Milwaukee Eats

Madison Korean Restaurant

Chris Burkhardt — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:28:40 GMT

My friend just opened up K-Peppers, a Madison Korean Fusion Restaurant.

The website and review is coming, for now check out the best Madison Korean Restaurant

Jo's Cafe

Chris Burkhardt — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:17:23 GMT

Jo's cafe is a lot smaller, more intimate, and busier than I thought it would be. Jo's has take out as well as dine in service, so when you first walk in the door there is a small clutch of people sitting on a few chairs waiting to get their food. Making your way past them there are 4 tables which are usually full, and about 10 stools (the old kind that are bolted to the ground with padded circular tops that swivel) parked against the counter. Directly behind the counter are 2 busy waitresses and a huge griddle crowded with bacon, eggs, omelets, toast, sausage, frying onion, and hash browns in various states of doneness.

The service is quick and to the point, and matches the atmosphere of the place. With so many people eating and so much going on in a small place, the cafe seems very active. People are talking to each other, the phone is ringing, regulars are coming in to be greeted by other regulars, the waitresses are shouting orders to the cook, and he is dropping orders as fast as he can just to keep his head above water. Some people are relaxing after church, but most people seem to be fueling up to start the day

The fuel is good, very good. I had breakfast, Hoffel Poffel and my friend had a typical breakfast, french toast, eggs, toast, and a side of sausage. The food was excellent. Because the place is so small and the pace so fast, our food was set down in front of us basically right off the griddle, and because everything is cooked on the same griddle you get a mingling of flavors that makes a good breakfast very comfortable.

Jo's Cafe
3519 West Silver Spring
Milwaukee, WI 53209
4 of 5 stars

Hoffel Poffel

Chris Burkhardt — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:44:20 GMT

This entry will be less about a place, and more about one specific dish, hoffel poffel

You can find hoffel poffel at Joe's Cafe on 3519 West Silver Spring in Milwaukee.

Hoffel poffel is basically scrambled eggs with onion, fried potatoes, think chunks of fried salami, and topped with melted cheese. Hoffel poffel is a true heart attack breakfast, but they serve you so much, and it is so thick, that if you eat it a little later in the morning, you don't really need to eat again until dinner. This is your all day biking fuel, hangover cure and brunch all rolled into one.

And the taste is as good as it looks, trust me. The salami is spicy and salty, mixing perfectly with the eggs and potato. The cheese on top is great, but could be a touch better if it were cheese sauce rather than a melted cheese slice, although that would detract a little bit from the grittiness of the dish. The plate of food is served with a side of buttered white toast, and if you really want you can add a side of bacon.

Eagan's, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 23:56:27 GMT

Eagans is a nice restaurant on Water Street in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Unfortunately, Eagan's is not a great place to eat.

I went to Eagan's with my girlfriend before a show at Uihlein Hall, and I was not impressed. To start off with, once you walk in the door, there is no one to greet you. We went in the front door, and could not find the hostess station. It did not take us too long to locate it, but it was still disconcerting. Once we did spy it we had to snake through the bar to get there. Luckily it was not too crowded, but it was not empty either.

Once we finally made it to the hostess station, the hostess did a nice job of finding us a table. The place was crowded, so with no reservations, I was a little concerned. However, just as she grabbed menus and was about to show us our table, the phone rang, and she answered it. We were literally taking our first step to the table and had to go back. To make things worse, she was not just fielding a quick call for a reservation, but the caller seemed to be playing 20 questions. We could hear, "We are open till 1:00 am on New Years. ...Yes, we open at 7." The hostess can't do much about the content of the calls, but Eagan's needs someone to answer the phone, or route calls to the bar.

The dining room was over crowded with tables, so again we had to snake our way to the back, bouncing off chairs and kids. To Eagan's credit, we did get a nice table, in the back, and with some quiet, but unfortunately we were sitting down with doubts about Eagan's in our mind.

Our waitress was nice, and very timely, she hooked us up with water, bread, took our drink orders, and gave us menus. Unfortunately the menu is not very good. There are only 9 entree's on the menu, and there is really no theme to speak of. The entree's range from Seafood Stew to Ahi-Tuna, with Grilled Meatloaf and a half a chicken thrown in at random, I guess to give Dad something to eat.

Shame on me, I ordered the Ahi-Tuna in what I was not sure was a seafood restaurant. It was not good. It came in a soy-rice-wine sauce with sauteed vegetables, but the sauce was very blah, and the vegetables were very small and skinny. My girlfriend got the special: baked, encrusted salmon. It was not cooked well, and was not flavorful to boot. Part of the food failing can be laid on us for ordering fish in a non-seafood restaurant, but 6 out of 9 of the entrees were seafood, so we thought it might be ok. It wasn't. The food wasn't bad, just un-inspired, and with the prices pushing first tier, it should have been better.

