Ginger

Went here with a decent sized group of 10 or so on a Thursday evening when the place first opened for happy hour. We were seated right in front where the doors opened out onto the sidewalk which was nice on a warm day. Happy hour would have been awesome if A. it wasn’t ONLY 1 hour long and B. If there were more Tapas and drink selections to choose from on the happy hour menu. Still sangrias were only $ 5 and tapas were only $ 3 during happy hour. All the food was pretty good but nothing amazing. The most disappointing part is that our waiter was also the bartender because they actually didn’t have a waiter the whole evening while we were there. This made it difficult for him to serve us and make drinks at the same time. A couple of my friends from the group arrived later and wanted to order food, but the server really never returned after they ordered some drinks.
This is the 2^nd time I have been here and both times it was pretty dead which makes me wonder how it stays in business. What I liked is that we had a nice location and space for a large party, but I didn’t like the short happy hour with the small assortment of tapas, and the service. Probably won’t return again unless I am in the area during their 1 hour happy hour.

Pleasant and OK place to share small plates with friends. We went there for the first time last Saturday and took advantage of the happy hour that ends at 6pm. Good deals and decent food. The Mac-​n-​cheese and the goat cheese tapas were pretty tasty. Good service. Walking distance from the Green Line and 15 bus lines if coming from places north of downtown.

I’d say 3.5
Got back to Ginger last night after having not eaten there in about seven years. We sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple of very nice small plates. The first was Sautéed Kale Salad —
kale, roasted pumpkin seeds, bacon, white balsamic honey, crumbled bleu cheese. This was an interesting and unique treatment of kale. It for all the world tasted like a German wilted spinach salad. Delicious and hearty with nice bits of bacon.
Next was Jerk Shrimp with Coconut Risotto — coconut encrusted shrimp, jerk sauce, coconut risotto. The shrimp were crispy and delicious. The risotto was doused pretty heavily with what appeared to be Thai coconut milk (the type that includes a health dose of creamed coconut). To me the risotto was entirely too sweet. A couple good squeezes of lime helped but the risotto was dangerously close to coconut rice pudding. Also Jerk, to me, should be spicy. Real Jamaican Jerk is very spicy. I couldn’t find the jerk sauce on this dish and it desperately needed it.
Overall, very nice. I’ll be back to try the extensive menu of tapas (actually they’re really small plates, not tapas).

Good/​great food, creative dishes, pretty good service, and great prices (we’re from Chicago)
We had 10 different tapas and 3 drinks and our total was $ 84.
Some plates were better than others but they were all good! Our favorites were the duck nachos, pork bbq sliders, Rosemary mac and cheese, and jerk shrimp with Risotto.

The food was good but not extraordinary to write more about. The service was poor due to short staffing (?). Took about 20 minutes plus to get drinks. Food even slower. Unsure what was going on. If you have a lot of time for «good enough» food, this is a place to try.

I’ve been wanting to try Ginger for a few years, but my husband is not really into tapas. I FINALLY convinced him to go the other night and was really looking forward to it. We went on a Friday night and they were maybe at about ½ capacity. I was a little worried in the beginning because we had to wait awhile to have anyone acknowledge us after we sat down at our table. Once our very friendly waitress came over, we ordered chicken wings (on special that night), duck nachos, and a maple old fashioned. The wings and drink arrived quickly (and were both delicious), but the nachos never did. Nor did our waitress come back and check on us for the 30 minutes we sat waiting for said nachos. I thought maybe they just took a long time to make or something, but realized at a point that we just weren’t getting them. I finally flagged our waitress down and just asked her for our bill so we could leave. Of course, the damn no-​show nachos were on our bill. I told the waitress and she did take them off and also took my drink off the bill. We left and went to a pretty busy Café Hollander instead where we were quickly (and correctly) fed.
I would be giving them one star… except for one strange thing that wasn’t 100% their fault. My husband noticed that the people at the table next to us got pretty squirmy when we started complaining to each other about our missing nachos. He looked over and they did have an empty plate of what looked like nacho crumbs. Pretty sure those a-​holes stole our nachos! Who does that and doesn’t alert the waitress that she brought the wrong item over? Granted, that was her fault to begin with, but it would have been a simple mistake to clear up. People, if you are reading this, what is wrong with you?!? It was definitely one of the weirder eating experiences I’ve had and I’m really sad to say we wont be back because the menu looked great. There are plenty of tapas places in Milwaukee… step up your game, Ginger!

Having had only one experience with Ginger, I’m happy to say it was a good one.
We were looking for a place to host a large group for a bachelorette party in Milwaukee — not easy for a Saturday night. Emailed/​called in for a reservation about a week in advance. Never caught anyone on the phone, but worked everything out via email (thanks, Rose!) — they even gave us the option to place our food order in advance if we wanted. We didn’t take them up on that, but it was a nice offer.
Cue 13 gals showing up at Ginger. The wait staff was SO nice and very accommodating. They had pushed together a long group of tables for us and answered all of our questions about portion sizing, etc. The drinks were well made and they got them too us really quickly. We picked out 5 – 6 different dishes and ordered multiples. They brought them out as they were prepared, so by the time we all finished tasting one, the next round was just showing up. They were also helpful and friendly about splitting up the bill between so many people — very refreshing compared to the usual glare you’ll get from a server over that request!
The food overall was good — nothing too crazy amazing, but good. We got the tots and mac, which were classics. Also had pork sliders, and the special of the night which was a chicken tostado (I believe?) and both of those were delicious. Plantain chips were plantain chips. Etc. Etc. Even though the food didn’t like, knock my socks off — the atmosphere and service were both spot on. Our bride-​to-​be had a great time, so did all the ladies. Very glad we picked Ginger for our event.

