No kidding. I just saw a 30 second spot. I’m a little confused because I know someone that tried to get in for a birthday and couldn’t score a reservation.
Since eating out for me is a trip to Taste of India (oh, but it’s oh so good), someone else should fill me in as soon as possible.
Thanks. 
I think EM’s is over rated.
We go out to eat all the time. All over the place and to a great collection of places. It’s about the flavors and about the dining experience. If you need to ‘eat’ you can garbage up at McDonalds or Applebee’s .. you want to dine out .. there are zillions of great places in the area. EM’s is nice and on occasion very good – but I would never go here first.
We wanted to go their last month for my birthday. We called one month ahead of time ( Sat night ) and all they had was 5 pm, or 8:30 or later. We ended up at Jakes, which was good as well. You can cut their tenderloin with a butter knife. Drooling here, have to stop thinkin about it.
Or you can dream of swimming in butter chicken at Taste of India.
I don’t need a dining “experience.” I need flavors that explode and quality ingredients.
I think that’s one reason I keep ending up at Haute Taco. Ok, that and Cheap Ass margaritas by the pitcher when there’s a companion drinker and a spare driver.
I’ve always wanted to try Haute Taco…. now I think I am going to have to get there this week!
Since were’s a quick list of our favorites in the area (the wife and I have flirted with the idea of starting a Milwaukee area restaurants blog)
Steak: Mr. B’s. Jake’s is good too….. Carnevore downtown is very good but SO expensive. We also tried the 5 O’clock steakhouse, but didn’t care for the excess char.
Italian: I know its a chain, but we haven’t found anything better than Buca’s downtown. Bartolatta’s was good, but I had very high expectations….. Maggiano’s is good too when you want to gorge yourself.
Mexican: Like I said, we need to try Haute Taco. To date, Botana’s is the pick… thinking about their steak fajitas has me drooling on my keyboard.
Breakfast: Original Pancake House and I don’t know of a close second
Chinese: We have tried and tried, but I can’t say we have found a Chinese place in the area that we really like. I’m from Madison and there are 2 there (Imperial Garden, Hong Kong Cafe) that are both excellent. Emperor’s Kitchen is pretty good and probably the best we have found so far. Any suggestions???
Family Restuarant: We just went to Maxim’s for the first time last week and thought that was pretty good.
Pizza: Wifey likes Uno’s. My favorite Lisa’s on the East side. Zaffiro’s and Glass Nickel are pretty good too.
Burgers: Fuddrucker’s is hard to beat
Cafe: We probably eat at Panera more than anywhere else…. I always felt it is a tad overpriced for what you get, yet we don’t seem to stop going…….
Sorry for the long post, but I’d be curious what anyone else thinks.
I concur about Haute Taco!
I’ve never been to Taste of India – what do you recommend? I go for quality and taste, like you. So, I’m guessing I’d like it.
We had the royal sampler. It could have easily fed a family of four even though it says it’s for two.
Sorry Ryan, you were snapped up by the spam filter. I wonder what’s up with that?
Anyway, Haute Taco is mostly good unless it isn’t. It’s hard to say, but every once in a while the service and food are a miss. It’s just a chance you take. I love their tortilla soup, guacamole, and a pitcher of margaritas. Supreme happiness. I will also take a moment to rave about their small and doughy flour tortillas.
Of all the places you’ve mentioned, I can’t say anything but Haute Taco wows me as a place I’d go out for instead of cooking. But then, I really like to cook. My favorite steak is at home (Nye’s beef; this recipe). Italian is easy at home. Who can resist heart attach on a plate (aka fettuccine alfredo) made with butter and cream and freshly grated Parmesan cheese? Same for breakfast. Original Pancake leaves me cranky because it’s so loud and on such a sugar rush the rest of the day is shot.
Chinese – try this. Also, the spouse and I did venture into Waukesha for the Golden Gate the other night. Good flavors without the heavy corn-starched gravies.
Pizza – anything on this crust, but my favorite is olive oil, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil from the garden. If you are feeling really fancy you can use little golden pear tomatoes.
Burgers – see steak above. I make one with two thin patties and a sliver of goat cheese tucked in the middle that makes for a very happy tummy.
Cafe – Panera gets a good round of our business, too. It’s the easiest go to place when I want to capture the youngest for a few minutes of conversation. Their cheesy broccoli soup has a narcotic in it of some kind that won’t let you quit until you are horizontal across several tables. I make a decent and similar soup at home, but not like that one.
Let me know if you are serious about a restaurant blog. Maybe we could incorporate it into the publishing bonanza I’m thinking of next fall.
I’d be interested in doing a Restaurant Blog or review. That’s simply fun.
Ryan ….
