MKEGuide
The Best Restaurants In Milwaukee
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
In a state where cheesemakers continually rack up international awards, it’s no wonder Wisconsin’s largest city is a unique food destination. Plus, wherever you go in Milwaukee, transparency around sourcing meat, vegetables, and cheese is highly visible on the menu. It’s not uncommon for a restaurant’s list of farm partners to number at least 20, because the relationships go that deep. We really do love our farmers.
Whether you’re chowing down on tacos on the South Side, crunching on a Serbian borek in Bay View, or maybe ordering from an Italian deli dating back to the ‘40s on Brady Street, here’s your Milwaukee restaurant cheat sheet.
THE SPOTS
The best way to experience Lupi & Iris, a fancy Mediterranean place downtown, is the Menu d’Affaire for weekday lunch, a two- or three-course meal where the pulpo a la parilla and whatever fish they’re serving really shine. The restaurant opened in 2022 on the ground floor of a glossy apartment building and everything about this place screams glitzy: there are huge walls of windows and more ornate light fixtures than we can count. Save this spot for when you want to impress out-of-towners or need a big-deal meal to celebrate something, and ask for a table on the perimeter of the restaurant so you can take the whole thing in.
Eating a meal at Ardent feels like watching an orchestra play a concerto—every course builds on the last, and thoughtful wine pairings deepen the flavors rather than just getting you wasted. What sets this fine dining restaurant apart from all the other prix-fixe and farm-to-table options in Milwaukee is that the chef-owner sources beef and other ingredients from his family’s Wisconsin farm. There are only a set number of reservations available Friday and Saturday nights for the eight-course tasting menu, which is what you want. They also have a lounge that’s open Friday to Monday, which is still a great dinner spot for a smashed burger or a roast half-chicken, even if it’s not quite as memorable as the tasting.
Wisconsin frozen custard is a thing—it’s made with egg yolks, plus other ice cream ingredients—and the highest amount per capita can be found in Milwaukee. If you want to try this delicacy in a place that takes it seriously, go to this ‘50s-era custard stand where all the workers wear white paper hats. The flavors rotate with the season, like Bailey’s Irish Cream Coffee, which makes a compelling case to clean out your freezer so that a pint, or three, fits. We also love the German apple streusel and the very rich tiramisu. The burgers are exceptional and big as well, the best being the KRK that‘s loaded with fried onions and three layers of cheese. Come on a warm day to the Greenfield location and perch at a high-top table or a bench near the waterfall.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
For years after they opened in 2012, snagging a reservation at this farm-to-table restaurant was like striking gold. But since they’ve moved to a larger spot in 2022, it’s a bit easier. The menu at Odd Duck changes every day based on whatever tiny quantity of locally sourced produce is available. You might eat something like cassoulet with duck prepared three ways, or jerk cauliflower with a bit of heat, thanks to scotch-bonnet jam. But a steady staple is the DIY cheese plate—if you want to taste the best of the best when it comes to Wisconsin cheese, choose Hook’s five-year cheddar and Roelli Cheese Haus’ Dunbarton blue. Weekends get slammed, so try for a table on a weeknight if you don’t want to deal with the chaos of Resy.
Morel has been around in Walker’s Point since 2014, before the neighborhood became such a hotspot. A lot of nearby restaurants have come and gone, but this is still the place for a special occasion dinner where you can sip some interesting wine with a big plate of steak or fish. This is one of those places where the waiter will recite three paragraphs when you're asking about specials. Those are usually excellent, and so is the bread service with four different kinds of carbs and whipped butter, plus rotating entrees like pork shoulder with five-year cheddar knackwurst, and tender, flaky rainbow trout that was apparently brought backstage to Elton John while on tour. (Our waiter’s words, not ours). Try to get a table near the wall of windows, where it’s a bit quieter.
Sanford, Milwaukee’s OG fine dining restaurant, is exactly the sort of place that gets mobbed on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day (so avoid both). The white-table-clothed dining room is an exceptional spot to celebrate something special, though, and whether you get the four-course prix-fixe or seven-course “surprise” tasting menu, this food demands your attention. There’s no better example than the foie gras, seared and served with scalded cabbage, sesame crumble, and tamarind blueberry barbecue sauce. While the food is New American, there’s always some whimsy, like The Drive In, a trifecta of chocolate desserts (including a hot fudge toffee nut ball) and coffee ice cream.
