What visit isn’t made better by good food and drink shared with good friends and family? The tastes of Juneau County are as varied as the people of this wonderful place and range from exquisite ethnic delights to the mighty hamburger to some of the best pizza ever. What follows are one author’s adventures into the tastes of Juneau County. It represents our opinion based on years of caloric excesses and enjoyable eating. By the way, if you’re looking for food that you need a magnifying glass to see and a bank loan to pay for, you’re probably in the wrong place. But if you’re craving good, wholesome, honest food served by friendly people who actually appreciate your business, welcome to Juneau County. We’re sure to leave somebody out or not mention a place that deserves recognition but that the beauty of this; we can add places and experiences as they happen.
The Quest for the “Best Burger on the Lake.”
Over the years, the restaurants around Castle Rock Lake have had a “friendly” competition over who serves the “best” burger. As a connoisseur of burgers, we have spent years of painstaking research and testing at the Dirty Turtle, Shipwreck Bay, Pine Cove, Kozy’s Pizza, and The South Shore and can report definitely that we really don’t know where the best burger lives. We enjoy them all with equal relish (ugh!) and also with fries, tomato, lettuce, onions and pickles. Maybe it’s the gorgeous views of the lake and the woods or the friendly people who serve you but these are some serious burgers that hit that special spot when you’re really hungry.

Burgers, Steaks, Taters & Other Treats 
The Lake isn’t the only place where great burgers live in Juneau County. Here are some of our personal favorites for you to chew on.  The Clearfield Pub & Grille north of New Lisbon can put you in “Burger Heaven” quickly and wishing you could eat more. In Necedah, Rosie’s Café on Main St. gives you a great burger in a “hometown café” atmosphere that’s hard to beat. The Woodbine Inn at the base of Petenwell Rock will please your palate and your other senses as well. Other must stops for burgers include the Roadhouse in Necedah, Gilly’s in Elroy, Limbo’s in Wonewoc, and Dave & Jerita’s Center Tap in Union Center. 
While on the subject of Dave & Jerita’s, stop in and order the “Steak & Taters” and prepare yourself for one of the best meals you’ve ever had. This celebration of meat and potatoes won’t ever be found in a big city or as a menu item on a heart-healthy diet but what the heck; you only live once and you’re on vacation.
Is there life after burgers and fries?  Sure there is! Wisconsin is the dairy state and Juneau County has its share of cows and when we think of cows, we think of pizza. Wow! How’s that for some convoluted reasoning. Seriously, if your idea of pie involves sausage, mozzarella cheese and thin, thick, semi-thin, or semi-thick crusts, you’re in for a real treat here in Juneau County.  How do we start? Let’s just travel Juneau County from the north to the south in our search for great pizza. In the Necedah area, two places come to mind for pizza. Woodbine Inn serves a wonderful homemade pizza that’s absolutely delicious. It’s especially good after spending the day fishing for walleyes at the Petenwell Dam or waterfowling near the refuge and the Meadow Valley Recreation Area. There’s also something of a magical transformation that happens in Necedah almost every night. Rosie’s Café morphs into Becerra’s Pizza when the sun goes down. That’s a good thing because the pizza is excellent and the meatball sandwich is huge. 
Traveling down the road and heading for “The Lake” brings us to the world-famous Kozy’s Pizza (We’re not kidding about the world-famous part). Kozy’s Pizza serves up a pie that is so good that it brings people back year after year to enjoy the taste of real Wisconsin pizza. The atmosphere at Kozy’s is wonderful and very family-friendly. By the way, Kozy’s family pizza has to be the biggest pie in the world. It’s so big that if you order it to go, you’ll get two big boxes to carry it away.
From Kozy’s, travel to New Lisbon and make a stop at the Opera House. This 19^th century opera house (really!) doesn’t have any fat ladies who sing but it does have great pizza with a big emphasis on cheese. It also has a fat bartender who doesn’t sing either but knows a little bit about everything. The Opera House also features prime rib twice a month (Saturdays) that’s delicious. If you take Hwy A out of New Lisbon to the west, you’ll find yourself in the one and only Hustler WI. Home of the Hustler Fest, this quiet village on the western side of Juneau County also has excellent pizza at the Hooterbowl. 
Filled up yet? Good! Now we’re off to Elroy to the Cherry Tree Cafe or for some pizza and art at the Pizzeria Viking and Fine Art Gallery. Only in America can we have a native Swede preparing and serving top quality European- and American-style pizza in an atmosphere of fine art that he has created in Elroy Wisconsin. It’s worth a trip just to see the art but you’d be missing a lot if you didn’t try the pizza.
Let’s end our pizza journey in Juneau County’s capital city. There are a couple of places for the pie that really stand out. The Dry Gulch Saloon and Eatery in downtown Mauston serves really good pizza in a fun place to eat. On Mauston’s strip, Anjero’s serves a huge variety of pizza that’s as close to designer pizzas that we get. Excellent crusts, great combinations and super sauce makes Anjero’s a must stop in Juneau County.
Wow! That’s a lot of great pizza for you to try. Did I miss your favorite? Remember, these are our adventures and contrary to what our waist size shows, there’s still some places we haven’t tried. Hopefully, we’ll keep on munching and make additions to this adventure as they are warranted.