Enjoy Finer Dining at Shorewood's Buttermint

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Walking into Shorewood’s Buttermint Finer Dining and Cocktails, it’s as if you’ve entered Don Draper’s supper club. With a modern twist on Mad Men-era ‘60s decor and a menu that includes fish and game meat you don’t see around Milwaukee very often, it is a pleasure to dine here.

The place was packed on Tuesday night at 7 pm, but there’s a lovely bar where you can wait for a table. Luckily, the three of us had a reservation and didn’t have to wait. It’s an intimate dining room with enough people for the right buzz of a good restaurant. The staff is super friendly and accommodating, our waitress Erica was even wearing Shiraz bottle earnings for her shift. You can tell the people who work there have great pride in the place and enjoy their time on the clock. And, looking around, everyone was enjoying themselves at their tables as well.

The three of us have been to Buttermint before but kept it to more casual cocktails and appetizers, having not yet explored the main courses. It’s an eclectic menu with many different directions to go, so we all went for what we wanted to commit to, rather than a sharing tactic, which is usual for us.

We couldn’t bring ourselves to totally skip over appetizers, so we went with their exquisitely kitschy deviled eggs topped with caviar and the bread service. Both of which were incredibly well done for things that otherwise might be called finger food. There’s a common rule when we all eat together as to not order the same thing or two things that are too similar, even when we’re not sharing. Once Erica came back from delivering our drinks and apps, it was game time on what to choose for dinner.

I follow Buttermint on social media and have been very curious about their ever-changing TV dinners, which are anything but the ones you eat on a tray table and serve fresh from the microwave. They are served on a tray with dedicated plates and ramekins for each section of the meal. Tonight’s TV dinner was spaghetti and meatballs … with a twist. Elk meatballs and Sunday sauce served with garlic focaccia, a house salad and a mocha bonbon—everything you need for a complete dinner.

My fellow diners went for the roasted breast of Amish chicken with chicken sausage pelmeni, delicata squash, baby spinach and lemon au jus. This man never orders chicken out and he was raving out this one. Finally, the third diner went another direction than a meat-heavy plate and opted for the grilled swordfish with stir-fried butternut squash, apple and cabbage, sticky rice, black vinegar, and green curry. Truly, we were all dedicated to our own plates because we didn’t want to interrupt the flavors we had for ourselves.

Buttermint is a true gem. What’s great about it is that you can pop in for a drink and a snack, feel fancy, and not spend too much doing it. Or you can order big and bold and make a night of it. Really, you can’t go wrong with whatever direction you’re looking to go.

On our way out, after collecting my coat from the host (how often does that happen anymore?) and slowly heading out after filling ourselves to the brim, we saw a wall of booze that had prices on them. Sure enough, they sell a wide variety of alcohol to take home and try to recreate their fabulous cocktails. They even have two exclusive liquor flavors made for Buttermint specifically!

Going to dinner at a place that makes you feel like you’ve escaped reality and time is a treat with everything going on these days. So, if you’re up for a night in Shorewood, this is the place to go. Cheers!