italian-made brick pizza oven; a fireplace area with high-top bar tables accommodates overflow. Two dining rooms use the traditional white tablecloths and napkins, with butcher paper to keep things practical, and vintage photos and memorabilia recall Argonne history.

Customers who knew the Argonne Supper Club are pleased with the results. “They are very excited; they love the new look,” Roberts says.

A Menu for the Generations
Shrimp, faithful to the original recipe, still accounts for 70 percent of the dinner sales: steamed, deep fried in a tempura batter, or mixed. Accompaniments still include the same red and yellow sauces, German-style baked bread, and traditional coleslaw. (Another item from the old Argonne will return in fall 2022: fried bread with house-made maraschino cherry jelly.)

But the updated Argonne House menu has plenty to satisfy other tastes: walleye, perch, and lobster; ribs in house-made BBQ sauce; a 10 oz. burger with the works and Mary Taylor’s baked cannelloni. Weekly specials include Thursday’s 10-piece shrimp dinner, Friday’s fish fry (Lent is coming), and Saturday’s surf and turf. The 14” Neopolitan-style pizzas, made with Fustini’s garlic oil, are just the right size for two. And for dessert, the house favorite is the bread pudding, with enticing variations, including lemon-poppy, turtle, and Black Forest.

The Argonne House was voted Best Dining Experience in the Petoskey News Review’s 2021 Best of the Northwest competition.

More Details, Please
Patrons can enjoy the large outdoor patio for al fresco dining, in season, shaded by two 150-year-old maple trees. (Patio heaters are on standby to chase the chill.) A drive-through take-out window in the back of the building, originally a response to COVID, remains for customer convenience, and in-town deliveries are available, depending on staffing. Roberts states, “If we get a request for a delivery, we rarely say no.”

For more information, find them at argonnehouse.com, 11929 Boyne City Rd, Charlevoix, MI 49720, (231) 547-9331. Reservations recommended.