BY: ANN CHRISTENSON, CHRIS DROSNER AND ARCHER PARQUETTE
FIND MORE OF THE BEST OF MILWAUKEE 2024 HERE
Every year we have the privilege of curating Best of Milwaukee, highlighting our favorite things about our favorite city. This year, we wanted to share the love. Here you’ll find more than 20 guest curators – tastemakers, influencers and other people you know, or ought to – who give their perspectives on what makes Milwaukee great. Our editors still weigh in with their picks from the last 12 months, and, of course, you have your say, too, in our annual Readers’ Choice poll. On to the medley of Milwaukee’s magnificent!
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Our Best
Midwest Sad
A love of nostalgic treats drove baker Sam Sandrin to create this seasonal depression-busting dessert/snack shop (770 N. Jefferson St.). Sandrin’s goal is to create a profit-sharing community kitchen; in the meantime, she’s filling orders for savory and sweet comfort. Impossible to resist are her raspberry milk buns, banana pudding and champagne cake. – AC
Pizza Ortolana
In the summer of 2023, Corey Dixon started selling his Neapolitan-style pies out of a 1966 horse trailer-turned-mobile pizza kitchen parked outside Bay View businesses. With pizza-making (Wy’east) and bread-baking (Rocket Baby) in his background, Dixon’s Pizza Ortolana nails the crust. It’s puffy and airy, with a gooey middle, and dressed with simple toppings like fresh tomato and mozzarella, or pepperoni, pepperoncini and char-grilled onion. Instagram: @pizzaortolanamke – AC
Discourse at Radio Milwaukee
Walker’s Point may have nabbed its most hipster-friendly cafe ever this year. Discourse, on the first floor of Radio Milwaukee (158 S. Barclay St.), has vinyl records on display and playing over the speakers, vintage tableware, quirky decor and, of course, a menu full of inventive and tasty caffeinated drinks that stretch the definition of coffee. – AP
A Triumphant Return
Saved by new owners armed with the original recipes, local institution Maria’s Pizza (5025 W. Forest Home Ave.) returned with a bang last winter. In the first weeks, it wasn’t unusual to wait a few hours for a pie – but it was and is worth it. Those signature amoeba-shaped pizzas have never tasted better. – AC
James Beard Award Semifinalists
We know our dining scene rocks. For a long time, it seemed like nobody else did. But the annual James Beard Awards are taking notice. In the last several years, more Milwaukee chefs than ever have added “Beard Award semifinalist” to their business cards. In 2024, we tipped our hats to Greg León of Amilinda, Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite of DanDan and EsterEv, Kyle Knall of Birch, and Ross Bachhuber and Sam Ek of Odd Duck. Chefs, you’re doing us proud! – AC
Lakefront Goes Public
The craft beer business is really tough these days, so I didn’t bat an eye when Kenosha’s Public Craft Brewing entered bankruptcy protection. Founded in 2012, Public opened a big expansion in late 2019, just in time for you-know-what. But in swoops Milwaukee’s own Lakefront Brewery, which purchased Public with a promise to keep it running mostly as is and sprucing up the branding. Cheers to that! – CD
Busby’s and Biersal
The common thread between these two outstanding bars that opened this spring? Proprietors who are pro’s pros. At Biersal (5520 W. Vliet St.), Eric Gutbrod finally has his own place (the former Wonder Bar) after years of building great drinking experiences at Draft & Vessel, Central Waters and more. It’s a finely curated love letter to bar culture, with finer things (excellent cocktails, a nice tight tap list) and just-fine things (boilermakers, Malört) in equal measure.
Busby’s (3475 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) takes over a hallowed Milwaukee beer space: the former Romans’ Pub. The care and respect for legendary Milwaukee publican Mike Romans, who died last summer, is evident throughout the spruced-up but still recognizable tavern. That figures, as Busby’s is the brainchild of Rob and Foga Zellermayer; Rob was a longtime fixture at The Sugar Maple and Ray’s Growler Gallery. We’re a town filled with great bars, but these are among Milwaukee’s best. – CD
Bay View Blowing Up
With the opening of a mini melting pot of restaurants in close proximity, no area is livelier than the 2100 block of South Kinnickinnick Avenue. Room Service serves elegant Thai-Japanese plates in its drop-dead gorgeous space next to the new home for EsterEv, whose tasting room menu is approachable, inspired and, at times, exquisite. Behind Room Service is Todd I Believe I Can Fry, a tiny, colorful Asian street food shop that stirs cravings for chicken wings and tenders. And across the street from all three of them is the second, bright location of Paloma, which serves dynamite Mexican fusion. – AC
“Incredible bites, atmosphere, service – all of it is really spectacular.”
– Adam Pawlak, chef at Egg & Flour Pasta Bar, serial TV cooking competitor about Room Service.
Third Space Head Space
Want to know how popular this THC seltzer is at Third Space’s Menomonee Valley taproom? It’s outselling Happy Place, the brewery’s flagship beer. These beverages – which do impart a high, via federally legal hemp derivatives – are all the rage among craft brewers seeking to fill tanks and stretch bottom lines. And, apparently, among their customers seeking a different kind of buzz with fewer calories. Good thing, cuz that food truck is calling all of a sudden. – CD
Joining the canon of great Milwaukee burgers is this Big Mac-ish beast – toasted bun, two juicy smash patties, crisp pickle, melted American cheese. It is everything. (459 E. Pleasant St.)