Hamburgers: try FIVE GUYS. Fries? FIVE GUYS
I love Panera too. Everyone does. It’s fresh, it’s easy and quick. It’s consistent. High calorie food disguised as being healthy because it’s fresh. Life is good.
Kurts in Delafield is great for steaks. Fishbone’s in Delafield. Recently rediscovered Heaven City in Mukwonago area … good steak and seafood. Then there is Crazy Water downtown Milwaukee. Wicked Hop in downtown Milwaukee is a a cool place with a great london broil dinner. Maxi’s Southern Comfort is very fun and very good – don’t miss it. Speaking of fun and a big menu try Crawdaddy’s on Greenfield Avenue – you’ll love it. Crossroads Pizza in New Berlin is great for local pizza. Others are good too I’m sure, but Crossroads is what pizza used to be all about. The Grove in Elm Grove is excellent with a great chef. (remember, chef’s create dining excellence, cooks make food hot). I’m not impressed with Jake’s I think it’s over rated. I’m not much of an expert on Mexican food .. it all tastes the same to me – sorry. Chinese food either. There used to be a fresh vegie Chinese restaurant in Hales Corners, but they closed years ago because the market couldn’t support the price point that fresh causes. I put Chinese in the same category as Mexican. Sorry. I need to update that sometime.
So many places to eat – so little time to do it.
Wine anyone?
Restaurant blog is way up my alley. We eat out quite a bit, mostly hitting stuff here on the east side and downtown.
So what should that one be named?
Adventures in Dining, Cooking and Eating
Over easy?
Adventures in yummerland!
Yeah, 5 Guys is very good, especially the fries. Still like Fudd’s burgers a little better. Agree 100% on Maxie’s… just went there for my dad’s 60th and had a great meal. Wicked Hop is always fun. I found the Grove a bit overpriced, but not bad. We were thinking of going to Fishbone’s this weekend… you highly recommend? Also very curious to try Crossroads… sounds right up our alley. Pizzeria Piccola is another of our favorite (more authentic Italian) pizza’s that I forgot about.
When you guys are heading for Wicked Hop, keep walking west to Third Ward Caffe. It’s locally owned, wonderful food, reasonably priced, excellent service, and a charming dining room. I can never figure out what’s the draw at W. H.? When you do your blog, how about a “non-chain” category?
I always feel like a rabbit down the hole when we have these discussions. Man, I don’t get out enough.
Amazed….. W.H. has a limited menu but it’s well done in a fun atmosphere.. no chef here but the cook is good. Service is good.
Okay let’s talk about Third Ward Cafe. The first time I was with a group of 8 people on a night that wasn’t busy. The waiter spilled wine all over one of the women…. now I know the woman and I don’t particularly care for her .. but that aside, it was an accident. There was NO apology. Service was poor. The food was ‘okay’.
Everyone gets a second shot in life. Why not. So we went back there a second time this past fall on one Friday evening. They were busy but not swamped. We were seated and greeted. When we dine out with folks we split the bill. But in the new 21st century we like so many don’t carry cash – we use charge cards. And with the advent of computerized systems, it’s an easy thing to ask for separate checks. Then we each pay our check what we each have. Extra wine for them? fine. Desert for us? fine. We pay our own way. We’ll leave a nice tip if the service is good. If the service is bad we don’t. So, like everywhere else we go to – we ask for separate checks. The waitress gives us a lecture that she doesn’t do that. We tell her, look figure it out. She was mean and rude. And she was mean and rude the whole night about it. We were shocked. See, we were there to have a nice time, not battle with some skippy waitress. So the check is presented by the owner (a woman) who presents two checks. Holy cow – why all the attitude if they were going to do it anyway? She got a poor tip and I really gave the owner a tongue lashing for poor service. So much so that I’m really happy you mentioned them so I can tell everyone that THIRD WARD CAFE simply does not stack up on two tries as a place to dine. We’ll never go back.
I was somewhere else recently where they pulled that on us too. Minus the attitude we got at Third Ward Cafe, the service was good, but the waiter said he wasn’t going to split the bill. I politely explained that it’s up to him but the request is his problem not mine. He presents 1 bill. We use two charge cards with instructions on how to split the bill. When I signed my charge card … I left an 8% tip. Not the usual 20% tip. I usually tip off the balance, tax and all. He missed a good tip. On the charge ticket I wrote, poor tip because waiter didn’t split the bill. Make me work to split the bill? It comes out of the tip. Figure it out. Go get a calculator and divvy it up. Do your job.
I’m not very demanding at restaurants. I ask for simply things. Things on the menu. Sometimes I ask for vegies instead of starch. And I will say, please give me a heaping amount, not little girl amounts of vegies – I will pay for it. They listen they get a tip that reflects the effort. They blow me off – they get squat.
Okay, everyone, come to Oklahoma and I’ll fix chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy.
(Wimper)