Again, to Eagan's credit, our waitress was very nice, and very good, it was just the rest of the Eagan's experience that failed. I didn't start this site to trash places, but when a restaurant doesn't deliver, I need to write that as well.

I give Eagan's 2 out of 5 stars.

Eagan's
1030 N Water Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
2 of 5 stars

Cempazuchi, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:57:22 GMT

Cempazuchi is a Mexican restaurant on Brady St. in Milwaukee. Like most of the other things on Brady St., Cempazuchi takes Mexican fair and gives it its own twist.

Cempazuchi is not your typical bright, loud Mexican restaurant with burritos as big as your head. They are still bright and clean, but not as much as usual. The decor does not remind me of a typical Mexican restaurant either. Cempazuchi is more funky and colors, more dia de los muertos than Jalisco's. The front dining area consists of a bar and wooden tables and chairs. The back dining room is a little more standard tables and booths.

Like the decor, the food at Cempazuchi does not fit the mold of most Mexican restaurants. That stands to reason considering the tag line of Cempazuchi is "comida brava": brave food, or a brave meal. Cempazuchi is a little more southern, a little more Aztec than traditional Mexican fair, but no less delicious.

For dinner I had Tacos al Gusto with tinga, a spicy pork and chicken combination. The tacos were served with onions and cilantro with a side of rice and beans. This was very good, although the tinga was not as spicy as I had hoped. With all different fare on the menu, I only got the tacos because I was looking forward to some spicy pork. It was still a very good taco, just not that different.

To counter my plain choice of tacos, my buddy had Salmon Tropico, salmon served on a bed of beans with a pineapple, papaya, and mango relish or salad. That was very good, and very different. I would have never guessed these combinations could go together, but we trusted the cooks, and we were not disappointed.

Overall I liked Cempazuchi very much. If you are looking for traditional Mexican food, this might not be the place to go. But if you are looking more Mexican flavor with a twist, you will not be disappointed.

Cempazuchi
1205 E Brady S
Milwaukee, WI 53202
3 of 5 stars

Twisted Fork Review, Milwakee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:33:26 GMT

The TwistedFork is probably my favorite place to eat in Milwaukee. The Twisted Fork could possibly be the epitimy of pub food.

First off, the place is dark. There is seating in the back dining room, but we have never sat back there, we always sit in the front bar area at tall tables with high back chairs.

The service at the Fork is great, the staff is friendly and quick to greet you. Get a drink, grab a menu, and try and decide.

My favorite dish is The Ivanhoe. The Ivanhoe is named after one of the adjoining streets and is excellent. It is a burger topped with artichoke dip, swiss cheese, and bacon. Add haystack onion rings and you are in for some grub down time. The rest of the signature burgers, four napkin burger, peppercorn burger, and Thai burger are all good as well, I have had them all.

If you are not in the mood for a burger, the entries are great too. The grilled pork chop is grilled perfectly, slightly crisp on the outside where the meat hit the grill, but tender and juicy on the inside. The ribeye steak and rosemary chicken do not disappoint, and they are both served with garlic mashed potatoes. Normally I wouldn't mention the sides, but the Twisted Fork has the best garlic mashers in Milwaukee.

If the menu isn't enough for you, they almost always have Goose Island Honkers Ale on tap, or if that is not your style, 5 other rotating tap beers.

I give The Twisted Fork 5 of 5 stars. They have great food, great service, and they never disappoint.

The Twisted Fork
Farwell and North
Milwaukee, WI 53202
5 of 5 stars

Palms, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 13:22:26 GMT

Palms Bar and Bistro is a great place located on Broadway street in Milwaukee's Third Ward. When I go out to eat, this is exactly the kind of place I am looking for.

Palms is quite, fairly dark, comfortable, well spaced, and has great service. We were greeted immediately at the door, and when the hostess found we were two, she took us directly to the table. The seating was comfortable, (we sat in the high backs by the window) and not to close to other diners. Our waiter was over after a few minutes to take our drink orders and give us menus, which is always nice. I want to stress here that like our hostess, the waiter was not in a hurry. The service was great, but I never got the sense the waiter was rushing around, or speeding, he seemed like he was always sauntering, which led to a more relaxing meal. At the same time, he was not lazy, and never late with anything.

