Downtown Dining Week, the annual, weeklong foodie feast presented by Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21, returns May 30-June 6, 2019. As in years past, the event features specially priced multi-course meals at $12.50 for lunch and $25 or $35 for dinner.
In a press release, Beth Weirick, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 said, “With specially priced chef-selected options for both lunch and dinner, Downtown Dining Week showcases downtown’s diverse restaurant and nightlife scenes. We’re looking forward to kicking off the summer season with this much-anticipated smorgasbord.”
In support of the event, Interstate Parking is offering two hour parking at a special rate of $3 parking in their seven downtown area lots with the code EATUP.
This year, there are a total 37 participating restaurants. Here's a look at all of them.
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facebook.com/RiverhouseMKE
Ale Asylum Riverhouse
With a large covered patio overlooking the river, Ale Asylum Riverhouse is a great place to spend the afternoon enjoying the breeze. Brews from Madison-based Ale Asylum are on tap, but if you're more of a hard liquor fan there's more than 40 whiskeys, a couple dozen bourbons and a selection of Wisconsin spirits. The gastropub menu features a popular meaty poutine and steak frites with homemade steak sauce.
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Photo Credit: Gabby Usinger
Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria
249 N Water St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202The two-story restaurant opened last May in place of Water Buffalo on the Milwaukee River. It's an outstanding spot to unwind, grab a light bite for lunch or enjoy an evening with friends. It has a modern coastal beach vibe with a huge sign in the bar area that reads “GOOD TIMES” and has a happy hour that lasts all day, every day.
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Cantina
The best spot for tequila lovers near Fiserv Forum, Cantina has more than 100 tequilas and smoky mezcals. Try them in margaritas—both on the rocks and frozen—cocktails like palomas, or choose from a number of different flights highlighting various aspects of the spirit. Tacos make up the bulk of the food menu, with flavors from a Greek Freak-inspired wonton version to jerk seasoned pork carnitas.
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Capital Grille
This high-end chain sets the standard for dry-aged steaks and fresh seafood. Maine lobsters run as large as 5 pounds. The fine setting includes dark woodwork and service that attends to every need. Steaks rank with the best locally.
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Carson's Milwaukee
301 W Juneau Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203Barbecue ribs and aged steaks are the specialty. The ribs are properly smoked and the meat sticks to the bone. The steaks are succulent, though red meat is not the only thing worth ordering. Grilled salmon is a fine choice.
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Char'd
222 E Erie St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202Char'd moved into the former Hinterland space in the Third Ward in May 2018. The upscale modern Korean restaurant is run by executive chef Yosub Yoon, who has worked all over the globe, including in Seoul. Meats, like beef bulgogi (on the Downtown Dining Week menu), are served on sizzling lava stones along with vegetables and dipping sauces, plus a basket of leafy greens for assembling wraps.
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Doc's Commerce Smokehouse
754 N 4th St, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203Smoke. Spice. Time. Those are the three must-have ingredients to meat preparation—at least according to Brent Brashier, founder of the Doc’s Smokehouse restaurants, a growing presence in the Midwest. “We never sauce meat in the kitchen,” Brashier continues. “And while we have some great regional sauces on the table, we hope you will try the meat on its own—to taste the love and care with which it has been prepared.”
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East Town Kitchen & Bar
Millioke rebranded and changed formats to an upscale comfort food venue in Nov. 2018. East Town Kitchen & Bar has a focus on Milwaukee and local ingredients, just like its new name. The space features a new layout with a subway tile-backed relocated bar and new banquette seating.
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Flannery's Bar and Restaurant
Laid-back Irish pub with a familiar bar menu, draft beer, big Bloody Marys & single-malt whiskeys.
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Mader's
In 1902, an ambitious young man from Germany, Charles Mader, poured every penny he had into a restaurant in Milwaukee. Though it moved (once) since, Mader’s has not only been a Milwaukee landmark and cultural cornerstone but can boast a national reputation as one of the finest German restaurants in the U.S. In addition to the restaurant itself, there’s the Knight’s Bar and famous second-floor gift shop filled with imported beer steins and collectable Hummel figurines. The menu includes favorites like Wienerschnitzel, Kasseler rippchen, sauerbraten, duck strudel, rouladen, sausages galore and much more.
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Mason Street Grill
Located inside the historic Pfister Hotel, Mason Street Grill features a bar room with a fireplace, a dining room and a marble counter where patrons are able to watch the chefs at work. The menu includes excellent steaks, fresh seafood and a fine onion soup, along with a less expensive bar menu.
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Milwaukee ChopHouse
This upscale steakhouse has the meat to match the prices, from the veal chop to the bone-in-ribeye steak. The range of items includes seafood and rotisserie. Appetizers and side items also shine, whether ahi tuna or grilled asparagus.
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Oak Barrel Public House
1033 N Old World 3rd St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203A pub and restaurant opened in the former Giovanni’s on Old World Third Street in Feb. 2018. Oak Barrel Public House is the third restaurant on that stretch of Third Street for owner Bobby Wiltgen, who also runs Who’s on Third and Cantina. The space has been remodeled with exposed brick and bourbon oak barrels as a design element. The menu includes starters, burgers and sandwiches, tacos and pizza.
