Three Steakhouses

If there is one thing Milwaukee doesn't lack, it is the abundance of steakhouses. Butch's, Eddie Martini's, Carnevor, Mo's, Mr. B's, and Jake's come to mind, along with all the chains of course, Outback, etc. While I love steak, the scene is a bit saturated around these parts. Nonetheless, I've been to 3 of the more well reviewed steakhouses in the past year, the third being last night, and I thought a quick write up to be in order.


Milwaukee Chophouse

This restaurant is located downtown on the first floor of the Hilton on 5th and Wisconsin Ave. A classic steakhouse, they offer a fairly abbreviated menu of steaks, chops, seafood, as well as salads and sides. The meal opens up with a piece of ciabatta bread served with an array of toppings. Herb infused olive oil, sun dried tomato spread, and Wisconsin butter as I recall. Just a quick bite to get you ready for what's to come. Everything is ordered ala carte. You order your meat, and discuss with your table which sides you want, as they are big enough to feed at least 2, probably 3 people. I would recommend the garlic mashed or twice baked potato to accompany your protien. Then comes the steak, served on its own plate, with a basic seasoning of coarse salt, pepper, and a little garlic butter. Absolutely hands down the best tasting beef I've ever had. Perfectly cooked, well balanced seasoning, I'm certain that had I seen my NY strip steak prior to its cooking, I would have noticed that wonderful marbling of fat that melts during cooking, filling your steak with buttery, beefy goodness. Also, on the my last visit, they had something of a wine lottery. If you ordered a bottle of wine, someone (the manager I guess) would come by with an urn filled with cards. The number on the card you picked was the discount you got on your bottle. We got half off, which was a pleasant surprise. Service is good, friendly but a little hovery. If I have a complaint it would be that the place feels a little....uptight. It was also nearly empty the last time I was there, we got there early, but even when we left it was no more than half full. Either way, it is my favorite place to go for a steak, if they dialed back their prices a few bucks it would be perfect.

3.5 stars out of 4


Jackson Grill

This tiny (10 tables) spot is just east of Miller Park on Mitchell street. It offers big steaks with big flavors. Your steak will be $5-$10 cheaper than the Chophouse mentioned above, and it comes with soup or salad and a choice of potato. I had a crab bisque that was among the best soup I have ever tasted. My steak arrived perfectly cooked, and as with all steaks there, topped with a whole grilled portabella mushroom cap. While delicious, the steak didn't take me to that next level as the one at Chophouse did. I suppose it could have used a bit more salt to bring out the flavor. Also the steak fries I ordered were kind of so-so. I'm probably being overly picky here. Every thing was worth the price of admission and then some.

3.5 stars out of 4


5 O'Clock Club


Formerly, Coerpers 5 O'Clock Club, is on 24th and State, just west of downtown. Anyone familiar with Milwaukee knows that this is not a good neighboorhood. There is a parking lot attendant who instructs you to leave your key in the ashtray and don't lock your door, because they double park people and have to move the cars around quite a bit. Leaving an unlocked car in the ghetto was not something I was enthusiastic about, but, my car was still there when I left.

The reason for the bad location is that this place is one of the old holdouts from years past, soldiering on in the same spot as it was when that area was an acceptable place to go.

You order your dinner at the bar, steaks are ala carte, sides as well, but individual sides, not the whole table sides like you get at Chophouse. They start you off with a basic salad and a relish tray. Very basic and old school, lettuce tomato, green pepper, red onion, etc. The relish tray had carrot sticks, scallions, radishes (we had a lively table discussion about what percentage of the population still eats radishes) and olives. They also bring out about half a dozen salad dressings, but nothing too exciting. It was your basic ranch, French, Caesar, etc. Then a loaf of fresh-baked sourdough bread arrived, after a long wait, right out of the oven. I appreciated the fact that there was plenty of sour in the sourdough, something I see less and less of these days. Then the steaks arrived. HUGE. This hunk of meat was so big it could have easily been cut into three regular sized steaks. I also got a giant baked potato - although I had ordered steak fries. I opted not to complain and the potato was very good. When cutting into the steak, I was sure that there was no way they could have achieved a perfect medium rare all the way through, but it was, wonderfully pink on the inside from top to bottom. I did manage to put down this huge steak, but I haven't felt good about myself since. That thing was just an orgy of meat. Flavor, not mind blowing but definitely good. Service, a few missteps.

I guess in the end this place just didn't measure up for me. Its prices are the same as Chophouse, but the food and service is not as good. I can get a better meal for the same price at Chophouse, and the same meal for a better price at Jackson Grill. Also, not having to go to the slums for steak is a plus.

2.5 stars out of 4