Waukesha Anyone?

Waukesha Anyone?

I did search and found a few references to Fonzie, garlic toast and maybe a Pic N'Sav, but Waukesha seems under-represented on the board.

I'll be there for the next few days. Any recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks,

Hammond

La Estacion Mexican Restaurant & Bar is a favorite restaurant in Waukesha. For dessert, the gelato at Divino Gelato Cafe shouldn't be missed.

La Estacion Mexican Restaurant & Bar
319 Williams Street
Waukesha, WI
(262) 521-1986

Divino Gelato Cafe
222 W. Main Street
Waukesha, WI
(262)446-9490
http://www.divinogelatocafe.com

Visit www.foodspot.com and enter "Waukesha." The first few pages have websites with menus and reviews. Dennis Ghetto from www.jsonline.com reviews a few of these Waukesha restaurants.

This is a very timely post. I'll be in Waukesha for an afternoon meeting on Thursday. I was planning on stopping at the Milwaukee Farmers Market in the A.M., having an early lunch at Jakes, then heading to Waukesha for my meeting. Should I skip Jakes in favor of one of these recommended places?

Thanks chicagostyledog -- I'm particularly interested in the Mexican place.

Hammond

Not food in the least, but my family has an odd love for the Salvation Army store in Waukesha (something about North Face jackets).

There's a nice candy shop, whose name I cannot recall. Perhaps you'll run into it.

One thing I want to point out is, you really are not that far from the Brookfield outlet of Kopps, and whenever I find myself not too far from a Kopps outlet...(and for some reason, just yesterday I was craving a Kopps butter burger).

[I thought it was Waukesha, but's it's apparently in Pewaukee], still:
Visiting a friend nearby, I have tried Mr. Wok (take-out) a couple of times (last time was just under 2 yrs ago). The food has been very good (not great, but far better than you'd expect from a place named "Mr. Wok" in a strip mall). The owner?/chef is of Malay origin and my friend (who grew up in KL) has gotten many off the menu items from him; possibly the menu has also expanded by requests to include some Malay style dishes - some require some advance notice. Call ahead and ask for hainanese chicken. The tom yum soup (on the menu) there was particularly memorable.

I would have eaten there much more, but they are closed on weekends (which is when I would visit) - save possibly Saturday lunch (I'n not certain). It's a pity - but I think the weekday (GE) lunch crowd sustains the business - and they prefer the generic buffet.

So, it's not a destination restaurant, but if you are in the area, it's a satisfying meal.

Breakfast options nearby: previous (Eastward) exit, there's a Machine Shed restaurant. The foods not half as bad as the portions are huge It hits the spot (and you won't require lunch).

added on edit: On the way back, I try and stop at Sendik's- good prices on cheese and a large selection of the Carr Valley ones.

Mr Wok
2128 Silvernail Rd,
Pewaukee, WI
(262) 521-9780

Wisconsin Machine Shed Rstrnt
N14w24145 Tower Pl,
Waukesha, WI
(262) 523-1322

David Hammond wrote:Waukesha Anyone?
I'll be there for the next few days. Any recommendations would be welcome.

Thanks,

Hammond

I dont know Waukesha hardly at all, in terms of food. However, since you
say you are there for a few *days*...

As suggested above, Brookfield isnt far away, and the Kopp's there
is good - have been there before. Iam a major-league Kopp's groupie
anyway, so if I was ever in Waukesha for a few days, I think I'd
end up there for a custard pretty much every night.

Depending on where you are in Waukesha, Oconomowoc is really a
shortish drive, just off the 94 (and 16 IIRC). This has a few recs on
here in the past, mostly from Sdritz. She has rec'd Kiltie's Custard,
which is very very good too - maybe IMHO not as good as Kopp's,
but it is an old-fashioned drive-in, and the girls wear very cute uniforms
However, I have a feeling this may be useless for you - you'd have to
check, but I have a feeling they may be a summer-operation, in which
case they might be closed. She has a couple other recs too, which
I havent tried.

The other Sdritz rec, though, is Todd's Grill:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... oconomowoc

Ive been planning on responding on that thread for ages, but havent
gotten around to it. Ive been to Todd's twice now, and would heartily
second her recommendation.

The first time I was there, I waffled and vaccilated - but finally, on the
rec of the gal behind the bar, went with the cheeseburger. Which was
completely terrific - cooked to order, fresh ground breef (never frozen),
excellent. The fries arent quite the same - you have good hot krinkle-cut
fries, very solid, but not as amazing as the burger. They also have
home-made potato chips (but I prefer fries to chips myself). Supposedly
the other sides are very good too. A good friendly local crowd, and
lots of local stuff on tap.

The second time I was there, I didnt vaccilate at all - went straight for
the burger, wihch was again excellent (thus both of my experiences
have been quite terrific). But I got talking with a couple of older guys
there (who had, apparently, been fishing... and then suddenly realized
it was Monday, which was TOdd's "Open face prime rib sandwich"
special day, and so they promptly called him and ordered it, and
then drove straight there from fishing)... they were oohing and
aahing at the table behind me while consuming it, and just raving about
it. I had already eaten a big and excellent burger... so I just had to take
the open-face-prime-rib-sandwich to go (packed away perfectly,
au jus on the side, bread on the side, soup on the side), and eat it the
next day after microwaving it, and it was still pretty damn terrific. If
Iam ever next at Todd's on a Monday... I dont know what I'll do, maybe
just flip a coin I suppose.

