Looking for Milwaukee dining recs near Bradley Center

Yes, I know that there are lots of postings here on Milwaukee. I have scanned through them. However, I have no idea if any of the places mentioned are near our final destination for the night, Bradley Center. Plus, many of them seem more of the greasy spoon variety, which I try to avoid.

Want to grab some food around 6ish on Sunday. Two adults, no kids. Open to almost anything that's not too far from the Bradley Center. Would prefer something that's a bit different than Chicago fare or exceptionally good for what it is - wings, pizza, whatever. Just looking for some good chow. Not so much into greasy spoons, but anything else is game.

We ended up going to Swig for dinner, and it was perfect for what we wanted. It's small plates and swank located a few blocks from the Bradley Center, no more than 10 minutes of a walk.

Hubby and I had a 6:30 reservation, and I highly recommend a reservation. We got there early, around 6pm, and they went ahead and seated us. It wasn't too busy then, but it quickly picked up in the hour or so we were there.

We weren't too hungry, so the small plates were perfect. We ordered one that was an eggroll type of item, but filled with a chicken curry walnut filling with a cucumber yogurt dip on the side. Very tasty and filling. There were 6 eggroll sized pieces, we ate two, and doggy bagged the remaining four.

We also shared a poblano pepper stuffed with shrimp. The heat from the pepper went well with the shrimp stuffing. The pepper was sitting in a thinner red sauce that 's great for dipping bread into. We had to ask for bread, but we weren't charged, and it was a very nice little loaf.

Given the loungey ambience, drinks are big here. I was in the mood for iced tea, which wasn't on the menu, but my waitress happily brewed some hot tea and sugared it for me, and it was some of the best iced tea. Service was good all around

Prices may be on the higher side for the area, but our bill ended up being about what we pay for tapas in Chicago on a not too hungry night.

I got this rec from the local Milwaukee paper: http://www.jsonline.com. It seems that they have some other good writeups that lend good stomach guidance.

Along our way to Bradley Center, we stumbled across two other places that have been mentioned on this forum. We checked them out for future reference.

Historic Turner Restaurant is directly across the street from Bradley Center. It was a bit crazy busy as we stopped on our way to the concert. It is a neat building, but the menu seemed pretty standard, nothing special. Maybe better for a drink than eating.

We also hit Mader's, whose German offerings, proximity to Bradley Center and the rest, and ambience put this high on our list for our next visit.

Swig
http://www.swigmilwaukee.com/
1227 N. Water Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
For Reservations Call: 414.431.7944
Email: info@swigmilwaukee.com

Historic Turner Restaurant
http://www.foodspot.com/turner/
1034 N. 4th St.
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Phone: (414) 276-4844

Maders
http://www.madersrestaurant.com/
1041 North Third Street
Milwaukee, WI 53203
Phone: 414-271-3377
Reservations recommended

kithat wrote:Historic Turner Restaurant is directly across the street from Bradley Center. It was a bit crazy busy as we stopped on our way to the concert. It is a neat building, but the menu seemed pretty standard, nothing special. Maybe better for a drink than eating.

We also hit Mader's, whose German offerings, proximity to Bradley Center and the rest, and ambience put this high on our list for our next visit.

Thanks for reporting back. I was just in Wisconsin/without computer and could not answer your query. And if I did, those would have been the two places that came to mind!

I've had the fish fry at Turner Hall. If you are in town on Friday, it is highly worthwhile.

I've reported on Turner's before. It's one of my favorite stops in Milwaukee as is Mader's.

Thanks for the mention of Swigs. I'll remember that for our next visit.

kithat wrote:We ended up going to Swig for dinner, and it was perfect for what we wanted. It's small plates and swank located a few blocks from the Bradley Center, no more than 10 minutes of a walk.

Hubby and I had a 6:30 reservation, and I highly recommend a reservation. We got there early, around 6pm, and they went ahead and seated us. It wasn't too busy then, but it quickly picked up in the hour or so we were there.

We weren't too hungry, so the small plates were perfect. We ordered one that was an eggroll type of item, but filled with a chicken curry walnut filling with a cucumber yogurt dip on the side. Very tasty and filling. There were 6 eggroll sized pieces, we ate two, and doggy bagged the remaining four.

We also shared a poblano pepper stuffed with shrimp. The heat from the pepper went well with the shrimp stuffing. The pepper was sitting in a thinner red sauce that 's great for dipping bread into. We had to ask for bread, but we weren't charged, and it was a very nice little loaf.

Given the loungey ambience, drinks are big here. I was in the mood for iced tea, which wasn't on the menu, but my waitress happily brewed some hot tea and sugared it for me, and it was some of the best iced tea. Service was good all around

Prices may be on the higher side for the area, but our bill ended up being about what we pay for tapas in Chicago on a not too hungry night.

Swig is now at:
217 N. Broadway
Milwaukee, WI 53202
http://www.swigmilwaukee.com/
(414) 431-7944

And the Turner Restaurant closed last year.

I've always enjoyed the Calderone Club, 842 North Old World 3rd St. Excellent Italo-American, with very good pizza.

Geo