THIS STORY IS FROM OUR BEST RESTAURANTS 2024 FEATURE. READ MORE HERE.
Ca’Lucchenzo
$$$-$$$$ | 6030 W. NORTH AVE, WAUWATOSA | 414-312-8968
Great dining isn’t just a plate of delicious food. I factor in service, ambiance and value, too. This Tosa pastaria has it all. Part of it comes from owners Zak and Sarah Baker, whose lives first intersected many years ago working at Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993 – he in the kitchen, she in the front of the house. They live hospitality, a message they seem to have instilled in their staff. The food is also stellar. Pasta is a no-brainer choice – the options change frequently and reflect the curiosity and skill of the people making them. But I have enjoyed excellent main courses of fish and quail, and always walk out hoping I’ll get back there soon. It’s hard to beat that feeling.
What to Eat: All things carb-related, from the thick house focaccia to al dente pastas
Submit your projects for our annual Home & Design Awards!
Goodkind
$$-$$$ | 2457 S. WENTWORTH AVE. | 414-763-4706
When this feel-good Bay View spot opened in 2014, the owners described their theme as simple, “European farmhouse” cuisine (with meats cooked on a French rotisserie), cocktails and an intimate, neighborhood feel. The name Goodkind came from the label on a flea-market-found can of peas from a Milwaukee cannery that closed in the 1940s. Goodkind hasn’t wavered from delivering an unfussy but epicurean experience (the rotisserie chicken and spicy crab pasta are fail-safes), developing trademark dishes and drinks and not losing their edge. Ten years haven’t dampened my enthusiasm. It took me a moment to remember this was once the home of Mama DeMarinis’, a local pizza institution in its day. With no disrespect to Mama, Goodkind upholds that pea can label’s promise of “All to the good and the best of its kind.” It owns this corner now.
What to Drink: The cocktail My Darling Amadeus – a riff on a pisco sour created by co-owner Katie Rose.
Braise
$$-$$$ | 1101 S. SECOND ST. | 414-212-8843
Take Second Street south of National in Walker’s Point and boom, you’ll pass three great dining establishments a block or so apart from each other. La Dama, Odd Duck and this farm-to-table spot inside a 1907 Miller tied house. Braise may offer a lean regular menu –four entrées and 11 small plates the night I was there – but it feels just right. I was really happy with my two large plates: a pork chop with pork fat caramel, herbed red potato and jalapeno-apple compote that riffed on pork chops and applesauce; and a seared trout dish with citrus couscous, a chunky apricot vierge sauce and pickled tomatillos. They were the bright star on an otherwise dreary weekend. I’m also looking forward to trying Braise’s monthly cooking school menu takeover night, when students from the semester-long program prepare a special meal.
Pro Tip: The bar-only “secret handshake” menu offers a changing assortment of nibbles from a “mystery” bun to a BBQ pork sandwich.
Lake Park Bistro
$$$$ | 3133 E. NEWBERRY BLVD. | 414-962-6300
I could make a scrapbook of all the memorable meals I’ve had at LPB over the course of its 29 years – gluttonous black truffle dinners (truffles on and in every course), mussels and steak frites on weeknights when I thought, “To hell with cooking,” special meals with visiting chefs and cookbook authors. The bistro was tried-and-true. The menu had a perpetual sameness that could be maddening – if you like frequent menu changes. Now, I appreciate that sameness, the familiar sight of a server filleting the Dover sole meunière tableside. Dining here still feels like a treat, which after almost 30 years is about as good as it gets.
What to Eat: Seared foie gras with poached, spiced pears; frisée salad with soft-boiled egg; steak frites; sole meunière
The Diplomat
$$$ | 815 E. BRADY ST. | 414-800-5816
Since co-owner/executive chef Dane Baldwin won a James Beard Award in 2022, The Diplomat has been better than ever. While receiving this prized accolade is an incredible honor, it comes with so much responsibility. Baldwin is clearly aware of that and has elevated what he does – uncluttered, technique-driven shareable plates – to a new level. Whether trout or burger, pretzel or potato, each is treated with maximum care. The restaurant Baldwin and his spouse Anna (if you get her as a server, lucky you!) have built is a little sanctuary on Brady Street, with service that feels professional but not formal or officious.
