Best of the brunch
15 spots to satisfy your weekend hunger
Ah, the weekend, that glorious time when you can have the Most Important Meal of the Day smack in the middle of your day. Where to find a great one? ♦ Blue’s Egg is well-known for its brunches — see it on the annual Milwaukee 50 list of top restaurants, at jsonline.com/top30 — but it has solid company. ♦ These easygoing places serve delicious and often creative brunches (bear in mind that new brunches pop up frequently; follow dining news and reviews year-round for those).
Engine Company No. 3: It’s one of Milwaukee’s great restaurant settings, this former fire station that gives the brunch restaurant its name. Airy, lightfilled, smartly decorated with historical fire gear, it’s a great space to come to your senses in the morning or relax over lunch on a weekday. Like its sister restaurant, La Merenda, Engine Company goes around the world for its flavors but gets many of its ingredients from farmers close to home. A dish with one of the house-made sausages is a must-try, especially the boudin blanc, served with farro cooked like risotto and a sunny-sideup egg. The French toast made from enormous brioche looks formidable but isn’t heavy in the least. You’ve got this.
Like La Merenda, Engine Company is popular and especially busy on weekends; reservations are recommended, though some tables are kept for walk-in customers. Call or make them online at least 24 hours in advance. Brunching spur of the moment? Even if the place is packed, you can wait on the second floor with a cup of coffee or cocktail until your table is ready.
Prices for main dishes, $6 to $15. Breakfast and lunch, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; brunch menu, 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 217 W. National Ave. (414) 226-5695. engine company3.com
Story Hill BKC: A cool vibe and sharp service (hello, ample coffee refills) get brunch off to a good start. The menu is full of appealing items, like sweet or savory crepes, baked goods including a sensational sausage roll in puff pastry, and toast stacked with avocado and other tasty bits. Be alert for specials; this summer’s included outstanding plates such as cherry and chevre French toast with basil, and Gibbles & Schnitz, chicken schnitzel with giblet gravy, black pepper spaetzle and eggs. As with other popular brunch places, get there early or get there late, or count on waiting (you can get in a digital line ahead of time through the NoWait and Yelp apps).
Prices mostly $6 to $13. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; many breakfast dishes also served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. 5100 W. Blue Mound Road. (414) 539-4424. storyhillbkc.com
Honeypie Cafe: This restaurant-bar is casual, but the brunch menu is ambitious and creative. In summer, the classic lox on an everything bagel got something extra from fennel salad; plus, Honeypie cures its own salmon and makes its own bagels. Other flavors are worth rolling out of bed for, too, like duck confit hash with black pepper mayonnaise and sunny-side-up eggs. The menu changes continually with seasonal updates, too.
Prices $9 to $16. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; a briefer breakfast menu is served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. 2643 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. (414) 489-7437 honeypiecafe.com
Sheridan’s: Find excellent, generous brunch dishes at this charming spot. The cafe looks a little like Paris circa 1900, so it’s no wonder omelets are made in the French style rather than American-diner style — sleek, not fluffy. The hash browns are crisp, buttery perfection; if you’re wild about hash browns, try these. Other dishes to seek out include the custard-like French toast in a pool of butterscotch sauce, loaded with pecans, and pulled pork hash topped with a snowywhite poached egg.
Prices mostly $8.50 to $13. Brunch 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. 5133 S. Lake Drive, Cudahy, in the Sheridan House hotel. (414) 747-9800. sheridanhouseandcafe.com
Hotel Madrid: Home to fine-dining restaurant Bodegón and bar Vermutería 600, Hotel Madrid cuts loose with brunch. A waffled grilled cheese sandwich with smoked American cheese, fried egg and bacon? Oh, yes. Pancakes with Fruity Pebbles cereal? Yep, that, too, and it’s downright tasty. Find other inspired plates such as peanut butter and rhubarb jelly French toast, and wellmade classics like eggs Benedict, but with Spanish ham instead of Canadian bacon. Brunch cocktails include a couple based on cold-brewed coffee, so you can wake up and relax at the same time.
Brunch prices mostly $9 to $14. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 600 S. 6th St. (414) 488-9146. hotelmadrid mke.com
Goodkind: Goodkind brought back Salisbury steak so well at brunch in summer, I wondered why the dish ever left American menus: a hefty patty of topnotch beef draped in oyster mushroomonion gravy and two eggs. But the menu changes like the weather; so long, Salisbury steak, mighty blueberry cornmeal coffee cake and black currant pancakes. But that means other delights join the Sunday fun, and the menu does have staples — lately, French toast sticks with hazelnut brittle, caramel and chocolate sauce and Croque Madame over a polenta cake.Try the fizzy Get Out of My Room, Mom! brunch cocktail: Lillet, tangerine-ginger syrup, Meyer lemon bitters and cava.
Prices mostly $7 to $14. Brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. 2457 S. Wentworth Ave. (414) 763-4706 goodkindbayview .com
Wolf Peach: Wolf Peach makes brunch staples its own, and it makes them very well. Consider a Belgian buttermilk waffle with hazelnut butter, strawberry jam and whipped cream, or a cohesive corned beef hash, griddled until
crisp and served with eggs and a house English muffin. Wolf Peach also makes wood-fired pizzas designed for brunch — with a poached egg on top.