Dan Dan—which, yes, was opened by a duo of Dans—feels unlike any other fusion restaurant in Milwaukee. The space is dimly lit, the service is exceptional, and the menu jumps all over the place in a good way. We always get the scallion pancakes and smashed cucumbers before moving onto the three-course Peking duck special (a rarity in Milwaukee) or sweet and sour shrimp. There are also great vegan options—the golden curry has enough lemongrass punch to get a meat eater to dance in their seat a little.
La Merenda is where the world meets Wisconsin. This Walker’s Point restaurant has dishes from all around the globe, with top-notch ingredients sourced from local farms. The menu rotates extremely often, but you’ll find things like Roman pork belly with polenta, where the tender pork comes from Maple Creek Farms, or saucy butter chicken using birds from Alden Hills. The wine list is what makes it a date night staple, though: they have a bunch of pours from regions you won’t typically find in Milwaukee. Plus, they’re always hosting wine dinners—and yes, they’re called Wine-O Wednesdays—so you can get access to hard-to-find bottles.
When Braise opened in 2011, it was the city’s first farm-to-table restaurant, and there are still plenty of reasons to go today. Despite the high-end quality of the food, which often takes inspiration from Asian cuisines, there’s nothing fancy about the space. The tables were made out of bowling alley lanes (the building did indeed used to be a bowling alley and arcade), and you can absolutely wear jeans to dinner without getting glared at. Sit in the dining room as opposed to the bar—that way, you can watch the chefs make dishes like steamed pork buns and pollo verde. They also operate a culinary school on-site, in case your meal inspires you to become a better cook.
This Spanish-style market and restaurant checks a lot of boxes: good drinks, interesting plating, and a fun room with exposed brick and high ceilings that you’re going to want to hang out with friends in. Get the potato-crusted octopus, and the crisp, beef fat fries, both presented upright in mini paper bags. Most things lean meaty, like pressed cuban sandwiches or a reuben made with corned beef tongue, but there are two good salads if you’re looking for a vegetarian option (or just a break from salt-cured mammals). The best seats are tables in the back, near the open kitchen, so you can see and smell everything being made.
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The Diplomat on Brady Street makes inventive twists on comfort food that feel exciting without entering Mad Lib territory. The menu seems to state the obvious with dish names—Pretzels, Trout, Scallops, etc.—until you actually taste them and think, “Wait, is that salt cod in the hashbrown?” We always start meals here with the pickled deviled eggs with dill salt, and then order something that uses some fancy cheese—we’ve had things like truffle grits that fold in Pleasant Ridge Reserve—as a makeshift side to their roast chicken. Wrap things up with banana bread like you’ve never had it before, made with butterscotch pudding and golden raisin emulsion. Try to sit near the window so you can look out at the neighborhood, which was founded by Italian immigrants and still has some street vendors selling cannoli.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
If this family-owned restaurant changed even a little, people would riot. It’s been open since 1956, and is one of only two Serbian spots in Milwaukee, with the other a little less than two miles west. Everything on the menu is a family recipe, like in-house pickled cabbage that comes as a side to roast lamb, duck, and goose, or the burek, which is the best we’ve ever had. It’s flaky on the outside, packed with flavorful meat and cheese, and takes a half hour to bake because, well, good things take time. The dim lighting, tiny space, and vintage floral plates lend themselves well to a date or dinner with just one other person.
Milwaukee has no shortage of Italian restaurants, but the old-school atmosphere at Santino’s Little Italy makes it our favorite. The owners wear suits and greet tables, TVs show vintage Italian films, and there’s a bocce ball court outside. In the summer, you can sit on the patio and eat a 10-ounce “Bocce Ball” meatball and a plate of carbonara. The wood-fired pizzas usually have seasonal toppings, and go well with a fistful of arugula on top. Try to snag a booth in the front room where you can watch La Dolce Vita and think that, suddenly, Rome doesn’t seem so far away.
This long, narrow Spanish and Portuguese restaurant that’s behind a bright-red door is usually packed, which is great if you want to cosplay as a sardine or have an excuse to bump elbows with your date. (If you’d rather avoid that, try to sit up front by the door where there’s a little more room.) The a la carte menu has things like braised rabbit with manzanilla sherry and flank steak with piquillo peppers, most of which are easy to share with a group. Naturally, the wines skew Spanish, and there are affordable gems, like a red blend from Murcia named after pine trees. The long bar running the length of the restaurant is an ideal spot to dine solo, but we also like bringing some friends to pick at a salad (the manchego and duck fat endive was a past highlight) before seeing a show at The Riverside Theater or the Bradley Symphony Center.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
You can find fish fries just about anywhere in Milwaukee on a Friday night, but going to this West Allis beer hall is especially fun. We’re talking about a true throwback with low ceilings, wood-paneled walls, early-20th-century landscape paintings, and chandeliers crafted from iron and stained glass. Outside of the fish fry (the cod, lake perch, walleye, or bluegill are all good), and classic German dishes like schnitzel and spaetzle mac, you should try Germany-meets-Wisconsin items like kuegel wurst, which are brat bites wrapped in potato pancakes. On warm days, you might spot someone playing a wooden alphorn in the outdoor beer garden.
