Darkness falls on Greenfield Avenue . In the West 7300 block, aside from traffic-generated clatter, most storefronts have turned in for a quiet night. Then there’s a place with tall white lettering above the windows. Doyle’s , reads the sign’s uppermost line. You can see a bar through the front windows, with some well-hydrated-looking people scattered around it. Further inside, though not quite visible from the sidewalk, is an unassumingly laid-out dining room.
It took more than a year, but Tom Doyle left his undersized digs just west of Miller Park to take on West Allis ‘ main drag. The chef-owner couldn’t shake the old space of its bar identity — the dining room sat only 35 people — and it didn’t match the tone of his multi-course European-American cuisine. Doyle saw potential on Greenfield Avenue , a mixed bag of businesses, few of them food. He opened the place early last November, fastidiously attentive to culinary detail (“I’m my biggest problem,” Doyle says of his menu). He makes salad dressings, breads (exceptional rolls), desserts, everything in-house — a characteristic of the old Doyle’s.
Also as before, dinners start with soup and salad before proceeding to an 8-ounce petite filet mignon ($23); lobster, scallops and other seafood steamed en papillote ($29); pork chops Calabrese ($25); Wiener Schnitzel (Doyle is a former Karl Ratzsch’s chef; $21); seared duck with bacon-wrapped foie gras ($25); and so on. The Sunday menu is different. You choose from traditional American dishes: pot roast, baked ham with sauerkraut, Southern fried chicken, beef stroganoff (all $13). With advance notice and six diners in the party, the chef’s table can be yours. That’s a nine-course degustation menu ($70 per person). The food is very nicely done — and still a good value — but the realist in me wonders if West Allis will support this level of dining. The problem issue, apparent on all of my visits soon after the opening, was inexperienced service — from an unpolished evening server to a painfully green lunch waitress.
In the thick of renovation last September, Doyle talked about the elements he hoped to have inside the space: a spot to display his beer stein collection (it’s on a wall separating the bar from the dining room) and a semi-open kitchen (though there’s not much to see on the dividing line of kitchen/dining except a long row of herb-filled pots). Greenfield Avenue is an improvement in many ways. Seating capacity has grown to 75. There’s a parking lot with 90 spots behind the building, so access shouldn’t be an issue. And when we spoke again shortly after the reopening, Doyle had gotten approval (from the West Allis BID ) for something else he’s wanted — a canopy, another way to distinguish his business from surrounding ones.
The dining ambiance is unpretentious, modestly appealing, better suited than its predecessor for eating lobster bouillabaisse ($35). Ceiling fans spin over a square-shaped room of wooden banquettes, wall art depicting prominent Downtown Milwaukee buildings, linen-topped tables and dishes that bear the restaurant’s name.
Joining the atmospheric changes is a more expensive menu. In 2000, Doyle’s made it into our “$15 and under” great dining story. It wouldn’t happen now. Appetizers run $12 to $17. The lowest priced entrée is $21. But Doyle’s trademark from the restaurant’s early days is to give, give, give. Entrées are still generously sized. My salmon filet was the size of a brick layer’s hand. Unless you want to graze, appetizers aren’t necessary. Nothing too low-brow here — seared foie gras ($17), carpaccio ($16), pan-fried lake perch ($14) and littleneck clams steamed in beer (very Milwaukee , $12). Most interesting to me were the lobster cakes ($16), initially because of the choice of the seafood — who isn’t tired of crab cakes? Two sturdy, panko-breaded cakes are pan-fried and served tanned, slightly crusty. Moist without being soppy or crumbly, the patties are meat cakes first, confetti-flecked with minced shallot, celery and bell pepper. The rémoulade — a French mayo with a pronounced tang — left a fitting pickly finish.
Soups and salads are not predictable. Doyle, who’s added two people to his kitchen staff, doesn’t see these courses as just fillers. The Asian vegetable soup served on one visit wasn’t a favorite — it tasted like a soy/red wine-based onion soup. But the salad generated some enthusiasm — a flavorful hollowed-out tomato stuffed with chicken/Waldorf salad. The chunky, chopped, lightly vinaigretted salad (it had apple, chicken and almond) was fine, but the tomato was in total control — a nice surprise during off-peak tomato season. Another time, they served a marvelous beef stroganoff soup and a passable Caesar salad.
No entrée skimps on flavor or size. Terrific were two pork dishes — Marsala schnitzel, a sweet, mushroom-thickened sauce over tender twin cutlets and thick homemade egg noodles (with red cabbage swirling in sweet-tangy flavor, $21); and pork piccata, two moist/firm pounded cuts in lemon-caper sauce (with sautéed veggies, lunch $11). Rack of lamb was a beauty, juicy (excellent red wine reduction), mauve-pink inside and as plentiful as everything else (with airy, eggy garlic souffléd potatoes, $29). Roasted king salmon dredged in Parmesan and Romano cheeses had substance where it counted — the fish, half of which went home for another meal ($24). However, the two jumbo shrimp placed on the salmon’s coat were overcooked and the Parmesan risotto too al dente.
At dessert, it would be nice to see triple all the time; combo plates are usually confined to appetizers, but Doyle’s serves its three choices of the night as a combination serving ($8). The assortment changes often. The methodology works great, but the strudel plate didn’t. Of the three, caramel apple was the richest, cherry the doughiest (the pastry lacked flakiness) and chocolate rum the driest (the filling was wrapped in an anemic phyllo dough).
Though dessert was disappointing, service is clearly the bigger concern. Attention devoted to that, as well as façade changes the owner is implementing, can only help the restaurant build loyalty. But I suspect it will be a struggle. Though as any restaurateur will tell you, it always is.
Doyle’s Milwaukee Inn
7335 W. Greenfield Ave.
456-1000
Hours: L Tues-Fri 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. D Tues-Sat 5:30-10:30 p.m. ; Sun 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Prices: appetizers $12-$17; entrées $21-$38; desserts $8 and $10
Service: a weak spot — very green
Dress: dressy or casual works
Nonsmoking dining room
Credit cards: M V A DS
Handicap access: no
Reservations: strongly recommended
