Milwaukee Trip

Headin' to Milwaukee for 3 days in March for a seminar. Staying near Old North Milwaukee. Planning to go to Jo's Cafe for one breakfast but have two more as well as 3 lunches and 3 dinners. Any suggestions? Not looking for fine dining. Would like to get a decent bratwurst and maybe a steak.
Mark

Filetofish


Headin' to Milwaukee for 3 days in March for a seminar. Staying near Old North Milwaukee. Planning to go to Jo's Cafe for one breakfast but have two more as well as 3 lunches and 3 dinners. Any suggestions? Not looking for fine dining. Would like to get a decent bratwurst and maybe a steak.
Mark

Don't discount The Milwaukee Brat House
 
One of my favorite Roadfood Restaurants last year.  Probably one of the best brats I ever enjoyed and try their cheese curds too- they are really good.
 
http://www.milwaukeebrathouse.com/

Karl Ratzsch's for excellent German food: http://karlratzsch.com/
Kopp's at I-43 and Silver Spring for custard and butterburgers (I believe it has been reviewed here)
McBob's for corned beef (covered at length on this site)
Real Chili on Wells near the Marquette campus (I'm an MU grad -- get the hot)
Glorioso's Italian Market on Brady Street is a grocery store with a great deli and hot prepared food
Safe House for Cold War kitzch; the food is OK.

First of all, Jo's Cafe...make sure you lock your car and don't leave any valuables inside.  Not the safest part of town.  That said:
-I agree with Kopp's.
-McBob's is overrated.
-Real Chili is fine if you want to hang around with a bunch of middle-aged people who miss college.
-Glorioso's fnie...at least Brady St. is a better neighborhood than some.
-Safe House....yeah, like 30 years ago maybe, man.
-Karl Ratzsch's still says Milwaukee better than most.
-I would not miss Sobelman's for the burgers...any burger there is great.  Mozz sticks and shrimp poppers are out of this world as well.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Allgood, I'll be attending a seminar at Cleaver Brooks, do you suggest that I stay in a different location? I was leaning towards going to Ratzsch's. Sobelman's also sounds good.
Mark

Thanks, Curious about cheese curds.

Thanks, was certainly considering a butter burger.

Kopps doesnt have butter burgers( but I love their burgers!), Solly's does. On Port Washington Rd, just south of Hampton Av. in Glendale. Go to Kopps for dessert-best frozen custard I have ever had.

ann peeples is right about Solly's.  They do have butter burgers and they are in a class by themself.  I still push Sobelman's myself, but it is a personal preference.

Mark,  I would stay somewhere either more toward Lake Michigan, or north of where Cleaver Brooks is.  They appear to be in a pretty rough area if the location on Lancaster is the one you are headed to.  Anything downtown or further north (Mequon, WI or Brown Deer, WI) would be a much better area.

Filetofish


Thanks for the suggestions so far. Allgood, I'll be attending a seminar at Cleaver Brooks, do you suggest that I stay in a different location? I was leaning towards going to Ratzsch's. Sobelman's also sounds good.
Mark

Many thanks...

Sobelmans is fantastic! Include that in your tour of food!

Filetofish


Thanks, Curious about cheese curds.

They squeak.
 
Buddy

Personal preferences here. I disagree about much posted here but hey, it's a free country. I would not miss Blue's Egg. It's breakfast and lunch only. http://www.bluesegg.com/
While Jo's neighborhood isn't the best, the crackheads usually sleep til noon, I've never heard of a problem there.
Check buffetbuster's pics and info on McBob's; their corned beef hash for breakfast truly rocks. I do agree that dining choices on the west side of town are limited. I still think a trip to the 5 O'Clock Club for a steak is where I'd go. It's surroundings are dismal but they have a very secure, well protected parking lot and again never a problem. It's the place where many athlete's will show up. I spent a good twenty minutes showing vacation pics to Coach George Karl. http://www.fiveoclocksteakhouse.com/wi/index.html 
Another great spot for a meal is the Jackson Grille. Order anything and if not's the scallops served with the risotto of the day, have the mac 'n cheese as your side. Dinner comes with soup or salad and presents a problem. One soup choice is crab bisque (wow), the salad's all have some outstanding house made dressing. Tough choice.
An unusual but great choice is their pork chop Porterhouse. http://thejacksongrill.com/  Karl Ratzsch's is where i go for German; pricy but worth it. http://karlratzsch.com/ 
We've got pub food well worth seeking out.
 http://www.hideawaypubandeatery.com/ 
http://www.stmartinsinn.com/
http://www.foodspot.com/Clients/WI/Milwaukee/BeerBellys/default.aspx?accid=20687
French http://pastichebistro.com/
Serbian Ilija's Place http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-8166-ilijarss-place-brings-serbian-touch-to-cudahy.html
Mexican http://www.eltucanazorestaurante.blogspot.com/ (tiny, tiny)
Polish http://www.crocusrestaurant.com/
Indian http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/43/1439427/restaurant/Milwaukee/Taj-Mahal-Hales-Corners
Vegetarian http://www.cafemanna.com/
Ethiopian http://www.alemethiopianvillage.com/
Bon Appetite

Lord, how could I have forgotten 5 O Clock? Shame on me.No finer steak in the Milwaukee area.....

