The Best Steakhouse Dishes to Try in Milwaukee
Milwaukee folks go hard for summer. Since winter can be so brutal — and seemingly never-ending — the warm-weather season marks a time for celebration and indulgence. In addition to outdoors activities and nearby lake frolicking, the sentiment rings true at area restaurants as well. Along with patios and quenching libations, this is the time of year when restaurants and steakhouses put their best foot forward with seasonal ingredients and summery comforts. Here are some of the best summer dishes to savor this season in Milwaukee:
Mo’s… A Place for Steaks: This old-school bastion is certainly a place for filet mignons, strip loins and surf & turf, but it’s also a place for seasonal delicacies. For summer, snacks and sides especially sing of the season with refreshing plates like lobster ceviche, ahi tuna sushi, tuna poke, grilled asparagus and risotto brimming with tomatoes and basil. For something heartier, opt for the baby back ribs. These succulent and smoky ribs are on par with the finest backyard cookout fare you’ve ever had.
Dream Dance Steak: All year round, the food served at this dazzling destination are anything but ordinary. In the summer, that penchant for innovation serves as a veritable blank canvas with fresh, fruitful ingredients like English peas and zucchini. The seared kangaroo is a prime example, outfitted with black rice, sweet onion fondue, mint and peas. The Parisian gnocchi is another one, with chive yogurt, roasted cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, zucchini and Parmesan crisp. Make sure and save room for the grand finale: strawberry lemon thyme cake with roasted strawberries, mascarpone cream and lavender-milk crumble.
Geneva Chophouse: There’s no better way to spend summer in Wisconsin than with a meal at this picturesque haven. Located at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, an icon in the Lake Geneva community, the restaurant is revered for its hospitality, fine dining and sweeping views of the immaculate grounds outside. That setting provides quite the picture-perfect backdrop for a summery meal filled with tuna tataki, char-broiled oysters, coconut shrimp with mango chutney, roasted chicken with baby squash and rack of lamb with watercress and herb salsa verde and panzanella with snap peas and asparagus.
Mr. B’s - A Bartolotta Steakhouse: You can expect to fine some of the best, most consistently inventive chef-driven steakhouse fare at this ritzy institution, where chef Amanda Strandt presides over a seasonally driven menu of Midwestern and modern American staples. Right now, sate your cravings with curry-spiced shellfish bisque and truffle-infused Burrata and tomato salads before migrating to sea scallops with seasonal vegetables succotash and lemony brown butter or halibut with roasted rainbow carrots and herb beurre blanc. The rigatoni pasta is a menu mainstay, with fresh mozzarella, eggplant and tomato-basil sauce, altogether reminiscent of French ratatouille.
Eddie Martini’s: One glance at the menus of this Wauwatosa favorite and you’ll quickly discover that Eddie Martini’s is far from average. The extensive appetizer selection alone is filled with novelties, like escargots with basil pesto, sea scallops with masa-chorizo cakes and duck confit with wild rice and tart cherry waffles. For your entree, the seafood pasta is a summery highlight, with lobster, sea scallops and shrimp, plus cheese ravioli, asparagus, spinach and fennel-saffron broth.
Carnevor Steakhouse Moderne: A model summer meal at this upscale hot spot starts with Mangalitsa ravioli with local pea tendrils and smoked onion pork jus, followed by fresh raw oysters with peppercorn mignonette and a mixed beet salad with goat cheese mousse, radishes and candied walnuts. Next up is the herb-roasted chicken with black rice, peas, summer beans and squash, plus a side of English pea risotto with Swiss chard, pea puree and Brie for good measure.
Capitol Chophouse: This Midwest mini chain, with a few locations scattered around Wisconsin and Minnesota, is as good as it gets when it comes to classic steakhouses. A large part of that appeal is an endless zeal for seasonality and locality. As with dishes like bruschetta topped with a bright fig-honey jam and prosciutto, crab cakes with pear-jicama relish, mussels with bison chorizo and tomato-saffron broth, scallops with creamy farro and pea tendrils and handmade fettuccine with charred asparagus and fresh herbs.
