SURVEY
Your picks for the cream of Cream City dining
Our readers said what? Our annual dining survey is at its revealing best. You’ll want to
know the results!
Ladies and gentlemen, the results are in and the veil lifted! In our annual online survey of area food and drink, we tasked you with choosing the cream of the crop in 36 categories. Daunting? Delicious? And then some! In the quest for the best, there are always surprises. For example, who took the coveted trophy for Best New Retaurant? Dig into our story to find out! We’ve got the top-three winners in each category.
Also: a round of fist pumps to the winners of our random drawing. Congrats to Giovanni Lewinski, Rick Katschke and Mary T. Allmon, who took home gift cards to Pizza Man, Sendik’s and Quintessa, respectively.
FAVORITE NEW RESTAURANT (OPENED 2016-2017):
The cooking prowess of two chefs named Dan (Van Rite and Jacobs) and their rogue take on Chinese cuisine (schmaltz fried rice, mung bean-kimchee pancake) propelled the Third Ward’s Dandan to the crown here (360 E. Erie
St., dandanmke.com). On its heels is Tre Rivali at the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel (200 N. Broadway,
trerivalirestaurant.com),
powered by the one-two punch of “ingredient-driven” Mediterranean flair and its executive chef – former “Top Chef” contestant Heather Terhune. Third place goes to, well, Third Coast Provisions (724 N.
Milwaukee St., thirdcoastprovisions.com), which makes good on its promise of modern, delicious seafood preps in an elegant setting.
ALL-AROUND RESTAURANT
Ta-da! Lake Park Bistro
(3133 E. Newberry Blvd.,
lakeparkbistro.com)
Second Place: Odd Duck
(2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.,
oddduckrestaurant.com)
Third place: Story Hill
BKC (5100 W. Bluemound
Rd., storyhillbkc.com)
FAMILY FRIENDLY
This category’s results mirror 2016, a nod to the consistency of The Original Pancake House (2621 N. Downer Ave., 16460 W. Bluemound Rd., Brookfield; originalpancakehouse. com), AJ Bombers (1247 N. Water St.; 11340 W. Burleigh St., Wauwatosa,
ajbombers.com) and Organ
Piper Pizzeria (4353 S. 108th St., Greenfield,
organpiperpizza.com)
OUTDOOR DINING
Proving that height is a positive attribute for a patio, two of our top vote-getters have rooftop spaces and Third Ward locations – number-one Cafe
Benelux (346 N. Broadway,
cafebenelux.com) and
number-three The Outsider at the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel (310 E. Chicago St., ninth floor, journeymanhotel.com). Number-two
Barnacle Bud’s (1955 S.
Hilbert St., barnacle-buds.
com) has been in the top three for years, owing to its picnic-like Bay View oasis that feels like you’re an hour from Downtown, not five minutes’ drive.
“It’s almost always packed,” which is “part of what makes Cafe Benelux
[No. 1 for Outdoor Dining]
so fun. It really does take me back to that one amazing trip to Bruges.”
– Lora Kaelber