We have a number of great fried chicken restaurants.
The Hideaway listed above is my second favorite but a person needs variety.
TomKens Friendly Fried Chicken http://www.yelp.com/biz/tomkens-friendly-fried-chicken-milwaukee
Champion Chicken http://www.championchicken.com/
We have some very good soul food places and some outrstanding carryout BBQ. I'd stack up Speed Queen and Ashley's to any I've had throughout the US.
I'll give the links if you're interested. My favorites are Mr. Perkins reviewed here and The Bungalow which has great sides to go with their great fried chicken which actually is my favorite in town.

On your way out of the airport stop by The Final Approach for one of the best bloody mary's around! Awesome. Wings were pretty good too. AJ Bombers (as seen on M v. F and others) has a great butger in a good bar scene. Kopps is also highly recommended. We like the bar at Mo's Irish Pub but not the food so much. Mo's steak house is a really good steak in that upscale steak house environment, but pricey.

We're blessed with 4 outstanding places near our airport and the Final Approach is very good indeed. Beer Belly's listed above, Jalapeno Loco has great authentic Mexican food along with usual Americanized standards. http://www.foodspot.com/Clients/WI/Milwaukee/JalapenoLocoMexicanRstrnt/default.aspx?accid=12901 The Packing House is classic supper club 900 East Layton Avenue  Milwaukee, WI 53207-5237
If you want an authentc Chicago-style Vienna hot dog; Martino's http://www.martinoshotdogs.com/

(414) 483-5054

Mark,
Those cheese curds you were asking about...if you want them deep fried, actually any Culver's has some of the best around.  any of the smaller custard stands around town and some taverns feature them too.  They are pretty great at Culvers though....

ALLGOOD


Mark,
Those cheese curds you were asking about...if you want them deep fried, actually any Culver's has some of the best around.  any of the smaller custard stands around town and some taverns feature them too.  They are pretty great at Culvers though....

 
I think he was referring to my comment about the cheese curds at the Milwaukee Brat House
 
Trust me on this one-get those curds at the Milwaukee Brat House- as well as one of their fine Usinger Brats ( I recommend the sauteed onions and sauerkraut with mustard & secret stadium sauce)
If you don't like it, it's on me!

Yay!  I knew if we waited long enough MilwFoodlovers would come through.  Filetofish, this is the man to listen to in all matters related to dining in Milwaukee.  He has made more good suggestions, and brought me to more fantastic Roadfood joints than I can count.  Now, if you can get X1, or any of the other Contingent members to chime in, you'll have more than three trips worth of excellent Roadfood ideas for your visit to Beer Town (Not that there's anything wrong with the recs you've got so far).
 
Buddy

Thanks to all of you fine folks who have offered great suggestions, I won't go hungry while I'm there. I'll take some photos and make a report of my trip and post it here.
 
Mark

The Bluesegg's menu looks great but they don't open till 7  so I won't be able to do that for breakfast.

ALLGOOD

-McBob's is overrated.
-

I am a little surprised to read that you think McBob's is overrated.  You must have had a bad experience there.  Can you tell us about your visit and what you ate? 

May have caught them on a bad day, but the fish fry was not up to par with what we were expecting on our one and only visit there.  Breading was too heavy and the fish was cold by the time we got it.  I'm not beyond giving it another try though.  I just felt it was not up to the usual Milwaukee standards for a good fish fry.  Perhaps their other food is much, much better.  My personal experience is just that...  maybe the second time's the charm!

ALLGOOD-
Thanks for the reply and I'm sorry to read that you had a bad fish fry meal there.  Agree that Milwaukee is a great town for fish fries and there is no reason to settle for a bad one.
 
I have been to McBob's approximately eight times now.  If my visit is in the morning, I get the corned beef hash, which is the best I have ever had.  On one afternoon visit, I got a reuben, which was also fantastic.  But there was one occasion where the CBH and the service was not up to standards.  It definitely happens, even to the best places.
 
On the most recent visit, during the Roadfood bus tour, I ordered the walleye and it was one of the single best things I ate in 2011.  Now, I don't know what to order the next time at McBob's!
 
I hope you do get to visit again and good or bad, I would love to hear what you think.

Thanks.

March is here and I'll be heading to MKE in under 3 weeks. I will take photos of the food portion of the trip and (attempt) to post them here. I've tried to before but they wouldn't post. I think after 40 posts I can post photos. Should I post them here on this thread or elsewhere?
Mark