When planning for Wisconsin-palooza first started, we didn't have anything scheduled for Friday night. So Kerrie and I flew into Chicago since Reg and Dereck lived there, then we would drive to Madison on Saturday for the football game. Then Reg found out that Garth Brooks was in concert in Milwaukee Friday night. You can't pass up that opportunity, especially since we got amazing seats. So we drove to Milwaukee on Friday afternoon.
We had time before the concert for drinks and dinner. Kerrie had heard good things about AJ Bombers, so we stopped there first. Besides, any place that has won Food Wars is good enough for me! But it was absolutely jam-packed and the wait for a table was about 45 minutes. Blair and Jamie were on their way from Madison to meet us so we went to a less crowded bar, and when our table was ready we headed back.
The restaurant has 3 other locations, one at the Brewers ballpark one in Madison, and another in Milwaukee. We actually walked right past the Madison location later in the weekend, but I couldn't go back on this trip. Not when there were so many other places to try.
Of course Kerrie and I had to take a picture in of the big chairs.
The restaurant is in an old, historic building. And true to its name, they've got tons of war decor and other cool stuff throughout the restaurant.
I love that you can write on the walls and the condiment holders. And at this point, it's pretty hard to find any blank space. And you have to have a pen or preferably a sharpie. I had neither. The tables are the only thing you can't write on because they are really dark wood
The restaurant is not that big at all, but that just adds to the charm. There's a large bar along the right wall as you walk in, a few booths across from the bar, and then a small area by the front door with tables. It would have been cool to sit in a booth, but with the size of our group our only option was a table.
There's 2 things you always have to get when you're in Wisconsin. First is beer. And since we were in Milwaukee, the guys got Schlitz since it's made in Milwaukee. I didn't even know they still made the stuff
Second is cheese curds. It's pretty much a requirement, even if you skip the beer
We ate a lot of cheese curds over 4 days, and these were by far my favorite. Big pieces, lightly fried, not overly breaded. They were so delicious. I had to control myself because we only had one order for 6 of us.
The restaurant features appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, sides, and custard. I like that you check off what you want on the menu
The menu is a la carte, so in the spirit of the food blog we got one of each of the sides
The onion straws were everyone's favorite. Thinly cut, curly, perfectly fried, and lightly salted. I was a huge fan.
The onion straws were everyone's favorite. Thinly cut, curly, perfectly fried, and lightly salted. I was a huge fan.
Second favorite were the tater tots. Most restaurants don't serve them, so I almost always get them when they're on the menu. I buy the frozen ones at home, but it's just not the same. I think they fry them in the restaurant so they taste better. And these were screaming hot.
The fries were very good. Perfectly cooked, hot and crispy.
The sweet potato chips were average at best, and the least favorite of everyone in the group. When I saw homemade I assumed they would be warm, but they weren't. I think warm would have helped. When we were done eating almost all the other sides were empty, and most of these were still left. The menu says "addictive", but we didn't think so at all.
Reg doesn't do burgers, so he got the chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun
Dereck got the AJ Bomber burger
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| American cheese, lettuce, tomato, Bomber sauce |
Kerrie and I both got the special
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| Lettuce, tomato, mozzarella, garlic butter, fried onion strips |
The burger was awesome. It was the garlic butter that sold me on this burger, and it did not disappoint. I momentarily worried about it maybe being too much garlic. But then I remembered I wasn't kissing anyone, so I had nothing to worry about. And besides, the butter toned the garlic down a lot. The meat was already extremely flavorful, and the cheese and butter just added more. This shouldn't just be a special...this burger needs to be on the menu.
Will I go back? Next time I'm in Wisconsin, definitely.