Anyway. If youre close to the 94 and/or 16 in Waukesha, and youre
there for a few days, Id suggest a trip over to Todd's. Excellent place,
cool small town, lake at the back (if you want to hang out and the
weather is decent I suppose) etc. Sdritz has tried more of the menu
than I have and can probably rec more items - but the two I have
tried (Todd's burger IIRC, the one with cheese, sauteed mushrooms
etc) and the Open-face-Prime-Rib-sandwich - I can recommend
without reservation.

c8w

Steve, I wouldn't skip a Jake's corned beef sandwich for any food in Waukesha. For dessert, the Divino Gelato Cafe is not to be missed. On your return, a pizza from Zaffiro's or a dinner at Three Brothers would be the e-ticket. Jalapeno Loco, across from the airport on Howell, south of Layton, offers great lunch and dinner specials. The new Milwaukee Whole Foods has opened on the east side. Quite different from anything in the Chicago. They offer a beer bar, a wine bar, a large buffet, a hot sandwich bar(hot turkey, prime rib, and pork), and another food bar offering hot dogs, brats, pulled pork, and sushi. Many more selections than the Milwaukee Market.

Resurrecting this older post as I'm heading up there on Saturday. Any new-ish recommendations for lunch spots in/near town?

Probably taking 94/894 up there. Haven't decided on my routing to head back south. Somewhere on the way home there will be a custard stop involved.

It ain't fine dining, but it's as good a representation of Waukesha as an Italian Beef sandwich is of Chicago: The Panza Rotta at Jimmy's Grotto. Somewhere between a Calzone and a Cornish Pasty, the Panza Rotta is a dough shell stuffed with your choice of ingredients.

We ordered two, one stuffed with more traditional fillings (I think it was sausage, mushroom, and onion. We're going back to 2008, so I can't say for sure), and the Taco Panza. Of the two, the traditionally filled version was definitely the better one.

The other place I've visited was John's Drive-In, a classic old time joint, complete with gravel parking lot, walk-up windows, and picnic tables off to the side as your only dine-in option. The Hot Dogs are average at best; not the kind of dogs that would pass muster in Chicago, but they do serve a very good house-made Root Beer, available in single servings or in larger takeaway sizes.

Other than that, I'll echo support for Divino Gelato Cafe.

Buddy

Jimmy's Grotto
314 E. Main. St
Waukesha, WI 53186
(262) 547-8906

John's Drive-In
1317 Arcadian Ave.
Waukesha, WI 53186
(262) 542-2842

The Rochester Deli is very good. Great corned beef really and under the radar. Taylor's People's Park downtown warrants a visit also. If you were in Waukesha during their fantastic farmers market season (ended last Saturday), there is a booth there that sold spring rolls and stuffed chicken wings. He expertly cuts the bones out the the wing part that has two bones, while keeping the meat in. He then stuffs those full of the same filling used in the spring rolls, fries them in the wok and serves them with sweet chili sauce. Started Saturdays with those gems all summer.

As a local:

fuzzy's

*Definitely Wisconsin
*Friendly and unpretentious - better level food, but local atmosphere
*Breakfasts are just...... well, the parking lot is never empty
*New 'special' creations regularly by Phil and company (he's been doing this for ever in Waukesha and is pretty darn good at his niche)

*Fuzzy's Pub & Grill
627 E Main St, Waukesha, WI ‎
(262) 524-8899

Thanks for the tips.

We ended up having a nice lunch yesterday at:

The Rochester Deli
143 W. Broadway
Waukesha, WI 53186
(262) 522-9611
www.rochesterdeli.com

I highly recommend the chicken dumpling soup accompanied by a grilled reuben.

My wife had a grilled vegetable panini. Not offering to share it with me indicated that she was quite happy.

I live in Waukesha and agree that there aren't a ton of food spots. The Ponza-Rottas don't really do it for me, but you gotta try one at least once. However if you look around you can find some gems

John's Root Beer is fun but the dogs they use suck and need to be dressed up in order to conceal their mediocrity. I usually get the chili dogs. The root beer is great.

Generations at Five Points is really the City's only "nice" restaurant. Pretty good tapas and pasta dishes as well as cocktails, great setting.

We have good burgers - the aforementioned People's Park is my favorite, Mainstream is also solid and Fuzzy's has great pub burgers along with their stellar breakfasts.

Another interesting spot for beer nerds is Bernie's Tap Room. I think they have like 22 craft beers on tap and pretty knowledgeable bartenders. They also do beer flights/samplers. The food is decent, my favorite being the duck confit and brie flatbread. There is a brewpub around the corner from Bernie's/People's Park called Fixture but I don't think their beer is ready yet. They finally got all permits about a month ago and started brewing, just not sure if anything is on tap yet. They do have some great micros on tap. No food there. I'll report back once their beer is flowing.

For Mexican (especially tacos) I go to Taqueria El Palmar. Inexpensive taco-truck style tacos. Love the goat and the cabeza. Most folks go to La Estacion and Casa Ole, which have a more lively atmosphere, but the really good stuff is at El Palmar, El Sol De Mexico, and Taco Amigo.

Rochester Deli is phenomenal and the food media ignoring the suburbs is the only reason they aren't mentioned with Jake's and McBob's as great places for corned beef.

Pat's Rib Place serves up great BBQ. While not on par with my favorite, Ashley's. Its still great and is very popular. Great catfish fry too.

Mr. Wok may also get overlooked because of its stupid name and location in a strip mall (the same mall as the equally mis-named Taco Amigo) but they have a Malaysian section of the menu that is really good. http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/d ... 40067.html

If any of you are in Waukesha and want to meet for lunch or dinner, shoot me a pm.

What about a nice Wisconsin dinner club in that area?

eatwisconsin wrote:... the food media ignoring the suburbs ...

One possible exception to this is the free bimonthly Alcoholmanac magazine. Although it focuses on Milwaukee County it makes an effort to review places a little further afield.

The prison serves a respectable version of chicken a la king and carrot cake . . . or they did many, many years ago. But I'll assume this is not where most people would like to dine . . . I know I didn't!