The first thing you need to know about Waupaca’s 101‑year‑old Indian Crossing Casino, or ICC, is that there is no gambling.
“When you look up the word ‘casino,’ it means a gathering place for people to come together,” says Andrew Jordan, ICC’s general manager and head chef.
Under new ownership, ICC has undergone a transformation that aims to live up to that name. The venue has made changes that both retain the charm that locals remember from its dance hall days while creating a new look and new offerings for those who are just discovering it.
Located in an iconic Chain O’ Lakes spot between Lime Kiln and Columbia lakes, people have a long memory of attending shows or events at the venue. In 2017, owner Brian Wagner and general manager Dion Block added a kitchen and beer garden and brought back national acts like the BoDeans, said events and marketing manager Breanna Yeska, who gave a lunch‑and‑learn talk at the Waupaca Public Library about ICC’s century‑long history.
In December 2023, new owners Jim and Lisa Pekar, Amy and Thad Marcom, and Michael Solberg purchased ICC with the vision to make it a year‑round gathering space. They immediately hired Jordan to update the menu and develop those new offerings.
Starting with the 2024 summer season, the new ICC team quickly learned what was working and what wasn’t. “We were the busiest place on the lake … and it was great, but we were not meeting expectations of the customers,” Jordan says. “So last year, we
took what we learned from the first year and got better.”
They added more staff training, smaller sections for each server and updated the menu with fewer items, many of which are made from scratch, including its own ICC sauce for its “Wanna Smash” burger — the restaurant’s number one selling item.
“We can do a lot of things that are good, but if they’re not great, what are we doing? And I want everyone to come and be like, ‘man, the whole menu is amazing,’ right?” Jordan says.
ICC also mixes things up: In the summertime, the restaurant offers lighter fare like rice bowls; in the winter, visitors can get more comfort food offerings.
ICC is now a place to have weekend brunch, get a smash burger, go to the indoor farmers’ market in winter while sipping a Bloody Mary, stop in for a yoga class, enjoy live music, reserve space for a special family function, or attend a fun event like watch a Packers game, dueling pianos or tattoo‑and‑martini night.
And you can still see classic favorites like The Beach Boys, who will be performing a sold‑out show Aug. 19.
ICC also has gotten a design makeover that keeps favorite historic aspects like the wooden dance floor, while adding garage doors behind the stage for light and stage seating.
“This stage is so iconic, having so many people that have played over the past 100 years on here,” Jordan says. “You hear, ‘Oh, I got to see The Beach Boys, Louis Armstrong was here … Now they get to eat up here, where they perform.’”
Yeska says with other restaurants, you might bring your friends back in a couple of weeks if you had a great experience, but with all the events and activities and food offerings, “we can be the destination for your whole weekend.”