Main dishes and pizzas all $10-$15. Brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 1818 N. Hubbard St. (414) 3748480 wolf-peach.com
Café Corazón: The gems on this Mexican-inflected brunch menu include carne mechada — deeply savory pulled beef, from cattle raised on the owners’ family’s farm. It’s served in a number of dishes, including breakfast tacos, crisp empanadas and a burrito so big diners need knife and fork to do battle with it. Vegetarian and vegan menu items abound, too. You’ll want to have the Bloody Maria with tequila, of course. Pick from two locations; the Bay View restaurant’s larger menu includes omelets and pork pibil.
Prices $3 (for a single meatless taco) to $12. Brunch is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Riverwest: 3129 N. Bremen St., (414) 810-3941. Bay View: 2394 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., (414) 544-2774 corazonmilwaukee.com
The Tandem: The breakfast side of the Saturday brunch menu might be short, but it sure is sweet. The sunny Tandem makes some great dishes, like richly beefy oxtail hash with root vegetables, poached eggs and sage-brown butter hollandaise or a powerfully good kale salad with roasted veg and poached egg. And it puts the pan and cake in its cornmeal pancake, a 11⁄2-inch-tall behemoth served with three strips of bacon and real maple syrup. Honestly, each dish could feed two. If you’d rather have a great burger, pretty please with an egg on top, the Tandem serves that, too, plus the Saturday special burger on the lunch side of the menu (recently with house pepper jelly). The Bloody Mary has a spicy kick, and the Firecracker Bloody Mary is spicier.
Entree prices $10 to $13. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. 1848 W. Fond du Lac Ave. (414) 885-1919 facebook.com/tandem mke
Lazy Susan: If a day without doughnut holes is a day without sunshine, then try the cake ones at Lazy Susan, fresh and hot and served with house-made jam (lately, blueberry-cherry). The restaurant’s seasonal bent extends to the scramble special, recently eggs folded with sweet corn and chanterelle mushrooms. The biscuits and gravy are a dream, but a substantial one: Two house biscuits, savory with cheddar, herbs and green onion, topped with sausage gravy and a couple of eggs however you like them (get them over easy, and they have that fine, crisped edge). On the side: cheesy potatoes, the shredded potatoes in cheese sauce, with browned bits here and there. Vegan alternatives for main dishes? No problem, Lazy Susan has ‘em. Options among the Bloody Marys, too, including bacon or chile infusions.
Prices $5 to $15 (most $10 or less). 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday (closed Oct. 29). 2378 S. Howell Ave. (414) 988-7086. lazysusanmke.com
Dino’s: A classic corner bar and restaurant that’s been updated, Dino’s serves a pleaser of a brunch while it weaves the business’ Italian heritage into the menu. Look for dishes like creamy polenta with two eggs, sautéed kale and roast mushrooms, and biscuits with an Italian-sausage gravy. The bacon Belgian waffles (yes, waffles with bacon embedded right in them) are especially satisfying. The Bloody Mary here is garnished with Italian salami.
Prices $7 to $13. Brunch served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. 808 E. Chambers St. (414) 562-9171. dinosriverwest.com
Buckley’s: Breakfast sandwiches are king at Buckley’s. This corner restaurant makes two of the city’s best: the Commuter Pork Sandwich, which stacks country ham, boudin sausage and cheddar cheese with a sunny fried egg on an English muffin, and the Mortadella Hangover, layering the sausage with provolone and egg on a bun. Tucked among the classics such as eggs Benedict on the brief menu are plates like a Spanish-style baked omelet of potato, tomato and onion, with a bright salad on the side. Among other menu items, don’t miss the flaky house-made Pop Tarts with seasonal fruit fillings, or the half bacon-infused, half habanero-infused vodka Bloody Mary, arguably the best in the city.
Prices mostly $10 to $16. Brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. 801 N. Cass St. (414) 277-1111. buckleysmilwaukee.com
Hello Falafel: The brief menu changes weekly at this vegetarian/vegan counter-service restaurant. It’s not fancy — everything’s served in disposable
or recyclable packaging so it can be taken to go — but it’s delicious. Shakshuka typically is on the menu, slow-cooked eggs in a stew of tomatoes and peppers. If you’re lucky, avocado toast will be on the menu, too, served on crisped wedges of Middle Eastern flatbread. Brunch is the only time the public can order a cocktail at Hello Falafel, such as a mimosa made with the restaurant’s freshsqueezed juices.
Prices mostly $5 to $8. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. 2301 S. Howell Ave. (414) 5095924 hellofalafelmke.com
Mimosa: All the breakfast bases are covered at this popular spot: omelets, skillets, pancakes, waffles, crepes and more. Plenty of variety and plenty on the plate — Mimosa doesn’t skimp on the portions. Try its potatoes, poached and browned in olive oil; add feta, lemon and bacon for a couple of bucks more. You’ll be glad you did. The steak in the steak and eggs is first-rate; shrimp, it turns out, make a good filling for omelets. The hard-to-wake will appreciate the frequent coffee refills.
Prices mostly from $6 to $11; for steak dishes, $13.95 to $24.95. Brunch daily from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. 9405 S. 27th St., Franklin. (414) 574-5132 mimosabreakfast.com
Dublin’s: An Irish pub with more than two dozen taps for craft beer, Dublin’s has a notable menu for food, too, and brunch is no exception. Eggs Benedict was served with carne asada, avocado and béarnaise sauce; hazelnut French toast was like luscious custard inside, just as it should be. It’s all appealing and well-made.
Prices mostly $9 to $13. Brunch 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. 110 Wisconsin Ave., West Bend. (262) 338-1195 dublinswi.com/westbend