You can tell a lot about a bar by the building it’s in. Buildings that look like a they’ve housed all kinds of businesses over the years usually make for ramshackle, quirky bars. If the building has personality, so do its occupants.
The building that houses Kam’s Thistle & Shamrock has been many things through the years, including a carriage repair garage and a number of restaurants. Nowadays, the building on the North Side of Milwaukee houses a few businesses, some residences upstairs and even a billboard on the roof. It’s clearly been added onto and expanded in sections, which is exactly how Thistle & Shamrock as it is today came about.
While the building is much older, the bar opened in 2010. It started in a smaller space, but when neighboring business Pete’s Pizza closed, it enveloped its space too. Today, Thistle & Shamrock takes up most of the first floor of the building in a mismatched set of rooms. There’s multiple doors, but it doesn’t really matter which one you enter, as you’ll end up at the same bar or dining room eventually.
Like every good bar, this one has a standard menu of snacks, apps and sandwiches, plus lots of daily specials, which neighborhood residents seem to take most advantage of. Tuesday are (surprise!) taco night, with your standard bar tacos ($6.95 for three) of shredded chicken, iceberg lettuce, cheese and a side of salsa. Wednesday and Saturday feature smoked barbecue ribs ($13.95-$18.95) and fried chicken dinners ($14.95), and Thursday is Italian night, with rotating specials like meat or vegetarian lasagna and garlic bread.
Friday nights, though, are when the kitchen really shines. They go all out for fish fry, cooking up 17 different types of fish: swai, cod, haddock, smelt, northern pike, shrimp, salmon, bluegill, perch, grouper, walleye, barramundi, tilapia and red snapper. Most options ($10.95 to $19.95) are available either fried in a thin, finely textured crumb coating or baked with butter. Opt for fried if you can as the breading is delicate and clings to the fish better than a heavier coating. It’s an especially great way to bread smelt without it turning into a fish stick-like finger.
The fry comes with the standard sides, including homemade slaw and tartar sauce. Skip the boring crinkle-cut fries and order either the homemade potato chips or the potato pancakes. The cakes are deep brown, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, with just a bit of onion. They come with a cup of applesauce or maple syrup, something not too common.
The regular menu—most of which is also available on Fridays—spans your typical bar appetizers, a few Irish-inspired dishes, burgers and pizza. Homemade corned beef makes an appearance in a number of dishes, including deep fried Rueben rolls ($8.95), a corned beef sandwich ($9.95) on rye with mustard, and a Rueben sandwich ($10.95).
Burgers are made with ground beef that hasn’t been frozen and come with a side of homemade chips. Patties are a quarter pound, but the Thistle pub burger ($6.95) comes with two patties for those who prefer a heftier meal. Add toppings as you please or grab a specialty burger like the Morning Scotty ($7.95) with American cheese, mushrooms, caramelized onions and a fried egg. And if you can’t decide between corned beef and a burger, the Rueben burger ($8.95) is here to save the day.
Every Friday and Saturday night there’s free live music starting at 8 p.m., and there’s plenty of TVs and projection screens for watching sports. There’s always a lot going on at Thistle & Shamrock. It’s a big bar with a big personality to match.
