Milwaukee report

Three day weekend, Siberian weather, painfully bright sun that doesn't deliver on its promise of warmth - it must be time for another trip to Milwaukee, a town I love because it's like a miniature Chicago, many places of interest without all the traffic. Last time I went I reported on it.here.
Now for an important update, since the new places we tried were more misses than hits. Well, all misses, really.

First, the old favorites that are great, and why I'll keep returning. Alterra Coffee Roaster has two locations, one in a very cool, very environmentally-sound restored water pumping station ("Your coffee brewed with wind power!"). Either coincidentally or with great insight, both locations face east, making a morning stop there mid-winter an especially nice treat. Good coffee (with an occasional badly pulled espresso drink), well-made American style bakery items (oversize muffins, cookies, but good ones, not Starbucks style or frozen-dough-the-rest-of-American style) and unerringly friendly service provided by the local University. It's the locally run coffee house that everyone wishes they had on their block.

Beans and Barley has risen from the ashes of its former earthy-crunchy grocer with small cafe to become a surprising destination for a good breakfast in a modern space. It really did burn down about 8 years ago, and the cafe cum restaurant cum deli cum grocer that they rebuilt in its place is the cooles modern architechture in the area, barring Calatrava's new wing of the Art Museum (the building whose wings move every hour, see it here). One nice plus here is that the owner (or one of them?) selects about 25 wines to offer at a time, and all of them are dead-on deals under $20. I've been introduced to many good deals here.

Cempazuchi is a pleasant, always crowded, pan-Mexican spot that has more bright spots than not. Margaritas are made with fresh lime juice (and start at $3.95, unheard of in Chicago), many of the dishes are nicely done, and all are reasonably priced. The fish tacos are one of my standbys here.

Now, we decided to try a few new places, and none of them we'd bother returning to.

Restaurant Bartolotta's was something I was excited about, a Tuscan-menu-ed restaurant that was well-reviewed, and part of a group of restaurants owned by the eponymous family whose Lake Park Bistro we enjoyed a few years ago for brunch. Apps were in the $8-10 range, pastas in the $16-20, entrees in the $18-23, which is one of the reasons I felt this place didn't work for me. Given those prices (in Milwaukee), I expected more.

The place was extremely noisy, to the point that I couldn't hear the waiter well, which was fine, given that he was of the "Hi I'm Bob and Janet and I will be you servers tonight." school, including silly bond-with-the-patron jokes. So, the service wasn't all that polished and the place was quite a bit beyond the convivial-bustling decibel level I expect for a $20+ entree.

The food was nice, meaning it was tasty, though not for that price. One shrimp dish was overcooked, and the portions were monstrously large. I was also put off when there was no apparent host(ess) available at the front to greet us; we had to walk around the restaurant to find someone, and when we did, were told, "We'll let you know when we have a table for you," even though we had reservations, and we'd arrived on time.

Next disappointment was Sol Fire, a Mexican-Spanish place that probably is more of a bar with a restaurant than a restaurant with a bar area. Our brunch there consisted of tepid everything, from the coffee to the styrofoam pink tomato-like cubes in the salsa, to the bland chiles supposedly flavoring the chilaques. This is probably a fun place at night, and might be considered a bar with food rather than a place to get some serious spicy food. Also, we never got one of the items ordered, though we were also not charged for it.

Glorioso's is an Italian grocery/deli that I'd really like to effuse about, but can only say that, well, their olives are good and in the below-Whole-Foods but above-Marketplace-on-Oakton price. The cheeses there aren't stored all that well, either, but they do have some nice canned/dry goods that you would have to search for on Taylor St. or Harlem if in Chicago. Their wine selection isn't great. The people there are nice. I guess I'd go there for the tuna in olive oil if it was a few blocks away from me.

Well, not to totally disappoint, there are places I've really enjoyed and anticipate returning to: Roots restaurant, Coquette's, Sanfords. What else am I missing in Milwaukee? Fill me in!

If you search further on LTH, you can read about the Milwaukee road trip that took place and the gems that were discovered that day. However, one of my personal favorites there is Turner Hall for Friday fish fry. The building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places and is just beautiful. Even if you're not a fish fry fan, I'd definitely recommend a stop there for lunch, dinner or a beer.

Historic Turner Restaurant
1034 N 4th St
Milwaukee, WI 53203
414-276-4844

I am going to go to Milwaukee for a weekend in January and made reservations at Sanford's - I found a good Sanfords post from fishie ( http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3699&highlight=sanford ) and this good general Milwaukee post from Michael M.
I need to decide where to go for my second evening in Milwaukee --- for now, I am planning on making it Coquettes (I have been there before and it was excellent) but I am wondering if anyone knows of any good new places in Milwaukee?

