Milwaukee: Cheese Curds, Beers & Bloodies

As much as we love traveling across the country and around the world, sometimes the best trips are a few hours away. Since we’ve been working a lot lately and spending most of our monies on home improvements, we wanted to take a short and inexpensive trip for a few days. While we were out with our friends Michelle and John, they suggested Milwaukee. They’re from Chicago (but live here now) and used to go to Milwaukee all the time because it was so close and cheap! We were sold. Who doesn’t want a weekend of cheese curds and beer?

Usually with our travel blog posts, we try to tell you about only a FEW of our favorite sites, foods and drinks instead of just gushing about EVERYTHING. But with this post, we’re going to tell you everything we did because frankly, we enjoyed every single thing we did and we are impressed with ourselves for accomplishing so much in such a short period of time.

THURSDAY
We decided to go Thursday-Sunday and drive. We left early with hopes to avoid Chicago rush hour. We ran into a bit of traffic and construction but that’s to be expected in the Midwest. We stayed at the Days Inn which wasn’t anything fancy, but it was a prime location and was inexpensive. The best part is that they have a shuttle which will take you within a few mile radius and pick you up. It runs late night too!

We got in around 4:00 pm and after checking in we made our way to AJ Bombers. This place is known for their burgers, beers and bombs of peanuts. They literally drop bombs of peanuts at you in the restaurant.  We ordered cheese curds (the chipotle ranch dipping sauce was so good), the Milwaukee Burger and Michelle and John ordered the Barrie Burger (it had peanut butter).  Michelle and Broad ordered Bloody Mary’s which came with side cars of High Lifes and Miller Lites and amazing garnishes.

After our first curds of the trip (oh don’t worry, there’s many more), we walked down the street to Waterstreet Brewery for a few brews. The highlights here were the Irish Stout and Pumpkin ale. After our beers we took an uber to Third Space Brewery. We looked this place up and were excited to check out the beers here.  We love the concept behind the brewery, “you have your home, you have your work, but everyone needs a third space.” It was a very cool spot and the beers were excellent. Our favorites were the Mocha Java and Happy Juice, a hazy IPA.

We then attempted to walk to City Lights Brewing but couldn’t figure out the best way to get there (thanks google maps) so we took a very, very quick Uber there instead of walking over what may or may not have been abandoned train tracks. It was a really cool industrial space. We got there just in time for a couple beers before they closed for the night.  The coconut porter was fabulous, even Broad loved it! The staff was very friendly and offered great suggestions for the rest of the trip including Burnhearts for the next stop, which did not disappoint. This cocktail bar was in a quiet neighborhood and was dark, quirky and so fun.

Of course by this time we got some late night munchies. We went to Vanguard which specializes in sausages.  This place was phenomenal. We got the jalapeño cheddar dog and kimchi dog and more cheese curds. After this meal we were exhausted and stuffed and ready for bed.

FRIDAY
We woke up fairly early and headed to Colectivo Coffee for some caffeine (such a quirky, fun coffee shop) and waited for Comet Cafe to open for breakfast. This is the ultimate hipster diner with the most delicious menu. We both ordered the Stendler which is corned beef, scrambled eggs, hash browns and cheddar jack pressed in a flour tortilla with a special message drizzled in Sriracha. Our messages were “enjoy” and “facts.” Michelle and John ordered the meatloaf omelette and breakfast burrito. We seriously had to roll out of there, but we needed a good layer of greasy food for the day that lay ahead.

The one thing we wanted to do was tour the Best Place, the historic Past Blue Ribbon brewery. The tour was really great. Normally we don’t go on full brewery tours anymore because they can kind of all seem the same. But this was more focused on historical aspects. We had a very knowledgable, fun guide who taught us everything from past to present, and of course we were able to drink during the tour. Yes, PBR does taste better from the source. After hanging out here and making Beard drink a 32 oz and 16 oz pour of PBR we made our way down to the street to the new PBR brewery so he could drink a 40 oz PBR. This place was hip and modern, a stark contrast to old PBR.