What to Eat: Chicken leg confit, The Diplomac burger, triple-blanched fries, trout, knife and fork chicken
Morel
$$$$ | 430 S. SECOND ST. | 414-897-0747
True to its name, this Walker’s Point refuge offers morels when in season. In fact, it’s a big deal here in May, when they plan to showcase the fungi with a honeycomb-like cap on menus for three nights. Refined but rustic, this is one of the area’s best proponents of Midwest cuisine, and while I wouldn’t typically reach for a glass of bourbon, I would with this always-hearty menu. If you like charcuterie boards, theirs is a treasure of house-made riches like rabbit terrine and lamb pastrami.
Their service goes the extra mile, too – making you feel VIP special.
Pro Tip: Check the restaurant’s Facebook page (@morelmilwaukee) for short-term specials, like great pasture-raised pork chops.
La Merenda
$$ | 125 E. NATIONAL AVE. | 414-389-0125
Opponents of the small-plate dining concept often grumble that they don’t get enough food. Maybe they haven’t eaten the right small plates – La Merenda has shown how it’s done, not two-bite nothings but really satisfying, full-flavored small plates. The tapas scene has thinned out in recent years, either due to closings or phasing out that format, but this 17-year-old has persevered. When it opened, delicious plates inspired by China, Italy, Colombia, India and many other faraway lands made for a novel journey. That journey is less novel now, but it’s still a very good one. Located inside an old cinder block building, the space evokes industrial Milwaukee and a Mediterranean hideaway. Summer is what I really look forward to here – the backyard patio is a combined lounge-patio-escapist retreat.
What to Eat: Indonesian shrimp (sambal goreng udang), butter chicken, lamb bolognese
Story Hill BKC
$$-$$$ | 5100 W. Bluemound Rd. | 414-539-4424
When it began 10 years ago, Story Hill set out to be a restaurant, cafe and bottle shop rolled into one unpretentious package. The restaurant has taken the dominant role and become a neighborhood staple – for good reason. The menu celebrates nostalgic comfort food and adds a modern spark, such as adding capers, roasted garlic aioli and trout roe to beef tartare. I’ve been a fan of co-owner/chef Joe Muench’s style since he was cooking at Eddie Martini’s in its infancy, and I see his homespun German American upbringing guiding the menu here. But there’s a sophistication to it, too, which makes Story Hill such a good any-day experience.
Weekend Spotlight: One of the first places I found locally to serve shakshouka, a Moroccan spiced tomato-egg dish, it’s still a standout on their Sat-Sun brunch menu.
Union House
$$$$ | S42 W31320 HWY. 83, GENESEE DEPOT | 262-968-4281
I’m often reminded that as a culture, at the pace at which we live, we are losing the carnal pleasure of consuming food. Not eating it but savoring it. Unapologetically fine dining, this “country gourmet” outpost inside a former hotel always reminds me what a meal should be. The solicitous waitstaff seems committed, the tables are elegantly appointed with linens and silverware galore, and the food brings you to that place where the senses are stimulated and memories are made. May that feeling never slip away.
What to Eat: Lobster bisque, lamb merguez, half-duck, featured seafood
Lebnani House
$$-$$$ | 5051 S. 27TH ST., GREENFIELD | 414-488-8033
I eat here a fair amount, and have never come away unsatisfied. When Lebnani opened in 2022, I sat near the faux flowering tree in the center of the dining room and turned page after page of this huge Middle Eastern menu wondering if everything could possibly be good. I haven’t found a weak link yet. You have a choice of various salads, hot and cold mezze, fukhara (clay pot casseroles), mushawi (grilled meats) and main dishes. Following Muslim practices, they don’t serve alcohol but make fresh-squeezed juices and herb-infused lemonades that are so delicious, who needs alcohol? From the grilled halloumi cheese to the pots of hot, saucy stew-like goo to the grilled meats wrapped in paper-thin house-made bread, Lebnani repeatedly resonates.
What to Eat: Lebnani House fattoush salad, mashrouha flatbread, veal and lamb kafta in tahini or tomato sauce, chicken maqlouba, classic mixed grill
La Dama Mexican Kitchen & Bar
$$-$$$ | 839 S. SECOND ST. | 414-645-2606
Chef Emmanuel Corona has been running this upscale Mexican concept solo for two years now. It’s very different from his work as head chef (for 18 years) at this spot’s predecessor, Crazy Water. Before setting down roots here, he lived in Mexico City and Puebla and grew up watching his mother and grandmother cook. He absorbed all of it and spent time developing a culinary expression seen nowhere else in Milwaukee. A simple example: In Oaxaca, the locals eat tlayudas, which are like crispy, fried tortilla pizzas, often topped with refried beans and cheese. At La Dama, Corona reimagines that dish, topping it instead with mashed fava beans, roasted butternut squash, mushrooms, salsa macha and toasted pepitas. He’s not reinventing the wheel. But he’s turning it differently.
