Cheap Eats

I’ve heard some whispers, mostly coming from the art department, that my blog has been too burger-heavy lately. Fine. Who wants barbecue?! After a nearly 40-minute car ride into the heart of Waukesha, we pulled into a small parking lot of what appears to be an old bank. After growing impatient waiting for our fourth to show up, we decided to go buffet style, ordered ourselves a small feast and headed to the picnic table out front. Surrounded on all sides by houses, the location is a bit strange. But, man, property values (not to mention cholesterol levels) for the…

Several weeks back, we at Milwaukee Magazine and InsideMilwaukee.com launched a bi-monthly photo contest. The first contest’s theme was “Classic Milwaukee,” and we received no less than four photos of Leon’s Frozen Custard. That got me thinking: Why have I never eaten there? Let’s rectify that right now. Four co-workers and I pull up to the retro, neon-wrapped stand on the corner of 27th and Oklahoma in my rented Dodge Avenger (it’s a long story). As my companions – already nauseated from the bumpy and odor-filled ride – peer through the cluttered glass front trying to read the menu, I…

When the big boss man, Bruce Murphy, forwarded me an email about the latest State Fair gastronomical abomination, fried butter, and suggested it as a great item for the Cheap Eats column, I replied with a simple two-word email: “I quit.” The Machine Shed (N14 W24145 Tower Pl., Pewaukee; as well as five other locations throughout the Midwest) is a homestyle restaurant that apparently prides itself on creating ever-more insane food items for the State Fair. Last year, they debuted chocolate-covered bacon and Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers. I may love cheeseburgers, but I have my pride. Talked back from the brink,…

For years, north Lincoln Memorial Drive was a barren food wasteland. If you were enjoying a day at the beach, your food options were limited to the Bradford Beach concession stand (meh) and Alterra (good but not enough). I think I’ve seen a hot dog cart or two some days, and those paleta guys come around from time to time. But that was it, which was really kind of ridiculous. Then two summers ago, The Bartolotta Restaurant Group, with their pedigree of nationally recognized restaurants behind them, came to the rescue and opened Northpoint Custard (2272 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr.),…

I love burgers. Let me repeat that for emphasis: I love burgers. Cheeseburgers, specifically, in all shapes and sizes, plain or loaded up with toppings. I have a bit of a problem.  When I was around 10 years old, there was a 10- or 12-month stretch where the only thing I’d order at a restaurant was a cheeseburger. I even went so far as to order a cheeseburger at a Chinese restaurant once (that would have been the time to put your foot down, mom). Looking back today, I can’t imagine what that burger was made out of – do…

When someone over in the art department said the words “Thai” and “buffet” in the same sentence, my ears perked up. I’ve been to my share of Chinese and Indian buffets – even a Korean one, once – but never Thai. It made so much sense, and, at that moment, nothing sounded better. Surrounded by the hair salons, nail shops and wig emporiums of North Avenue, Mekong Café (5930 W. North Ave.) is a cavernous restaurant whose interior is a tad disjointed. Adorned with tapestries and bright paintings, one wall is dry walled, smooth and perfect while the opposite wall…

  Guacamole In a city with as many Mexican restaurants as Milwaukee, Guanajuato Mexican Restaurant (2301 S. Howell Ave.) stands out by blending in. Away from the drunken, mechanical pepper riding bachelorette parties of Fifth and National, GTO (as it’s affectionately known) occupies a small, nondescript storefront at the mega-intersection of Lincoln, Howell and Kinnickinnic avenues in Bay View. I had driven by it probably hundreds of times without ever giving it a second thought – but today, I’m a full-fledged convert. Inside, GTO is small. Tiny, in fact, with just nine tables plus six seats at the faux-marble counter.…

I figured I’d kick this blog off with one of my all-time favorite spots in Milwaukee: Real Chili (419 E. Wells St.; 1625 W. Wells St.). Hardly an unknown – legend would be more accurate – Real Chili has nonetheless preserved the same unassuming and unpretentious aesthetic they had when they slung their first bowl in 1931. Inside, it’s a total-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts sort of thing. The red-and-black striped walls are plastered with various accolades and photos of happy customers (of which there have been quite a few in the past eight decades). And behind the U-shaped counter is a white-haired waiter…

Greetings, ladies and gentleman, and welcome to the new (and improved?) Cheap Eats column, our food blog dedicated to Milwaukee’s lesser-known, hole-in-the-wall-type restaurants – places that make up for what they may lack in spit and polish with simple, unfussy food and a welcoming attitude. You can think of me as Milwaukee’s Guy Fieri, the Food Network star of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” only, you know, without the Ed Hardy wardrobe, stupid hair and inane surfer lingo. Actually, forget I ever said that. A little about myself. I love cheeseburgers, nachos and all things marshmallow. I’ll try most anything at…

  The Philly Way. The first thing you notice upon entering The Philly Way (405 S. Second St.) are the giant cans of Cheez Whiz displayed as artwork around the perimeter of the kitchen. Cheese Whiz, the gooey, processed cheese sauce conceived in the ’50s and still sold by Kraft, is a key ingredient in the time-honored Philly cheese steak tradition. Along with Philadelphia sports paraphernalia on the walls, you’ll also find a golden, Cheez Whiz-colored paint job. Normally, my instincts would deter me from consuming a shelf-stable dairy product so yellow it glows, but when in The Philly Way,…