ned's Profile
What is the Milwaukee Experience?
I just had a lunch of a grilled Linguica sausage from Usinger's at Jeremy's cart on the corner of Water and Wisconsin. I think that's true Milwaukee also!
Looking for Pizza and onion rings in Milwaukee
I can't help you with an answer to that one. All you can eat pizza? Jeez. Maybe that belongs in the Classic Milwaukee Experience post (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/789572)
What is the Milwaukee Experience?
Mr Perkins is soul food, located on Atkinson north of Capitol. They do everything right and are very welcoming. And it's the time of year for fried green tomatoes!
Looking for Pizza and onion rings in Milwaukee
Sorry folks, Chowhound inserted those erroneous links for the restaurants.
Looking for Pizza and onion rings in Milwaukee
btw, if you are up for a drive or are downtown, there are two solid pizza offerings in Milwaukee - Dick's Pizza on Milwaukee Street and Times Square Pizza on South KK. They are different experiences but delightful in their own ways. Enjoy!
What is the Milwaukee Experience?
Jake's Corned Beef, Mr. Perkins and Speed Queen qualify as classic Milwaukee too. If one defines classic Milwaukee as tied to deep ethnic origins, these are the places some of those immigrants have built for us.
-----
Corned Beef Cafe
9296 Broadview Rd, Broadview Heights, OH 44147
Looking for Pizza and onion rings in Milwaukee
I know it seems like a grim place to find good pizza, but Zaffiros has a restaurant at Marcus Theaters North Shore location on Port Road. Best pizza in that area, as far as I can tell.
Iron Horse Milwaukee
Please consider a trip to the Iron Horse hotel and its two dining options, Branded (in the bar) and Smyth, the full time restaurant. Chef Thomas has an adventurous spirit, just waiting to prove himself and show his talent. On Monday night, given free rein (i.e., no limits), he brought us a Wisconsin Usinger sausage and Carr Valley cheese sampling, two dozen oysters, a scallop with truffle essence and asparagus, prime steak with a bacon and bourbon cream reduction and strawberries and ice cream for dessert - and this was at the bar, not the restaurant, The vibe is strong, the service is excellent (ask for Meaghan), and the food is well above average. Tim Dixon has built the strongest new hot spot in all of Milwaukee.
Enjoy Iron Horse.
2 Mil. Lunch Options
Coquette is extremely steady and delicious approachable and mostly afordable French cuisine, in a bistro sort of way. Steak frites, coq au vin, bibb lettuce salad with buttermilk dressing all standouts. Just outside Coquette's door is a bakery/lunch counter operated by Sandy D'Amato (of Coquette) called Harlequin - excellent choice for pizza, sandwiches and soups (the chicken pot pie soup is excellent). Cubanitas is less formal, order at the counter and sit at a table. Gets crowded at noon sometimes, but you can sit at the bar. Cuban sandwich is stellar, as are empanadas. Have heard of but I don't know Merkato. Umami Moto is a little full of itself, from my view. And Mason Street Grill is very good, associated with Pfister Hotel. Bigger plates, steaks, seafood, etc - only place in town you can get fried surf clams, which I recommend if you like that sort of thing. I posted earlier this week re Maxie's - love it (but not open for lunch). I have been to Hinterland in Green Bay but not this one. If you are up for it, another very solid lunch choice is Sha Jee's - Pakistani in the basement level across Jefferson Street from Watts' Tea Shop. Order the Tuesday Special (any day of the week!). And, if you feel like eating with your Grandma, head upsatairs (back across the street) at Watts - they actually have really tasty sandwiches (including watercress and olive!) and the very best cake in town, the Sunshine Cake. Enjoy.
Maxie's Southern Comfort
I wanted to give some quick praise to a restaurant in West Allis, Wisconsin called Maxie's Southern Comfort. A group of four of us stopped in tonight on probably my fourth visit to the restaurant, which aims at a southern cuisine without making it contrived. Also featured are great oysters and clams on the half shell as well as peel and eat shrimp. Our dinner tonight included a cajun Bloody Mary, one dozen delightful oysters (half off during happy hour), fried green tomatoes (some of the best we have had in Milwaukee - Mr. Perkins is close), jambalaya (a little smoky - some liked it some did not), shrimp and grits, a Strauss veal chop with musrooms and mashed, better than most fish fry and a barbecued tofu sandwich. The restaurant was packed at 5 on a Sunday night, the vibe was good and the price was fair. We will return in a heartbeat. Please give it a try - look for the Valvoline sign north of I-94 (68th/70th Street exits). Maxie's has the goods to last a long time.
Milwaukee in October
If you are looking for a great restaurant experience (if your trip hasn't already happened!) head to Bosley on Brady (www.bosleyonbrady.com). It's earned all the kudos that a great restaurant in a big city should (but in Milwaukee!), including praise from Zagat, but you should experience the extraordinary warmth of the restaurant. Bosley has the taste of the Florida Keys and American cuisine. Last night I ate a blackened seafood platter, perfect ribeye and frozen key lime pie - Bosley hits the target every time.
Visiting from NYC
Staying in WeHo right now. A few other thoughts: breakfast at Jinky's on Sunset at Alta Loma is easy and great. Oysters and lobster roll at Hungry Cat on Vine north of Sunset was great the other night, and we met new friends over stone crab claws for life. Make sure to head to the Getty in Malibu, and make a reservation at the finer dining restaurant - you'll look smart when others are told there's a 45 minute wait. And the Getty experience isn't bad either. Have fun.