This all-day, South Side Mexican restaurant only has a dozen or so tables, but they’re usually available, and you should seek them out for one of the city’s best casual lunches. The $15.99 combination special offers one taco, one tostada, and one beef enchilada. We also love their chimichanga, since the tortilla is always fried just right with a crispy crunch. Friendly, hard-working staff and owners keep this place humming, bantering with regulars from behind the bar. There are only two dessert options—churros from Mr. Churro and flan—and both are worth getting even if you’re stuffed (which you probably will be).
This diner is where you go for a Bloody Mary with a cube of smoked gouda on the skewer and a beer chaser. It’s worth the wait to request a vinyl stool at the U-shaped formica counter, watching cooks whip up your omelet. Or, on a nice day, tuck into the narrow outdoor courtyard, shouldered by ivy-covered walls. To go with that Bloody Mary, we usually opt for one of the café’s four signature eggs benedicts or challah french toast made with chunky, sweet bread from Turano Baking Co.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
Milwaukee’s founding fathers were Germans, and Mader’s does the city’s culinary heritage justice. The downtown restaurant looks like a chalet with barrel-vaulted ceilings and stained-glass windows, and you should probably drink some beer out of glass boots while you’re here. Stick to the German food like a skinless pork shank with apple demi-glaze and sides of red potatoes, cabbage, and sauerkraut that’s been on the menu since 1902 (and happens to be Packers’ legendary coach Vince Lombardi’s favorite). After dinner, go to Knights Bar on the first floor and drink an Old Fashioned.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
Milwaukee does in fact have its own style of pizza—the round-shaped pie is cut into rectangles, has a cracker-thin, crisp, and light crust. The best versions come from this family-owned pizzeria that’s been in business since 1954, when two brothers named Bobby and John opened its doors. Their father emigrated from Sicily, and the same recipe for dough and sauce is still used today. In other words, leave the inventive, wacky pizzas to the new kids on the block. Snag a seat in the dining room and start dipping deep-fried eggplant strips into marinara sauce before downing a classic cheese and sausage pizza. Also, not a single decor detail has changed, including red-and-white checkered tablecloths and wood-paneled walls.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
The Midwest isn’t exactly a seafood paradise, but St. Paul Fish Company is. The counter in Milwaukee Public Market has everything from fish fries and Maryland blue crab cakes, to oyster shooters and a lobster roll on buttery toasted brioche that’s a surprisingly good replica of what you’d find in Maine. If you’re looking for something fast, get one of the 11 seafood sandwiches. But there’s no need to rush. Unlike the market’s other stands, this one has a restaurant-sized seating area. In the summer, grab a seat under the market’s palapa to feel like you’re somewhere tropical with seagulls buzzing around—not shouldered by high-rises in the Midwest.
A Hong Kong-born chef opened this restaurant in 2018, and serves a menu with dishes from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. We like it most for their $13 abbreviated weekday lunch menu, where you can choose from seven entrees, the best being their Cantonese stir-fried egg noodles. The space is pretty barebones, but still works for something like an office lunch or a low-stakes first date, especially since anybody could probably find something on the menu they’d like. The cocktails like the lychee martini are good, too, and have just the right amount of sweetness to hold up to the spicy food.
photo credit: Kevin Miyazaki
When this beer garden opened in 2012 as an offshoot of Milwaukee County Parks, it was the US’s first public beer garden since Prohibition—but Milwaukee had quite a few of these in the early 1900s. Order Hofbräuhaus beer in a dimpled-glass, super-heavy mug and grab a seat at a shared picnic table. The food menu is limited, and you’re welcome to pack a picnic (which is a good idea for fussy eaters or vegetarians). Still, you’d be remiss not to order a brat and a huge baked pretzel with a side of sweet mustard for some zing. Adjacent to the garden, and also in Estabrook Park, is a fenced-in dog park and Estabrook is dog-friendly, too. Because this is also a popular bicycling, canoeing, and kayaking route along the Milwaukee River, some people arrive on two wheels or by water.
