Photo courtesy of Google Street View
Henry and Bobbie's Bungalow Restaurant
Henry and Bobbie's Bungalow Restaurant
With its wood paneling, mounted TVs and padded booth seating, walking into Henry & Bobbie's Bungalow Restaurant (3466 N. 14th St.; 265-0155, 265-9117), it's almost like entering the den of some of your friendliest neighbors or family.
It's a relaxing, comfortable setting for the comforting cuisine of the Southeastern U.S. Some call it soul food, especially when comes from African American cooks with a heritage originating beneath the Mason-Dixon Line. Whatever one wants to call what's served at the Bungalow, it's so long-lived a Milwaukee institution that it has developed its own heritage.
The Bungalow celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, making it one of the city's oldest continuously operating eateries, for soul food or any other fare.
Meat, whether smothered in gravy or baked or fried or marinated in its own juices dominates the menu: chicken, pork, liver and onions, oxtails. Catfish figures highly in the Bungalow menu as well, served by the piece with French fries, coleslaw or with a combination of the more specifically Southern sides that makes going out for soul food so much fun. And they're the stuff by which a vegetarian or light eater can make a meal.
Though the oxtails, which I've enjoyed at the Bungalow previously, were beckoning me, I opted for something lighter. The Bungalow's vegetable plate, though served in a white Styrofoam container typical of takeout orders, comes with a choice of four of the 16 everyday sides (dressing is only available Sundays, also the day when a baked chicken entree is offered).
Greens, Okra and Yams
To get my fill of food the likes I'm unlikely to get anywhere else other than the Bungalow or another Southern eatery, I went for collard greens, fried okra and candied yams. In lieu of the temporarily unavailable black-eyed peas, I had a serving of nuttier, subtler Great Northern beans. The sides were as colorful as they were flavorful and varied in texture. The florid greens offset the slight smokiness of the beans. Both those dishes contrasted well with the breaded okra. A cornbread pancake comes will all entrees listed in the Soul Food Dinners portion of the Bungalow’s menu. Two desserts are offered: sweet potato pie and peach cobbler.
On my recent afternoon visit, I was the only customer, but the Bungalow can be a hopping epicenter of local activity and chatter. During such quieter times, however, there's less congestion for perusing the pictures on the walls of various celebrities who have eaten at the Bungalow during their visits to Milwaukee. And Packers lovers will want to look at the memorabilia from the time in the ‘90s when the restaurant was contracted to feed the team's staff and players a couple times weekly.
The Bungalow's days of catering to Super Bowl champs are gone. The tradition of succulent Southern dining that attracted footballer from a few counties away continues.
