Restaurant thread (was: Re: 2017 SG LJ Figueroa)

[Dawson Rental]

One of the larger than life figures at Marquette back in the day was Nestor Figueroa. He did public radio in Milwaukee but was proud to work at the Danish World smut shop on Wisconsin Avenue.

Nestor was Ed Figueroa's cousin and he would get us player tix at Will Call when the Yankees were in town. We watched in stunned silence one night as Nestor pounded six Hot Bean's at Real Chili after a hard night at the 'Lanche.

Somehow, the world was different after that event. There were gas lines, the prime rate was north of 20%, and a peanut farmer was President but we had watched a man down six bowls of Real Chili in less than 30 minutes. We knew that America would be all right after that night. 

Your country needs you, sir.  Your mission - should you decide to accept - is to return to Milwaukee, find Nestor, and get him back to Real Chili to repeat his feat. 

As always, should Nestor fail to finish or to keep down his six bowls of chili, MUScoop will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

[brewcity77]

Well, now that this is becoming a restaurant thread...if you can't find good old-school restaurants in Milwaukee, you're simply lazy. There are plenty of great options that still put the care in without being chain restaurants.
.

• Steak: Jackson Grill on Mitchell is excellent. Well worth the price and very much a cool, small house feel.
  
• Mexican: Tons of options on the South Side, but for my money, Guanajuato in Bayview is the place to go. Excellent food, and cheap too.
  
• Burgers: Also tons of options. The relatively new Oscar's on Pierce isn't a chain, but has great burgers, and is one of a multitude of options (along with Sobelman's, Solly's, etc).
  
• Italian: While I usually go for their ribs, Pitch's on Humboldt really hasn't changed in the past 40-50 years. Same owners, and as a bonus, if you run into Grandpa Piciurro, he has plenty of great Al McGuire stories (Al was a regular there and at Miss Katie's back in the day).
  
• Tapas: Okay, this may be the trendy option, but places like Odd Duck in Bayview put a ton of personal touch into an ever-changing menu. You'll never eat the same meal twice, and I haven't had a bad plate there.
  
• German: Mader's. No more need be said.
  
• Serbian: Three Brothers is an excellent restaurant. Single location, great food, and while Branko may have passed on, this is still a family establishment that feels like an extension of their family kitchen.
  
• Custard: In the city, Leon's on 27th and Oklahoma is great and very old-school.
  
• Kosher: It's always been worth braving the neighborhood for the corned beef at Jake's Deli on 16th and North, though they are expanding out to other locations of late.
  
• Brunch: My pick is Trocadero, nestled in between the East Side and Riverwest. Blue's Egg in Tosa seems to be the new popular spot, but I think the bloodies are lacking and the wait isn't worth it. Heard good things about Mad Rooster on Greenfield as well, haven't been yet.
  
• Fish Fry: On the north side, River Lane Inn on Brown Deer has a great fry, on the south side, hit up the Packing House on Layton. Both single establishments that maintain an intimate feel. Probably about 1,000 more options in the metro area, if not more.
  
• Drinks: For elaborate cocktails, I love At Random on Russell. Any fan of Sinatra or Dean Martin would think they died and went to heaven having a cocktail here. If they aren't open (very limited hours) head over to Bryant's on 9th and Lapham. Tell the bartender what kind of mood you're in and they'll fix up a drink that suits your taste even when you don't really know what you want. Or just get an Old Fashioned.

.
Quite simply, if you think that the personal touch of the extended family kitchen is dead, you are lazy and ignorant of the options. And if Milwaukee has this and more to offer (it does, tons more), I'm confident that bigger cities like Chicago have tenfold what the Brew City does.

If you say the great restaurants are disappearing, I say you are too damned lazy to bother finding them.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Maders??? GTFO.  Karl Ratzsch's is where it's at!

[brewcity77]

Maders??? GTFO.  Karl Ratzsch's is where it's at!

Part of the beauty of Milwaukee...there are many great options

EDIT: And while this thread may be waaaaaaaay off topic, I have to admit, this is probably one of my favorite discussions to have. One question I'd ask...who would people vote for for best pizza in Milwaukee? I haven't been to the new Pizza Man yet, and always felt Shuttle and Zaffiro's were a bit overrated. Due to my job, my standards for pizza have gone way up in the past 5 years. Saturday night pizza is pretty much a holy occasion in the firehouse.

[T-Bone]

So to get back on topic, which one of you is hoopaloop? 

[Spotcheck Billy]

Maders??? GTFO.  Karl Ratzsch's is where it's at!

better yet the place owned by a former head chef at Maders, Wegner's St. Martins Inn for German and their fish fry is damn good, Maders is too "institution" for me if that makes sense

[Marquette_g]

Part of the beauty of Milwaukee...there are many great options

EDIT: And while this thread may be waaaaaaaay off topic, I have to admit, this is probably one of my favorite discussions to have. One question I'd ask...who would people vote for for best pizza in Milwaukee? I haven't been to the new Pizza Man yet, and always felt Shuttle and Zaffiro's were a bit overrated. Due to my job, my standards for pizza have gone way up in the past 5 years. Saturday night pizza is pretty much a holy occasion in the firehouse.

For my money:

Transfer for hand tossed style

Lisa's or Maria's for the thin, cracker, crust style.

[keefe]

better yet the place owned by a former head chef at Maders, Wegner's St. Martins Inn for German and their fish fry is damn good, Maders is too "institution" for me if that makes sense

Mader's is shyte

[Spotcheck Billy]

Part of the beauty of Milwaukee...there are many great options

EDIT: And while this thread may be waaaaaaaay off topic, I have to admit, this is probably one of my favorite discussions to have. One question I'd ask...who would people vote for for best pizza in Milwaukee? I haven't been to the new Pizza Man yet, and always felt Shuttle and Zaffiro's were a bit overrated. Due to my job, my standards for pizza have gone way up in the past 5 years. Saturday night pizza is pretty much a holy occasion in the firehouse.