The food at Palms is spectacular. I can't decide exactly what "genre" of food they service, but I will call it "flavors." No matter what, they combine different flavors you might not expect together, and those flavors work well. The menu is exotic but never outlandish. Take, for example, the sesame seared sea bass and spicy shrimp pad thai with pineapple soy reduction. I had never heard of a pineapple soy reduction before, but in the end it was a delicious fish, the pineapple sauce just added to it, it didn't distract. The same with the salmon, which is served with match stick plantains, avocado tempura, and sofrito sauce. The salmon is grilled to perfection, and if you like avocado tempura, well, that is a bonus.

Palms raises a spot in my book for having my favorite dish: gnocchi with blue cheese sauce. I have had this dish only a couple of times in my life, and I love it. Palms does theirs very well, even adding chicken. It is the first time I have seen it with chicken, but it worked.

If Palms dinner menu is not enough, they have some of the best specialty pizzas in Milwaukee. All of the specialty pizzas are good, but the caramelized pear and prosciutto, Gorgonzola cream, fontina, and caramelized onions is hands down the best. This pizza even seems to bet getting a little bit of a reputation around Milwaukee.

I recommend Palms. I have been there for dinner, for drinks, and for both, and have never been disappointed. It is a little pricier than I usually go, but not by much, maybe 2-3 dollars a plate. For the service, food, and presentation, I think this could be priced in the top tier in Milwaukee.

Palms Bar & Bistro
221 N Broadway
Milwaukee, WI 53202
5 of 5 stars

The Wicked Hop, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:41:34 GMT

The Wicked Hop is a Bar/Restaurant in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

I have been to the Wicked Hop for dinner about three times, and I really want to like it, I really should like it, but it falls short in my mind.

The first problem is the name. With a name like "The Wicked Hop" they should make thier own beer, or at least have wicked good beer, but they have pretty much normal beer, Guinness, Bass, a few Lakefront brews, and the normal domestic.

The other thing I don't like about The Wicked Hop is the seating. The tables they have are too close together, and they are upstairs in a long, narrow balcony that overlooks the bar. The bar seating is good, if there is one available, but that is certainly not guaranteed as there are maybe 6 tables total.

The reason I keep coming back to the Hop is the food. Or, at least the food I had one time. I had the best andouille pasta ever. It was super hot, loaded with sausage, chicken, and shrimp, served with bowtie pasta in a cream sauce. Mix that with a couple of Guinness and you are golden. Unfortunately, the rest of their food is good, but not on the same plane as the andouille pasta.

Go to the Hop to hang out, go to the bar, but I would not recommend it for dining.

The Wicked Hop
345 N Broadway
Milwaukee, WI 53202
3 of 5 stars

Barbiere's Italian Inn, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:14:29 GMT

When I talked last time about the best pizza in Milwaukee I should have qualified it.

Balistreri's has the best dine in pizza in Milwaukee, if you get it to go it is not nearly as good. I don't know why, but the quality falls off a lot.

If you want to order out, the best pizza I have found for delivery is Barbiere's Italian Inn. This is again Milwaukee style pizza, but they cut it like a pie, and they use a little more cheese. Maybe that is what helps the pizza make it back to the house, I'm not sure.

If you live too far from Barbiere's, try Pizza Shuttle. This is excellent pizza, although it is a little more Chicago style than the rest. I also recommend Pizza Shuttle's full menu for carry out/deliver for those lazy Sundays when you don't really want to go out.

Barbiere's Italian Inn
5844 W. Bluemound Rd.
Milwaukee, WI
4 of 5 stars for their carry out pizza.

Maxie's Southern Comfort, Milwaukee, WI

Chris Burkhardt — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:59:09 GMT

Two things strike you as you enter Maxie's: This is a strange neighborhood to find a New Orleans style restaurant, and the place is a lot bigger than expected.

The size is, unfortunately, one of its downfalls. While the downstairs bar area look very cozy, seating is very limited so we sat upstairs, and upstairs was not too great. It is basically one big square of a room with nothing separating it into sections, and nothing keeping the tables away from each other. In fact, they were almost organized into rows. So much so that I thought I was in a grocery store for a little while. The dining area was too bright, and the carpet felt kind of threadbare.

The service was decent, our waitress greeted us right away and brought drinks, but after that it took quite a while for her to show up again. The menu seemed limited, although we eventually found some things we liked. I got the blackened catfish and my guest tried the fish fry. They were both good, but neither of them really stood out. The fish was cooked well, and the sides were ok, but there was not an abundance of either.

I think the problem I had with Maxie's is that they tried to be a southern-Creole-fusion restaurant. They didn't just serve southern food, they tried to fancy it up, serving things like Ahi Tuna appetizers. I guess I was expecting seasoned fries and a Bud instead.

Maxie's Southern Comfort
6732 W. Farview
Milwaukee, WI
Maxies Web Site
3 or 5 stars