Photo by Mike Baumann
The only way to access the Hilltop is through its legendary keg. The keg was purchased from the Point Brewery in 1997, and now forms an iconic visage to all restaurant patrons.
Hilltop Pub and Grill: Best local restaurant
The Pointer
mbaum925@uwsp.edu
Driving east on Hwy 10 you may develop a gut feeling. You find it hard to identify what is going through your mind. Do you want to drive by the husk of the old Wal-Mart building? Continue out into the country and visit the John Deere Implement dealer? What if that gut feeling was an actual gut feeling and you were hungry? Then there is a solution. Hilltop Pub and Grill.
Located not very far from Iverson Park, Hilltop has multiple areas to choose from for your dining pleasure. When conditions are more welcoming than they are now, there is the outdoor patio. There is also an enclosed deck in which to wile away hours. Hilltop also has a formal carpeted dining room, a bar area and the Keg Room. Between 1987 and 1993, most of these additions were affixed to the original property, but it wasn’t until 1997 that perhaps the most noteworthy of the these, the Keg Room, was added.
As the Point Brewery was undergoing a remodel, Hilltop also found themselves in the same situation, and the keg that was at the former ended up at the latter. In addition to the keg, 20 more tables were added, along with quality woodwork to add an exciting new wrinkle to the place.
“Eating outdoors, in the summer, is equally popular to eating indoors,” said Michael Ziner, a manager at the Hilltop.
Regardless of where you choose to dine at the Hilltop, the ongoing special they have is the daily offer of a Friday Fish Fry. Not only that, but they offer a multitude of the area’s microbrews and other area beers including Central Waters and Point Beer.
The Hilltop likes to make it abundantly clear they care deeply about the community.
“Being locally owned and operated, any local charity, or any community team, whether it be the Pointers on the college level, or the Panthers or the Cardinals on the high school level, we are behind them,” said Ziner.
The business already is a reoccurring sponsor of local events, sporting events such as Pointer hockey and is host to the Pointers’ basketball radio show.
Alumni weekends and homecoming weekends do bring in waves of customers to the pub and grill in addition to students and Stevens Point citizens.
Outside of local residents and alumni, Hilltop does see a good deal of action from travelers.
“Being right off the highway, tourists on way to their cabins become familiar faces,” said Ziner.
As time goes by, the Hilltop looks to provide continued excellent service by means of food and drink and through neighborhood charitable measures.
“With business continually growing, we look to meet our communities’ needs,” said Ziner.
This should only lead to greater benefits for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and the town it calls home.