What to Eat: Albondigas rancheras (veal meatballs with pipian rojo), tacos filled with huitlacoche (an earthy, savory corn fungus that’s really different and tasty), salmon encrustado
Birch
$$$ | 459 E. PLEASANT ST. | 414-323-7372
The farm-to-table menu served here features some core constants (fish crudo, pasta, chicken), but the accompaniments change often enough that it never feels stale. Named one of The New York Times’ Top 50 Restaurants in America in 2023, Birch is helmed by Wisconsin transplant Kyle Knall, whose cooking the Times called “free of cliches.” True, and no offense to the cliches. There’s always room for a chef who offers a fresh take. Moving forward, you’re going to see more attention paid to Birch’s seven-course tasting menu, which features its own unique items not on the regular menu and will change monthly. “We thought, let’s make the tasting menu be something really special, a little more refined and elegant. It’s tricky because obviously we want everything to be special. But we want to make that experience of the tasting menu and wine pairing extra thoughtful,” Knall says.
What to Eat: Crunchy farm vegetables with carrot miso dip, house focaccia, chicken under a brick, fish inspired by Mexico City’s legendary Contramar restaurant
EsterEv
$$$$ | COMING TO 2165 S. KINNICKINNIC AVE. | 414-488-8036
After eight years of operating two nights a week out of DanDan, this under-the-grid enterprise was slated to open in a new, solo home sometime in March. Whether it would expand its hours and modify its menu format were up in the air at press time; both were possibilities. The new Bay View digs (which the troubled C-viche vacated last year) will give EsterEv its own bar and patio – all representing the owners’ readiness to bring this concept to a wider audience. The tasting menu is eight courses, small portions imaginatively created and gorgeously presented. A few I’m still thinking about months later are caviar, salsify, onion and kombu on a pretzelized éclair; and a crespelle (crepe) of beef oxtail, sunchokes and spinach.
Spring Menu Preview: Ricotta gnudi with ground cherries and spring onions; white asparagus with crab yuzu; Wagyu beef with celery root and red cabbage
Lupi & Iris
$$$$ | 777 N. VAN BUREN ST. | 414-293-9090
Co-owner/executive chef Adam Siegel made a huge-statement with his first restaurant, which is the place to go if you crave a sophisticated, big-city kind of dining experience. There’s a simplicity to his Lupi menu – reflecting the Mediterranean coastlines of France and Italy – that surprised me at my first meal. With his background running the kitchen at Lake Park Bistro, I expected the menu to lean heavier than it does. Instead, Siegel stays “true to the ingredients,” with handmade pastas and meats and fish roasted in a wood oven. Some of his dishes seem simple, but the flavors are just not buried under superfluous toppings and finishes.
Look For: The monthly four-course Sunday Supper is “not tied down” to L&I’s theme, says Siegel. It “reflects seasonality or just simply what we feel like cooking!”
Buttermint Finer Dining & Cocktails
$$-$$$ | 4195 N. OAKLAND AVE. | 414-488-2587
This sibling to Story Hill BKC was included in my roundup of the best new dining spots in 2023 and is part of a newer commercial development on Shorewood’s Oakland Avenue that doesn’t, from the street, scream fine dining. And this isn’t – the owners call it “finer” dining (eliminating the special-occasion stuffiness). After its first year in business the restaurant added wings, braised short ribs and several sandwiches to broaden its appeal. I’m still on the high-end side of the menu, which is where they excel. The main courses are thoughtfully constructed, with ingredients and sauces that truly belong together.
