Top Corned Beef
The corned beef at Top Corned Beef is sliced by hand.
EBONY COX/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
He noticed what it didn’t have.
Unlike the north side, where he grew up watching his mother and grandmother cook, “I looked at the landscape and realized you can’t get corned beef on this side of town,” Means said.
His original aim was to open a chicken shack somewhere in Milwaukee, he said. He wanted to establish what he hoped would be the city’s go-to fried chicken place, but couldn’t find the right spot. His fiancee finally found the 92nd Street shop, and although the kitchen wasn’t right for a chicken shack, he liked the location and other things about the little space.
Then the lockdown came.
“What did you do?” I asked.
“I panicked,” Means said. And then he got to work. The pandemic gave him the time to develop his recipes, search for the right bread and cheese, and try out the menu items on friends. His landlord gave him time, too: an eight-month cushion. “Luckily, our landlord gave us a break, which I learned a lot of landlords didn’t afford their businesses,” Means said. A contractor, Means did much of the remodeling himself.
Other corned beef shops have been around for decades, he noted. “I knew the food was going to have to speak for itself,” Means said.
He makes the jus for dunking the Italian beef sandwich, and his mother makes the giardiniera. He makes the Thousand Island for the Reuben sandwiches, and his fiancee makes the caramel cake for dessert.
His pastrami, which he smokes lightly, is fragrant with his spice blend. He makes the house punch with fresh fruit.
Top Corned Beef finally opened on June 14, 2021. “I just turned on the lights one day and stood outside the liquor store” — A-1 Liquor, next door in the same building — “and passed out flyers,” Means said. Top Corned Beef has just 10 seats at two counters, so much of the business is takeout.
Means keeps the menu concise in part because he works alone most of the time, running the counter and the kitchen. But also, “I think it’s best to have people come to your place for a specific reason,” he said.
He’s thinking of the kind of devotion that a specific dish inspires in diners. For instance, his mother makes
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Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Prices: From $5 (tacos) to $16.75 (pastrami); Soul Food Sunday entrées, $6.99 to $17.99
Parking: Several stalls in front of and on the south side of the restaurant.
Wheelchair access: Yes, but surfaces for dining in are bar height.
Payment:
Of special note: Order at the counter or phone in orders (best to call ahead if you’re in a rush, especially at lunchtime); 10 counter-height seats for dining in; takeout; delivery through DoorDash and GrubHub; children’s menu; catering. Specials: $2 Taco Tuesdays; on Smokey Saturdays, ribs, hot links and wings from the smoker; Soul Food Sunday, entrees, $6.99 to $17.99.
Cash and all major credit cards.