Also, I have a non-food related question (if this is allowed on this forum)... does anyone have any experience with the Metro Hotel in downtown Milwaukee? I am thinking about staying there. Thanks!

unknowndiner wrote:I am going to go to Milwaukee for a weekend in January and made reservations at Sanford's - I found a good Sanfords post from fishie ( http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3699&highlight=sanford ) and this good general Milwaukee post from Michael M.
I need to decide where to go for my second evening in Milwaukee --- for now, I am planning on making it Coquettes (I have been there before and it was excellent) but I am wondering if anyone knows of any good new places in Milwaukee?

Also, I have a non-food related question (if this is allowed on this forum)... does anyone have any experience with the Metro Hotel in downtown Milwaukee? I am thinking about staying there. Thanks!

Have you looked at this thread?

Since we don't require the same "laser-focus" on chow of some other sites, let me recommendTripAdvisor.com for all your hotel searches. The review of the Hotel Metro is here

Yes, I did - thanks! I also read this one: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5433&highlight=milwaukee+public+market

I have found a lot of suggestions about what to do for lunch and breakfast but I am looking forward to having two nice dinners, and that is what I am having a hard time finding info on.

It is sort of a special occasion that we are celebrating up in Milwaukee, so I am looking for places to splurge this time. During past visits to Milwaukee my budget required that I be parsimonious, but this time I am willing to spend.

One thing that I am really excited about visiting is the Milwaukee Public Market. I have not been there yet and will add my report onto the previous post on the market (which I cannot seem to find right now).

What about Mader's for German food. I've heard mixed reviews over the past couple of years, but it's a Milwaukee institution and might be woth a visit for the ambiance alone. And then there's Old Town Serbian, a place that VI likes a great deal.

Mader's Restaurant
1041 N Old World 3rd St
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
414-271-3377
www.madersrestaurant.com

Old Town Serbian Gourmet House
522 W Lincoln Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53207
414-672-0206

No help, but I had dinner at Coquette about a month (or so) ago, and it was excellent, really good.

I love eating in Milwaukee, but I have little experience there with the higher end stuff. I think Mo's is well regarded if you want a steak place.

Rob

I would suggest Three Brothers at 2414 South St. Clair. It is a Serb place in an old Schlitz Tavern. It has been there for over 50 year and feels like a time machine back to pre-communist Eastern Europe. It is an effortlessly beautiful dark old place -- the kind of place that doesn't seem to exist much anymore. I like it a lot more than Old Town -- but I've only eaten there once and had kind of a weird bad experience.

You should also make a point of checking out At Random --2501 S. Delaware. It is truly weird and wonderful -- a bar that specializes in ice cream drinks. Bizarro kitsch -- completely without irony. And the drinks are great. It might be the happiest place on earth.

FYI, Three Brothers and Old Town Serbian Gourmet House are owned by two separate branches of the same family.

TODG and I have eaten at Coquette's twice in the last two months and have been very well pleased each time. The wine list is nicely balanced with the menu, too.

The soups are really really good.

Old Town Serbian has never failed to satisfy as well.

Geo

I intended to write a report on our trip to Milwaukee but time slipped away (it has been about three weeks) and I figured either I quickly submit this report now, or it will never happen --- so here is my brief summary of our weekend in Milwaukee -

we went to Coquettes on Friday night - it was excellent as always.

Went to the Milwaukee Public Market on Saturday.
http://static.flickr.com/36/88401075_84d52d5e72.jpg
It is definitely worth going to if you are in downtown Milwaukee, but I was not overwhelmed by it. The architecture was great but it seemed a little bit more like a high-end grocery store rather than a collection of local businesses. Maybe it will be better in the summer if they have local produce? In my opinion, the highlight was the cheese area (West Allis Cheese?) - although they had a lot of regular supermarket deli cheeses (like American cheese) they had a very nice but small collection of Wisconsin cheeses - I got a few (including 2 or 3 Carr Valley cheeses) and they were excellent.

The best dinner (though most expensive) of the trip was Sanfords. I won't get into the details but it is a wonderful place. This is my second time I have eaten there (first time was 5 or 6 years ago). The food, service and the wine advice we got was top notch.

Sunday morning we went to Trocadero for breakfast. It was hopping - mostly with "kids" in their 20's and 30's. It is a fun place and though I had no complaints about the food, I was not overwhelmed by it. For breakfast at least, it is a place to go for the atmosphere and the people, not necessarily for the food. I would stick with the good old reliable Beans and Barley instead.

I wish we would have had another day because I would have liked to have gone to roots – I will next time.