What to Eat: Oysters Rockefeller, tempura squash salad, steelhead trout with roasted red pepper romesco, Duroc pork chop with lardon and sweet potato puree, 100 Acre pesto pasta
Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993
$$$$ 7616 W. STATE ST., WAUWATOSA, 414-771-7910
What’s important to me when I’m evaluating a restaurant is what it contributes to our culinary culture. Ristorante is the first restaurant that Paul and Joe Bartolotta opened together, in 1993. I go back and forth over whether Lake Park Bistro or Ristorante is the soul of the brothers’ restaurant group. Ristorante’s Tour of Italy menu, started during the pandemic, created an experience that has divided diners, some who really miss the a la carte menu. What the “Tour” menu – which explores a different region in Italy every four to six weeks – offers is the feeling that you’re traveling while dining. A recent menu centered on Milan and was full of rich, creamy, buttery foods like gnocchi in butter-sage-cheese sauce and a rustic oven-baked pork casserole. It was delicious padding for a winter night. The tours take me out of my comfort zone, and that’s what keeps me interested.
What to Drink: An Italian old fashioned, made with brandy and Fernet blanca
Bavette La Boucherie
$$$ | 217 N. BROADWAY | 414-273-3375
Changing locations was the best thing to have happened to this place. When owner Karen Bell opened Bavette in 2013 (a few blocks away from its current storefront), it was more butcher shop then restaurant. But a restaurant it was destined to be; the space just wasn’t equipped for that evolution. Now Bavette is in a bigger, beautifully designed spot, and the kitchen has fallen into a great rhythm. Bell runs a Spanish current through the menu (influenced by the time she spent in Spain, running a restaurant), but you’ll see Asian, French, Middle Eastern, Mexican and other cuisines reflected throughout. It doesn’t take effort to find something wonderful to eat. It didn’t before either, but now Bavette just feels grown up.
What to Eat: Octopus appetizer, charcuterie plate (chef’s choice), Hamachi crudo, burger with beef tallow fries, large-format plates.
Bacchus
$$$$ | 925 E. WELLS ST. | 414-765-1166
This month, Bacchus turns 20 years old – which floors me. Named after the god of wine and merry-making in Greek mythology, Bacchus was groomed to be the Bartolotta restaurant group’s most elegant high-end property. In 2010, in the midst of a craft cocktail revival, the guys who founded Milwaukee’s Bittercube bitters took over the Bacchus bar on weekends, making drinks and adding some youthful joie de vivre. The 2019 renovation was an attempt to make fine dining less upper crust/special occasion-y. I don’t think it succeeded at that, especially as they serve prix fixe and tasting menus only, which puts them in the minority of restaurants locally that do that. I really enjoyed my five-course tasting menu experience this winter – beef medallion with horseradish cream, and the poached-peach financier dessert were highlights – but I would also welcome an
a la carte component (currently offered only at the bar) if that ever were to return.
Look For: A special three-course anniversary menu highlighting favorite dishes from the 2004 menu
Sanford
$$$$ | 1547 N. JACKSON ST. | 414-276-9608
The first few times I went to Sanford, I was intimidated by the plates in the way I’m often intimidated by art – what if don’t get what they’re trying to do? Because these plates are conceptual; you put your trust in the chef and buckle up for the ride. For example, the decadent chocolate-toffee-nut dessert called The Drive-In is what might come out of the Arnold’s kitchen in “Happy Days” if a classically trained, tweezer-wielding chef got in there. It’s more artful than nostalgic, but still transportive. Owner/chef Justin Aprahamian has spent his career here reinterpreting his Armenian heritage through food. It’s through an elegant lens but it’s so frank and sincere you feel like he’s giving you pieces of himself. It’s a really special, I’d even say rare, kind of food intimacy you experience here.
What to Eat: Foie gras, Roquefort tart, fennel-crusted tenderloin and banana butterscotch toffee tart with banana rum ice cream
Odd Duck
$$ | 939 S. SECOND ST. | 414-763-5881
I am imagining a meeting of the city’s most creative minds making the key decisions about what will make it onto an Odd Duck seasonal menu change. That menu features about 15 plates, and around half are vegetarian or vegan. If you’re adventurous, they’ve got you covered; and even if you’re not, there’s plenty for you here. You just can’t be married to any dish, because it probably won’t be there the next time you visit. In winter, they had a menu that fired on all cylinders, with a great steak au poivre with Hasselbeck potatoes and terrifically rich and lovely cassoulet – more traditional dishes than I typically see there, and I loved them for it.
Pro Tip: The dynamic menu here makes specific recs a challenge, but order four to five small plates for two diners, plus a few snacks like the chili crisp deviled eggs.