Chili crisp fish sandwich at Uncle Wolfie’s Dinner Diner
Everything about this – the fried salt-and-pepper whitefish, preserved-mustard-green tartar sauce, chili crisp, American cheese – makes this sammie so memorably delicious.
The Buttafuoco from Cory the Riverwest Sandwich Fixer
This pop-up’s hoagie is life-changing: a blissful blend of tomato, onion, mozz, provolone, lettuce, mayo and – the kicker – giardiniera peppers on a Sciortino’s roll.
Their Best
Kelly’s Greens
Since opening a brick-and-mortar in 2023, Kelly’s Greens (8932 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa) has been one of our favorite retail experiences. Erin Kelly has curated a beautiful midcentury modern look fitting of the quality of her baked goods and CBD/THC products. The fun energy Erin and her staff carry is reflected in the space we love to both shop and hang out in.
– Foga and Rob Zellermayer, co-owners, Busby’s
Fitzy’s Café
A new hip breakfast spot and pharmacy in Whitefish Bay (424 E. Silver Spring Dr.). Learn what’s in your food and your drugs at the same time from a reliable neighborhood source. Sorry, Walgreens!
– Trapper Schoepp, musician
Mi Casa Su Cafe
It’s Mi Casa (1835 N. Martin Luther King Dr.) because of great Southern comfort food at affordable prices in a smooth, relaxed atmosphere with instrumental jazz, beautiful artwork and a friendly, upbeat staff.
– Oby Nwabuzor, consultant and speaker, founder of Envision Growth
Lucky Bakery Dim Sum
Dim sum carts have just never caught on in Milwaukee, but I can still go to Lucky Bakery in West Allis and pick up my favorite sweet dim sum: sesame balls with red bean paste.
– Daniel Goldin, Boswell Book Co.
PufferFish
Most rooftop bars ride off the views, but under the thoughtful direction of Milwaukee bartending legend JC Cunningham, Hotel Metro’s PufferFish (411 E. Mason St.) offers so much more. A thoughtful collection of modern spins on tiki classics, a killer soundtrack, guest bartenders from some of the greatest bars around the country, and Milwaukee’s best patio come together to make Pufferfish one of the best spots to kick back Downtown.
– Ryan Castelaz, founder and coffee creative, Discourse Coffee Workshop
Normalizing Not Drinking in Milwaukee
We all know that Milwaukee is one of the biggest drinking cities in the country, but some great Milwaukee destinations are providing a fun, inclusive experience without alcohol, including 3rd Street Market Hall, Agency, Camp Bar, HoneyBee Sage, Lost Whale, PufferFish, Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel and The Tin Widow.
– Erik Kennedy, co-founder of ElevAsian, foodie
POP
You can’t help feeling bubbly between the pastel walls and energetic accents at POP (124 W. National Ave.), one of Walker’s Point’s newest LGBTQ+ haunts, which serves up snacks every day plus brunch on the weekends. Also on the daily menu? The catchiest, dance-iest, rump-shaking beats until bar close for every card-carrying Swiftie, Beyhive member, and Chappell Roan-ite in our midst.
– Claire Koenig, Visit Milwaukee comms boss, MilMag alum
Milwaukee Wine Academy
The Milwaukee Wine Academy has been a revelation for wine enthusiasts as well as novices like myself. Their engaging and inclusive classes, led by expert instructors, offer a fun, interactive environment to learn about wine. The academy’s diverse wine selection, carefully curated from around the world, enhances the tasting experience.
– Stacia Thompson, executive director, Sherman Phoenix Foundation
Top Shelf
FOR 14 WEEK LAST SPRING, we got to watch our state strut its stuff on national television. It was impossible not to revel in our starring role on the Bravo competitive cooking show “Top Chef.” Wisconsin foodways in the spotlight? Yes, chef!
Week after week, the cheftestants seared, braised and deglazed their way through challenges involving cheese, supper clubs, cranberries, bar snacks, boiled fish and the Brewers Racing Sausages – culinary coverage on an epic scale. And how could we not be tickled that Dan Jacobs, the only Wisconsinite among the season’s 16 cheftestants, would reach the dramatic finale and come so close to winning. It sounds cliché but it’s true – Jacobs is a winner in our book.
Think of what he came away with: validation of his cooking prowess (not news to us!), an outpouring of public support, greater awareness of Kennedy’s disease (a diagnosis he lives with and spoke about often on the show), and the reality that he’s a star now – a bona-fide Milwaukee hero.
Who didn’t tune in to see which local food pros would be guest judges – and which landmarks would make a cameo? That was part of the fun. One week it was the Historic Miller Caves, the next, Discovery World. And the who’s who: Paul Bartolotta, Lupi & Iris’ Adam Siegel, The Diplomat’s Dane Baldwin, Birch’s Kyle Knall, Bavette’s Karen Bell, Amilinda’s Greg León, comedian Charlie Berens. Yes, Mr. Keep Er Movin’ himself – proving that, especially in food, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
“Top Chef” Season 21 made us all winners – our culinary community, our food and beverage industries, our diners. Like, finally. The secret is out. We have arrived. – AC
Dan Jacobs
Dan made the entire city of Milwaukee, and state of Wisconsin, proud. Not only did he bravely share his personal story, bringing attention to an important cause, but he represented the very best of Milwaukee’s culinary scene and showed the world what we are about. If you have not yet visited one of his two acclaimed restaurants, DanDan and EsterEv, what are you waiting for?
– Paul Bartolotta, chef, owner, co-founder of The Bartolotta Restaurants
Your Best
See the full list of the Best of Milwaukee Readers’ Choice winners here.