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Onesto
Onesto, which means “honest” in Italian, opened in 2014 and has been putting out honestly good food ever since. Fresh and tasty food is the name of the game here. House-made ricotta cheese, daily baked bread, fresh hand-made pasta and locally sourced foods are the backbone of Onesto.
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Pier 106 Seafood Tavern
106 W Wells St, City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203With a cozy patio just north of the Wells Street Bridge on the west bank of the Milwaukee River, Pier 106 doesn’t offer the same kind of whooping party atmosphere as other outdoor dining spots along the Riverwalk, but with a higher-end seafood menu including seared scallops, baked sea bass and a terrific lobster mac ’n cheese, the dining experience here is best taken with a bit of subtlety and reserve. Downtown Milwaukee’s crooked streets give the patio a head-on view of East Wells Street, including the Pabst Theater, City Hall and the old Electric Railway and Light building (now the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Powerhouse Theater).
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Rare Steakhouse
833 E Michigan St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202The definition of rare: unusually excellent, admirable or, in the kitchen, cooking meat for only a short time. Either way, Rare Steakhouse fits the bill. Rare’s atmosphere has an elegant and sophisticated look with chandeliers sparkling overhead, deep burgundy tufted booths and dark mahogany wood as a back drop to the white linen tables. The warm tones and wood carry through to the long bar in the piano lounge area and grand wine lockers that can be stocked personally for you with a private selection. They have both classic and craft cocktails, and Rare makes a martini that would make James Bond grin.
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Rodizio Grill
777 N Water St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202The full dining experience begins with delicious cheese bread. Then, servers dressed as gauchos bring skewers of assorted grilled meats to be carved at the table. You will find pork, sausage, beef and poultry among the many options. Bring your appetite as the fixed price is all-you-can-eat.
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Courtesy Flickr user Matte.
SafeHouse Restaurant
The name is House—Safe House. Whether you prefer your martini shaken or stirred, Safe House offers the perfect venue for your inner spy. Featuring a secret password-required entrance, a giant wall puzzle and a bevy of vintage 007 memorabilia, this restaurant has everything a secret agent, or hungry guest, could want. Additionally, the shadowy ambiance makes Safe House the perfect place for a party—or supervillain meeting.
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Smoke Shack
332 N. Milwaukee St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202Simply walking into the small, rustically designed restaurant and breathing in deeply, catching the smoky, oaky smell of slow-cooked meats, is enough to make one’s mouth water in anticipation. So much of great barbecue is about texture, and both the pulled pork and the sirloin had it in spades. The pulled pork had a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth softness and a yielding quality that is exactly what you’d expect from meat that spent over half a day in a smoker. Like any good barbecue spot, Smoke Shack offers a variety of house-made sauces.
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The Rumpus Room
The Bartolotta group’s idea of a gastropub is a casual place that hints at Baroque elegance. The beer list is stronger than the wine and the back bar has depth in whiskeys. Evenings offer a fine list of Wisconsin cheeses and smoked meats.
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Trio
Trio gets its name from the fact that it takes up three floors. The first is a relaxed restaurant and bar, the second is a lounge with ping pong tables and the third is a rooftop bar and patio usually rented out for parties. Besides a typical beer menu and some sweet cocktails, there's also frozen drinks like blue Hawaiian, lending it a party-like, high-energy atmosphere, especially late at night.
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Vagabond
Vagabond boldly mixes together loosely adjacent traditions to create something greater and unique. Featuring roughly two-dozen items, the taco menu is divided among five sub-categories (beef, poultry, pork, seafood and veggie). The only real through line is that they are all, in fact, tacos: small, soft tortillas (corn or flour) liberally topped with marinated and spiced meats and crisp slaws and shredded cheeses and salsas and sauces. That’s really where the similarities end. A meal of three tacos (ordering in trios allows for agua chili rice and “cowboy” beans to be included for a buck each) can include such disparate flavor palates that the literal textbook definition of “taco” represents the only overlap in the taste bud Venn diagram.
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Ward's House of Prime (Downtown)
The bar, situated in a room with a soaring ceiling, has a great wine selection and a select list of scotch and cognac. Prime rib is the specialty, but chicken, lamb and seafood are served as well. The bar has its own menu, featuring lighter fare. The setting is pleasant, the seating is spacious and the service is good.
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Water Street Brewery
Brewery pubs were a new concept when the Water Street Brewery opened in 1987. The idea proved to be a good one, and today the original Water Street Brewery is joined by locations in Delafield, Grafton and Oak Creek. The Water Street original remains a classic. Brewery memorabilia is everywhere, including beer cans and tap handles--all of it from Wisconsin breweries. For this reason, among others, Water Street Brewery is a very good place to take out-of-town beer drinkers.
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Who's on Third
It's not uncommon to see a table stacked with empty PBR tallboys at Who's on Third, especially before a Brewers game when customers use this as a stand-in for tailgating and hop on the shuttle. Unlike some sports bars, the memorabilia decor is more restrained, and you'll be able to view a TV from anywhere in this bar. The drink menu is utilitarian, but the food menu is large, including some very good crispy cheese curds.
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AMY DUONG
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