Milwaukee Brat House: Wisconsin classics done right
The scene: Milwaukee is a city of German immigrants, and the epicenter of this tradition is Old World Third Street, the main drag for traditional German restaurants and beer halls. It is close to the city's convention center and conveniently within walking distance of the NBA arena where the Milwaukee Bucks play. The street is also home to the city's most famous retailer, Usinger's, a German-style butcher shop that has been making sausage for a century and shipping it nationwide. Usinger's is to bratwurst what Levi's is to jeans, the country's most historic, most reliable and best-known purveyor. Usinger's 135-year old recipe just won Milwaukee Magazine's Wisconsin-made bratwurst taste test, beating out bigger Johnsonville among others, for its "balanced spices and considerable juice." The company does not operate a restaurant, but its products are widely used throughout the city, almost always by name on menus, at restaurants like the Milwaukee Brat House – just across the street.
The Milwaukee Brat House is an old-school bar, dark and deep, with everything made of dark, heavy wood: table, chairs, booths, floors and the long, curved, classic pub bar itself. The ceilings are pressed tin and high, and it is welcoming in a well-worn neighborhood bar kind of way, but also the kind of place where you can disappear into a booth and feel like you just left the real world behind. In front, a floor to ceiling window opens in warm weather, and there is outside sidewalk seating as well. In back is a miniature version of a traditional German beer garden, with several picnic tables clustered around an outside bar. It's a quintessential Milwaukee tavern, and in baseball season offers free round-trip shuttles to Brewers home games at Miller Park.
Reason to visit: Bratwurst Reuben, Tiger sauce hot wings, sausage sandwich of your choice, beer cheese soup, local beer
The food: From a culinary perspective, Milwaukee is famous for three things: bratwurst, beer and cheese curds. The Brat House serves this trinity up in spades. For its beer, the place offers unusual service: Inspired by the owner's visit to McSorleys Old Ale House, New York City's oldest Irish bar (1854), when you order a draft at the Brat House, instead of a pint you get a matching pair of demure nine ounce mugs, adding up to a very generous pour. While many giants of Milwaukee brewing are defunct, such as Schlitz and the reborn but displaced Pabst, the city hosts a huge range of craft breweries and they are well represented here.
The Brat House makes burgers and other things, but the bulk of its menu is devoted to variations on sausage, with several signature topping combos laid over the basic Usinger's bratwurst, as well as many other varieties of sausage, including Vienne Beef brand frankfurters and other Usinger specialties. Besides the pre-selected choices, you can customize a basic brat with toppings that include sauerkraut, onions, red peppers, mushrooms, giardiniera (muffuletta dressing), roasted poblano peppers, banana peppers, pepperoncini, avocado, relish, pickles, tomato, bacon and cheese. Each sandwich also comes with a side, chosen from another laundry list that includes fries, potato chips, potato salad, coleslaw, onion rings, tater tots, cheese curds, and the surprisingly popular cottage cheese.
While the food seems basic, the Brat House prides itself on local sourcing, and the key ingredients, the sausages and breads, are made close by — often within a block. They use pretzel rolls for less elaborate sausages and hoagies for those with more toppings because the softer pretzel can't stand up, as well as rye bread and sandwich rolls, all made by Milwaukee bakeries. The cheeses are exclusively from Wisconsin dairies, and the sauces and extras are largely made in-house from scratch — even the pulled pork and brisket used as toppings are smoked here. The result is delicious and interesting takes on the city's traditional comfort food.
Some popular options include an Usinger's Kentucky bourbon sausage topped with pulled pork and coleslaw for a southern twist on German fare; an Usinger's cheddar and jalapeno stuffed sausage with kraut; and the most traditional style of Milwaukee sausage, a raw brat boiled in beer and onions, then grilled and topped with a medley of sautéed onions, mushrooms and cheddar. But the real surprises are the more inventive sandwiches, made using bratwurst patties rather than links. Milwaukee is known as the Cream City for the distinctive color of its brick buildings, and the Cream City Classic pairs a brat patty with cheddar, pickles and house-made spicy beer mustard on a round roll, and it is delicious. Even better was my surprise favorite, the brat patty Reuben, on rye with kraut, Swiss cheese and house-made, pastrami-style brisket; it was just a perfect match of flavors and textures.
For the sausage lover (or beer lover) it is almost impossible to go wrong at Milwaukee Brat House. But there are a few other standout dishes to consider. The chef's love of condiments led him to invent tiger sauce, a mix of traditional buffalo hot wing sauce and Asian chili sauce, and he puts it on fried hot wings to create a glazed and delicious starter. Cheese curds are a ubiquitous bar food in the city, usually deep fried and served with ranch dipping sauce, and here they are available as an appetizer or side, with the option to add hot sauce as well. I'd recommend ordering the side size, because while they are a must-try dish for Milwaukee visitors, it's just a lot of food otherwise. Among the sides, the other standout was the fresh, chunky, old-fashioned potato salad. Finally, the Brat House is locally famous for its beer cheese soup: a bowl of melted sharp Wisconsin cheddar and local craft brewery Lakefront's RiverWest's IPA, plus chopped celery, onions and garlic, topped with slivers of pretzel roll. It is very good, and you can really taste the beer, but it is also rich and heavy and might not leave you with room for all the other great food.
Pilgrimage-worthy?: No, but if you visit Milwaukee you need to go for brats, and this is the place.
Rating: Yum! (Scale: Blah, OK, Mmmm, Yum!, OMG!)
Price: $-$$ ($ cheap, $$ moderate, $$$ expensive)
Details: 1013 N Old World 3rd St, Milwaukee; 414-273-8709; milwaukeebrathouse.com
Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an e-mail at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.