Our favorite is Marco's for carry-out/delivery. Locations are on S. 27th(just north of College)and 84th and Lisbon, do not confuse with any of the many other Marco's. Transfer is very good and forget the stupid name, Pizzeria Scotty makes great pizza too (98th & Oklahoma)

http://marcospizzamilwaukee.com/

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well, now that this is becoming a restaurant thread...if you can't find good old-school restaurants in Milwaukee, you're simply lazy. There are plenty of great options that still put the care in without being chain restaurants.
.

• Brunch: My pick is Trocadero, nestled in between the East Side and Riverwest. Blue's Egg in Tosa seems to be the new popular spot, but I think the bloodies are lacking and the wait isn't worth it. Heard good things about Mad Rooster on Greenfield as well, haven't been yet.
  

.

I could eat at Trocadero every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of their food.

[swoopem]

5 o'clock steakhouse over everything

[jficke13]

Part of the beauty of Milwaukee...there are many great options

EDIT: And while this thread may be waaaaaaaay off topic, I have to admit, this is probably one of my favorite discussions to have. One question I'd ask...who would people vote for for best pizza in Milwaukee? I haven't been to the new Pizza Man yet, and always felt Shuttle and Zaffiro's were a bit overrated. Due to my job, my standards for pizza have gone way up in the past 5 years. Saturday night pizza is pretty much a holy occasion in the firehouse.

I swear by Barbierre's in Tosa near Hawley and Bluemound.

Haven't gotten it yet but I picked up coffee at Anodyne in Bay View (spectacular coffee by the way) and they have a wood fired oven roaring that was churning out some incredible looking pizza. It's on my short list to try.

[LAMUfan]

• Drinks: For elaborate cocktails, I love At Random on Russell. Any fan of Sinatra or Dean Martin would think they died and went to heaven having a cocktail here. If they aren't open (very limited hours) head over to Bryant's on 9th and Lapham. Tell the bartender what kind of mood you're in and they'll fix up a drink that suits your taste even when you don't really know what you want. Or just get an Old Fashioned.

.

I think at random might be closing/ is closed unless they got some legal stuff figured out

[brewcity77]

I think at random might be closing/ is closed unless they got some legal stuff figured out

They may have closed, I did hear something about that. Though admittedly, their hours were tough to figure before any of their issues. If it goes away, that'd suck. That's been a date staple of mine for years, the wife and I love that place.[/list]

[GOO]

5 o'clock steakhouse over everything

If I am going to have a steak, it is going to be at 5 o'clock.

As long as this is a restaurant thread now, has anyone eaten at the Ethiopian place on Wisconsin Ave?  I love Ethiopian food, but have never tried any in Milwaukee and want to give this place a go.

[77ncaachamps]

My single greatest accomplishment as a Gen Xer for the children of the Greatest generation?

Getting a job to help pay for their Social Security.





Back to Figueroa, maybe three times is a charm for MU recruits out of FL.
(Cheatham is an unknown... Jamail is, well, gone).

[brewcity77]

Anyone that swears by 5 O'Clock should really try Jackson Grill. The kitchen staff at Koerper's has largely turned over. Not the same as it once was, whereas JG is an excellent option.

[GooooMarquette]

Been many years since I've gone out for steak in Milwaukee, but Eddie Martinis used to be pretty good.  Still decent?

Bummed to hear that At Random may be gone.

[Newsdreams]

One of the larger than life figures at Marquette back in the day was Nestor Figueroa. He did public radio in Milwaukee but was proud to work at the Danish World smut shop on Wisconsin Avenue.

Nestor was Ed Figueroa's cousin and he would get us player tix at Will Call when the Yankees were in town. We watched in stunned silence one night as Nestor pounded six Hot Bean's at Real Chili after a hard night at the 'Lanche.

Somehow, the world was different after that event. There were gas lines, the prime rate was north of 20%, and a peanut farmer was President but we had watched a man down six bowls of Real Chili in less than 30 minutes. We knew that America would be all right after that night.  

  

We must have crossed paths somehow Nestor and I were good friends

[Earl Tatum]

Didn't know that Karl Ratzsch's and Mader's are still great spots to eat, etc. We always stopped there in 70's and 80's when MU
or the Bucks played Saturday afternoon games. Is Barbierre's on the corner of Bluemond and Hwy. 100?

[GGGG]

Is Barbierre's on the corner of Bluemond and Hwy. 100?

Barbiere's Italian Inn is on about 58th and Bluemound.

[JustinLewisFanClubPres]

As long as this is a restaurant thread now, has anyone eaten at the Ethiopian place on Wisconsin Ave?  I love Ethiopian food, but have never tried any in Milwaukee and want to give this place a go.

Yes. Alem is very good (as is Ethiopian Cottage on Farwell). Alem is typically a little spicier in my experience but I have found both to be very good options after multiple visits.

[Dawson Rental]

Maders??? GTFO.  Karl Ratzsch's is where it's at!

Wow, 35 years on, the debate remains the same.

Is John Ernst still around?

[brewcity77]

Been many years since I've gone out for steak in Milwaukee, but Eddie Martinis used to be pretty good.  Still decent?

Bummed to hear that At Random may be gone.

I've driven by Eddie Martini's literally hundreds of times and have never been able to stop. Have heard it is still very good.

[Dawson Rental]

I could eat at Trocadero every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of their food.

The air travel would certainly get to you, though.

News is that Figueroa's stock is falling fast.  Reportedly, since he started following comments made in his thread on MUScoop, he has gained 20 pounds of fat.