We then walked back across the street to Milwaukee Brewing Co. for some snacks (yes, cheese curds) and you guessed it, more beer! As is tradition when traveling to any new city, we needed some oysters. We settled on Oak & Oyster, a swanky basement bar below the restaurant Third Coast Provisions. They have $1 oysters for happy hour so we got some east coast and west coast oysters with High Life’s and the featured cocktails. This place was fabulous.

We then walked around the block to Amilinda, a Spanish/Portuguese inspired restaurant for some mini tapas. Seriously, it was the most adorable, tiny, delicious meal we’ve had. We also enjoyed some amazing cocktails here. After our mini meal, we walked to the Public Market for wine tasting at Thief Wine. The bubbles flight was delicious. While running across the market for coffee we spotted a Mexican restaurant, Margarita Paradise, advertising Micheladas. So you know we ran over there after wine tasting to grab one. There was also perhaps a mezcal shot involved.

We made our way to Wicked Hop a fun, lively bar for some beers while we decided what to do with the rest of the night. We needed more fun and had a craving for noodles so we discovered Char’d. This place was awesome and we have been craving it since. They’re a Korean style restaurant with a Grill & Ssam menu trying to balance the whole greens and meat thing and are totally killing it. We got the Kimchi Sesame Noodle and Kimchi Pancake and we were in Kimchi heaven. We decided after our food to head across the street to Vino Third Ward for a red wine night cap cause that’s what you do on vacation.

SATURDAY
The other breakfast place we were excited to try was Blues Egg. We got there early because it’s a hot spot. We split the beef cheek Benedict and Beard got a pancake. It was to die for. We had to fill up on breakfast since we were heading to Miller Valley for a Miller Brewery Tour. I mean we just had to see for ourselves where High Life comes from, right? It was another fun and informative tour and it came with a lot of beer!

One of the top things on Michelle and John’s list was Great Lakes Distillery. They love this place and especially the Pumpkin Seasonal Spirit. We did a tour because with the tour you get a whole lot of samples and we wanted to try everything. The tour guide was awesome and honestly, all the boozes were too. We loved the Pumpkin (shocking) and bought a bottle. We stayed for food and more drinks before heading to MobCraft Beer. MobCraft brews crowdsourced beer, which is a pretty awesome concept. You can submit recipe ideas and each month they put the recipes to vote and the one with the most preorders wins. In addition to this cool concept the space is really fun and the beers were so good. We tried a lot of their sours and could have stayed there all day hanging with all the pups.

We then accidentally walked into Central Standard Craft Distillery, oops. We split some tasty cocktails before heading to Steny’s Tavern. A friend told us we had to head to Steny’s for the best bloodies and she was right. The mix was probably the best we had but it was lacking the garnishes. We got some more curds before heading to Lakefront Brewing. For more curds. Michelle and John (and many others) told us the best cheese curds were at Lakefront and they were 100% right. Trust this couple with curds. The beer was also delicious. It was SO CROWDED because of Halloween so we didn’t stay too long.

We had one last stop for the night and that was Sobelman’s Pub & Grill. They’re known for bloodies and burgers. Even though it was night time, we had to have one of their crazy Bloody Mary’s before going home. Broad got the Crown Mary and Michelle got the Baconado. They were amazing and lived up to the hype.

SUNDAY
We got up early to hit the road and make some necessary stops. First was the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. We had to stock up on curds, more cheese, meat sticks and beer. This place was magical. They have samples and the staff are so friendly. We were ready to move in there. Next we drove to Frank’s Diner, also in Kenosha. Michelle and John could not stop raving about this diner but also warned us about how tiny it was so there might be a long wait. The diner is a converted rail car and it is super tiny. They have one rule “be nice or leave” and we can guarantee they strongly enforce that rule. We waited for maybe over an hour and we all ordered garbage plates, their signature dish. All of us (not Beard because he was driving) ordered schooners of mimosas and we were treated to free tequila shots by the staff. This place was awesome and we can see why they were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

We had the BEST time in Milwaukee (if that wasn’t evident) and highly recommend a weekend trip there. Michelle and John were the best travel companions and definitely know their way around this area. We recommend everything on our list and honestly can’t believe we accomplished all these activities in a short weekend. Maybe we were able to do it because we went to bed early and got up early (and hydrated like no other). Or, maybe we’re just professionals. Have you been to Milwaukee? If so, share with us your favorite spots!