Packing House restaurant manager keeps the fish fry and steak moving
On a typical Friday night during Lent, hundreds of customers make their way through the drive-thru for fish fry at The Packing House, 900 E. Layton Ave. It’s just one of the things that set the supper club apart.
Since 1974, The Packing House has been a south side draw, directly across from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Chris Wiken grew up in the restaurant founded by his parents, and he’s done just about every job in the building. Wiken took over as general manager in 1993, after the death of his father. His mom, Margaret, has been at the heart of the restaurant since the beginning and still comes in daily.
Wiken and his team have fed more than a few celebrities over the years, but there’s a special place in their hearts for the generations of Milwaukeeans that keep coming back.
Wiken, currently state board chairman for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, is looking forward to the return of the restaurant’s live entertainment, possibly by fall.
Question: What put your family into the business of a south side supper club?
Answer: My mom and dad owned a bar in Cudahy called The Pumpkin Tree. Prior to that, my dad and my mom’s brother were involved in opening Southwoods. There was an opportunity to buy this building, (the former) Dutch’s Sukiyaki House, after they’d had a fire. My parents opened it in April 1974. I was about 4 …
My dad passed away in 1993, and that’s when I took over the operation. I left from about 2001 to 2010, when I was an airline pilot. … I came back at the end of 2010. My mom is still around; she’ll be 85 this July. Knock on wood, she’s healthy and still visits every day.
Q: What’s a must-have on the menu, something you can never take off ?
A: Steaks. Heck, we’re named Packing House, being down the street from Patrick Cudahy and the meatpacking plants back in the day. Friday fish fry and the prime rib a couple nights a week are a staple.
Q: Tell us about the drive-thru for fish fry on Fridays. How did a supper club end up with a drive-thru window?
A: We have been very fortunate to have support from people early on in the shutdown. We were still in the middle of Lent then. There was still a demand for fish fry. People wanted to get out of the house and they wanted to support businesses. We had a line all the way down to the other end of the airport on some Fridays. People were waiting more than an hour and a half. I would walk the line and talk with them.
My dad decided to add the fish fry window in the mid-1980s. It has been extremely popular ever since.
Q: What differentiates your fish fry?
A: Everything that is part of the fish fry, except for the rye bread and lemon if you want it, is made in-house. We make our own tartar sauce in-house, including making the mayonnaise. Coleslaw is made in-house. Breading is made inhouse. Ours is also breaded and not battered. It works well as a drive-through as well as dine-in. That breading will stay crisp …
Our cooks and prep cooks that produce the fish fry have been with us for decades. Our longest-serving cook right now celebrated his 40th year with us last year. He started with us when he was 15. He is now 55. I told him he cannot retire. The other guy, he has been with us since he was 16. He is now 51. Third guy in our kitchen has been with us for 26 years, fourth guy has been with us for 20 years. … They’re like family; I literally grew up with them.
Q: What was your first paid job in the restaurant?
A: My mom and dad would give me a quarter an hour to scrub the bathrooms when I was just a few years old. About age 8 or 9, I’d come in every Saturday or Sunday at 5 a.m. with my cousin and we’d clean. I moved up, worked in the kitchen, moved through all the jobs. The restaurant is my life’s work.
Q: What’s the top-selling drink at The Packing House?
A: We have our own in-house made from scratch brandy old-fashioned mix we use, our recipe. When everything changed last year, we sold brandy oldfashioned kits with Korbel. That has been a huge part of our history, the old-fashioned. But our ice cream drinks, the brandy Alexanders, grasshoppers, pink squirrel, mudslide are a supper club staple and remain popular.
Through the years, one draw to the bar was having live music, a supper club staple. We have always had live music going back to 1980. … We haven’t been able to have that this year, but we’ve got musicians waiting to perform. I optimistically booked a band for New Year’s Eve already.
Q: After all these years, what’s your most memorable moment or brush with fame?
A: We’re across from the airport, specifically the private aviation terminal. We do a lot of catering for sports teams, singers. Neil Diamond, The Rolling Stones, Michael Bublé, Billy Joel — the list goes on.
We don’t always get to meet them, though I did get to get on the plane with the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger decided after the meal was delivered he wanted veal marsala. I’m taking that! By the time we got there, Mick and the boys were already on the plane. That was pretty cool …
Really, after being around for 46 years, we’re on our third generation of families. We have people who have gotten engaged here, then had their 25th anniversary here. People had their rehearsal here, came back for their 40th wedding anniversary. Seeing generation after generation, that is heartwarming.
Q: What’s your go-to favorite on the menu?
A: I look forward to Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, because I look forward to prime rib …
The other days, I go for steaks. We’ve been working with family-owned Gahn Meat Company, which is family-owned and -operated for 110 years. They just sold, but Tony Gahn is still working with them. Beef wellington is also popular, extremely so, and we are one of the only restaurants that still offer it.
The Packing House is open for takeout and dine-in from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; and 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday. During Lent, Friday fish fry is available from 2 to 9 p.m. (open at 3 p.m. after Lent) at the drive-thru, which is cash only on Fridays. The fish fry drive-thru is also available 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Curbside pickup, for those using credit cards, is available for the full menu plus fish fry. Also, the dining room is open with social distancing and half capacity.
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