Photo credit: Dave Zylstra
Comet Cafe's Cubano
For many Milwaukeeans, going to Comet Café is a ritual. It's been around for almost 25 years now, so grabbing a hangover brunch or late-night slice of pie is a revered and shared event. You’re not just getting big helpings of comfort food at Comet, but an entire cozy experience in its vintage, diner-like atmosphere.
When it first opened in 1995, Comet only served coffee and sandwiches, and it only occupied one half of the space it does now, which is why it's got a bit of a weird, two-counter layout. Ten years later, they added alcohol and expanded the menu. That got the attention of the Food Network, which featured Comet on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” in 2009, introducing the Milwaukee hot spot to a whole new audience.
The dish featured on Triple D was AJ's compact turkey dinner ($13), and it's a great representation of their menu: it’s playful and homey, with a bit of over-the-top state fair flair thrown in for good measure. The mixture of roast turkey, sage stuffing and cheesy mashed potatoes can be a little too homogeneous, but the thick, crunchy beer batter coating adds necessary texture. The balls swim in a pool of thick gravy, naturally, but scream for an absent side of tart cranberry sauce.
Other favorites on the dinner menu include the meatloaf ($15) which is wrapped in smoky bacon, then stacked on top of rye bread with stiff mashed potatoes, grilled tomato slices, more bacon and beer gravy. A steak knife keeps the stack from toppling, though there's only one slice of meatloaf in the whole thing. Classic mac and cheese ($12) comes in a large, shallow bowl with a thick layer of broiled cheese on top. Turn it into tuna mac casserole ($15) with creamy tuna salad, just like mom used to make.
While great in mac, the tuna salad is a little boring by itself in the Charlie melt ($12). It’s overpowered by bitter arugula and sharp pickled banana peppers. Stick with old classics like the cheesy tomato ($9) sandwich with tomatoes and onion under a blanket of broiled cheese, or the Buttafuoco ($10) that adds pickled giardiniera peppers.
Vegan items or variations make up a huge part of Comet’s menu, and they were serving homemade seitan long before plant-based was a trend at all levels of the restaurant industry. The gyro ($11), French dip ($12), Reuben ($12) and Cubano ($12) can be made vegan with seitan. A vegan Salisbury steak ($13) is made with hazelnuts and herbs, and then topped with mushroom gravy. At breakfast, the Frankie scramble ($10) is made with tofu, roasted peppers, mushrooms, collard greens and plant-based sausage.
Breakfast and brunch are just as popular here as dinner, with big portions and plenty of daytime cocktails. The Stendler ($11) is a classic that even has its own Instagram hashtag, #showmeyourstendler. The corned beef, egg and hash brown burrito gets a random message from the kitchen drawn in sriracha. A quick browse of the hashtag reveals messages like “Beer me”, “I <3 you” and “2.55, nice!” referring to getting a brunch order in just before the 3 p.m. cutoff.
Continuing the stacks-of-stuff theme, chicken in a biscuit ($11) piles a fried chicken breast on a homemade biscuit with collard greens, cheddar, bacon and sausage gravy. Swap those fillings for smoked ham, fried egg and more sausage gravy, and you've got the benny biscuit ($10). Pancakes are plate-sized and hearty, and you can get them bacon-style with whole strips of bacon griddled right in ($7-$10).
Photo credit: Dave Zylstra
Always save room for the homemade cupcakes and pies. There's usually about a half a dozen of each available each day, including vegan options. Coconut cream pie has a flaky crust and abundance of coconut.
Adding the bar in 2005 was a smart decision, making this both a morning and late-night destination. The Comet Bloody Mary ($9) is top tier in the city and comes with a strip of bacon, of course. Classic cocktails like the Harvey Wallbanger fit right into the retro theme. Even if you’re not ordering beer, browse the beer menu, which is cleverly displayed on beer trading cards. Though the kitchen closes at midnight, you'll always find folks hanging out until bar time.
