Tucked in a West Allis neighborhood on the corner of Mitchell and 66th streets, the Farmer’s Wife is one of the area’s newest restaurants supporting local farmers with food that speaks to an easier time when folks gathered around the dinner table for classic American cooking.
The décor is as unassuming as the menu and feels like a neighborhood gathering place. There is a long bar were you can watch the game and enjoy a cocktail or sit down with a meal. The big mural on the wall looks like a retro postcard, but was actually painted from a photo of five generations of family dairy farmers.
The Farmer’s Wife carries 64 beers including some craft beers on draft, but also offers a nice selection of Wisconsin wines and spirits. The menu’s East Coast-inspired dishes include lobster roll and stuffed quahogs as a side. The delicious New England-style lobster roll ($15) was stuffed with fresh lobster salad and served on a toasty roll with hand-cut fries. The Farmer’s Wife also offers lobster mac ’n’ cheese ($17), or opt for the lobster and cheese sauce poutine ($14.50). Other dinner classics include pork chops and applesauce ($15), oven-fried chicken ($14), pot roast ($14), meatloaf ($12) or chicken pot pie ($12). All dinners are served with a choice of garlic mashed potatoes, French fries or rice, side salad and a warm cheddar jalapeño corn bread that was outstanding.
The pot roast was tender and tasted like something grandma used to make. The meatloaf was full of flavor and grilled; that night it was served with a tomato sauce instead of gravy. The chicken pot pie was full of chicken and vegetables; the crust was puff pastry instead of the flaky piecrust but was piping hot and crisp. The pear salad ($11) was a symphony of flavors from the fresh sliced pears and salty feta cheese to the tart dried cranberries and a crunchy pecan praline orchestrated on a bed of mixed greens.
A great way to start the meal is with the shareable appetizers, offerings of wings, mac ’n’ cheese balls, rumaki or flat bread ($6-$9). There are many sandwiches to choose from including a grilled king trumpet wrap ($10) with house-made ricotta cheese and balsamic reduction, oyster po’ boy ($10) or a chicken and waffle sandwich ($13). There are a few choices for burgers ($7-$13) and although you can’t go wrong with the classic American, don’t pass up the black bean burger with lemon tarragon aioli or The Wife’s Favorite Burger with pepperjack, avocado, bacon, salsa, jalapeños.
Save room for dessert, the classics continue with banana pudding, bread pudding or the specialty—a chocolate cayenne pepper cake with bourbon frosting was divine.
The Farmer’s Wife is open for lunch and dinner and has an a la carte Sunday brunch with a bloody Mary bar and items like sausage gravy and biscuits or the breakfast burger. Friday fish fry is all day and for something special you can call ahead and order a two-pound tomahawk prime rib dinner for two.
