Photo by Maggie Vaughn
I first discovered Harvey’s Central Grille as a result of making a wrong turn. It’s tucked away peacefully off the retail hustle of Mequon Road in an office park that resembles a grouping of large houses more than buildings. The homey feeling continues upon entering, with various comfortable and spacious dining areas indoors and out. Defining the menu is difficult: I’d loosely label it “creative American bistro.” Serving Mequon for nine years, Harvey’s is a second-generation family business, named after the current owner’s grandfather. It enjoys the patronage of many returning and loyal customers; I noticed most tables warmly greeted the arrival of their server by name.
Starting off right, the brandied chicken liver pâté ($7) ranks easily among the best I’ve tasted. Accouterments of butter crackers, Kalamata olives, cornichons and chopped raw bell pepper and red onion unfortunately did not match the quality and sophistication of the pâté itself, but in the end, our plate was scraped clean just the same. It paired nicely alongside the grilled baby artichokes ($9), served with a creamy lemon aioli and sweet cabernet reduction.
Curiosity won over when we ordered the Harvey Darffers ($9) based on the originality of its name alone. It was a worthy gamble of house-made egg rolls filled with toasted hazelnuts, blue cheese and caramelized onion. The well-balanced combination of textures was paired with the sweet and tangy honey-rosemary dipping sauce.
Harvey’s Friday fish fry ($14) is lake perch and Panko crusted. It’s served with an avocado tartar sauce, a novel and tasty departure from its traditional sidekick. Rounding out the Friday classic was creamy Dijon coleslaw and pretty darn good fries. It comprised more than half of the plates that passed our table over the course of our meal, being delivered to many devout fish fry enthusiasts.
Wolfgang Puck’s Seafood Stew ($20) was an intriguing menu item since it gives (rarely seen) credit to outsourcing a recipe. Similar to cioppino, the Italian American fish stew originating in San Francisco, it features a variety of fish and shellfish (my serving included shrimp, scallop and salmon) in a rich tomato broth flavored with saffron, fennel, onion, peppers and mushrooms. It was a lovely balance of flavors from earthy vegetables to rich yet subtly sweet seafood. And if that wasn’t enough, most versions are accompanied with garlic bread and lemon aioli to sop up every last drop.
Harvey’s Central Grille
1340 W. Towne Square Road, Mequon
262-241-9589
$$-$$$
Handicapped Access: Yes