Coffee suggestion in vicinity of Sunset Marquis
We are staying at the Sunset Marquis right now - there's a coffee shop called Caffe Primo (http://iloveprimo.com) one block west of Alta Loma at 8590 Sunset which makes a good espresso. Off the topic of coffee, other top best favorites of ours while we have been here include Jinky's Cafe (great breakfast last three mornings), right at the top of Alta Loma, and Hungry Cat on Vine north of Sunset for the raw bar. We also did the tasting menu at Grace on Friday night, sat at the bar with a server named Sarahyu from Madison, WI and loved it. Tell your friend to enjoy Sunset Marquis - it's a gem.
Six Penn Kitchen
Just back from our first ever trip to Pittsburgh. As Milwaukeeans, we sort of assumed that we were headed to a sister city - a little rust belt, a little less progressive. We did see many parallels, but we also found a pride and humility that is endearing. We can't wait to get back.
I did a few of the things that we are supposed to do - for one, Primanti's. I have to say, I think this is a little overrated. I understand the charm - it's a little like cheeseheads and our bratwurst. But as any native of Wisconsin will tell you, the first few wurst of the summer are special, but after mid June, the wealth of sausages loses a little of the luster. My Primanti's cheesesteak certainly filled me up, and the fries and slaw on the sandwich are a novelty, but I think I've enjoyed my one experience.
Other stops - the Warhol museum, which I believe is a must. Dramatic layout, and the story of an American icon. We also stopped at Kaya for a mid afternoon mojito, ahi tuna salad and sweet potato fries – these are truly exceptional. I look forward to a return for the full meal.
From our perspective, the gem of the city may be Six Penn Kitchen. I stopped by on my walk back from the Warhol to enjoy a wedge salad and a few Dogfish Head ales. The classic salad is updated with home made bleu cheese dressing and maple bacon - deliciously salty and sweet. In my opinion, there is no meal that is not improved by bacon.
More importantly, the service is exceptional. The management has nurtured an attentive yet relaxed staff, who seem to be having as much fun as the patrons. My bartender Jessica told me, as my wedge salad arrived, that they had been receiving some complaints about the salad, and to make sure to speak up if I was disappointed. Unbeknownst to me, Executive Chef Chris Jackson was sitting at the bar next to me as she offered this spoof warning. Chris and owner Mark Broadhurst soon joined me to talk about Pittsburgh, the 3-0 Steelers and 3-0 Packers, and Chris' journey through Portland, Maine, St. Johns, Newfoundland, New Orleans, San Francisco, Philadelphia and more to land in Pittsburgh.
Mary and I returned, last night, for my second night, to sample the new fall menu. We turned our dining choices over to Chris, and he did not disappoint, with a tour of his best offerings, that I would gladly return to - from scallop ceviche to shrimp with cheese grits (an homage to Chris' New Orleans past) to Jamison lamb t-bones to boneless quail with brussels sprouts, Chris showed off his knack for marrying classic offerings with subtle and graceful updates. Jessica, Peter and Jason were thoughtful servers.
Best of all, the place is just fun. We learned from a regular, who runs a studio across the street, that Mark and Chris poured a ton of money and effort into the three floor restaurant. The effort is apparent. It's nice to see a good result like Six Penn Kitchen come to such good people as Mark and Chris. Can't wait to get back.
a week in milwaukee- HELP!!
Hi, there are plenty of good and inexpensive eats that await you. I work a few blocks away from your office location. Here are some of my views:
- Real Chili is great. I like the chili, but I like the tacos even better (and they are even cheaper). Beer is also served. Open late.
- Cubanitas during the day is accessible and never smokey, when I have been there. Cuban sandwich is the one to order.
- Don't laugh, but the hot dog guy on the corner of Water and Wisconsin draws a line of 10 to 20 people on summer days. All Usinger's products. The Linguica sausage beats them all. 11-2'ish weekdays.
- If you head south a few blocks to the City Market, you can find good lunch meals - Aladdin offers very good hummus and falafel.
- In the same area, the Third Ward, you can find a little more expensive and traditional French fare at Coquette. Sit at the bar, if you are solo.
- On the subject of falafel, Yaffa (on Wells Street just west of the Milwaukee River) has the best I've ever had, as well as extraordinary eastern Mediterranean chow - try the schwarma sandwich. This might be a good dinner choice. This is near your hotel.
- Jake's is an experience, a holdout Jewish corned beef instituton on North Avenue, which has changed all around it. Ask some locals for directions and protocols.
- Another urban experience is Speed Queen Barbecue. Very very good. Both Jake's and Speed Queen are accessed by cab, but you might not easily find a cab to get you back home (unless you promise the cabbie corned beef or ribs).
- A little further north, near the UWM campus, is an exceptional and unpretentious Italian restaurant called Sala DaPranzo, on Hampshire, just north of Kenwood and west of Downer. A cab will get you there.
- Soup Brothers, on Florida Street in Walker's Point offers fresh and tremendous soups. Not much seating, so you have to be a little creative.
- Maharaja on Farwell has a great Indian buffet every day. This would be an ambitious walk or a short cab ride.
- For authentic (i.e. not tex-mex) Mexican, try Cempazuchi on Brady Street. Brady Street is a lively area with lots of bars and eateries. Cab ride.
- I agree with the Ardor recommendation for a fish-fry (it's right across the street!). Another good option is Hooligans on North Avenue (cab ride). Lots of TVs, the bacon/avocado burger beats them all, lots of beers. Great fish fry. This is a bustling area with the new Whole Foods having just opened.
- Also closer to downtown, for Italian, is Third Ward Caffe - a little more expensive, but you could be creative.
Enjoy your time here. The best coffee in town is served by Alterra, a local roaster. There is a shop near the lake, and there is one nearer to your office in the US Bank building.
Ned