Cheese and potato fritters with bacon and chipotle aioli. Special is real special.
Sangria always fresh!
Best mango jalapeño slaw for the fish tacos.

I happened to meet my friend here on their $ 3 Tapas Tuesday night. This was my first time here and I was excited to try new eats.
Amongst the mannnnyyyy dishes that we ordered, the Fried Goat Cheese balls with the honey sauce and caramelized onion stood out the most. They were perfection served alongside pieces of crostini. Hot damn, I am drooling simply by reminiscing. Something that I will add to my list for my very last meal before I die. Just do yourself a favor and try it!
We also had the cognac and mushroom risotto with truffle oil — fabulous as well. Extremely rich in texture and taste with many flavor notes.
Plantain chips were perfectly crisp with two delicious sauces.
Rosemary mac and cheese was amazeballs.
Can’t beat $ 3 plates and sangrias! We ordered at least 10 plates and had 3 drinks total. Our bill was only around $ 60.
Adorable, modern and intimate spot. Perfect for a date or to hang out with friends in a quiet dimly lit setting. Bartender gave us good service — was attentive and food came out quickly. Thanks for the great culinary experience!
Will definitely return.

I kept hearing great things about this restaurant so we decided to give them a shot last night. Super super glad we did. The bartender understood my incredibly sarcastic and crude humor. She was entertaining and welcoming. Possibly the best service I’ve had in (many, many) months.
Food was excellent. We were in a bit of a hurry because the restaurant was closing and we didn’t want to be THOSE assholes so we didn’t order more food, but we definitely would have had we had more time. We shared the mac and cheese fritters, fish tacos, scallops, and duck nachos. All four were delicious but the fish tacos stood out the most. the salsa on top was sooo good.
I really don’t understand how this place only has three stars! To the guy who reviewed Ginger without eating here: really? It was a Tuesday night and they were understaffed? Perhaps someone didn’t show up for their shift, perhaps someone got sick in the middle of their shift, or they had a family emergency… you don’t know. To give the place two stars without even trying it seems a little bold. Why not go back and THEN review the restaurant? Unilocal drama.
Anyway, go here, it’s real nice.

Came here tonight with the hubby for Tuesdays $ 3 tapas and sangria. WOW just wow, everything was good, no, not good, GREAT! Rarely do we go to a restaurant and are satisfied with everything we ordered. Additionally, the service was excellent although it wasn’t busy or anything tonight so I can’t attest to how it would be on a busy night. First of all, who can beat $ 3 sangrias? We ordered one red and one white sangria, they were both tasty and a perfect size too and we ended up ordering a second glass of the white sangria.
From the $ 3 tapas menu we ordered: the grilled flatbread with herb infused oil and kalamata olives. It was delicious although it’s not exactly what you would expect it to be. The flat bread is more like toasted delicious pita bread with a bowl of oil to dip it in and kalamata olives on the side. Secondly, we had the rosemary mac n cheese, which had some type of toasted bread crumbs on top, it was very appetizing!
From the regular menu we ordered: the empanada of the day which had chorizo, onions, cheese and a few other ingredients I can’t think of now (whew, I think the sangria went to my head a bit haha). My husband was raving about the empanada and it came with a spicy green sauce. We also ordered the mushroom and cognac risotto with cremini mushrooms, parmesan cheese and truffle oil, wow it was great and very rich in flavor, my only complaint (and can’t believe I would ever say this) is that they overdid it with the truffle flavor a bit. After all that, we still had room for some more food so we ordered the steak kebabs which once again were very satisfying.
Overall, everything was delicious and very consistent, I can’t even pick a favorite. I would definitely come back here but I would try some new dishes that I didn’t try this time around!
Some small details that we appreciated as well were: they brought us our own pitcher of water (which, I especially appreciate since I drink a lot of water when I eat and hate waiting for waiters to refill my glass of water) and the restaurant is pretty spacious (even though it looks small on the outside), lastly, the space between the tables is very spacious.
Including drinks, our bill was $ 50, not bad considering everything that we ordered!

Upon arriving, I was really pleased with the cute décor. Nice place and plenty of space. I felt the tapas were a little overpriced and watch your bill. We were charged for something we didn’t order. Mistakes happen and the waitress took if off right away but always makes me wonder!
The worst part about it the place was the bathroom. Smelled like sewer. It was so gross! There are so many other better tapas places around. Will stick to them.

Great happy hour specials… $ 3 tapas nights… nice strong cocktails, great little plates. Love the goat cheese balls and husband loves the duck nachos.
Place is available for private parties and they are great to work with and very reasonably priced.

Went on a date here. It’s tapas so we enjoyed about six or seven different dishes together: Thai Shrimp, Red Kobe Steak, poutine, Duck Nachos, Jerk Shrimp and Coconut Risotto, Goat Cheese, Bread Budding and Vanilla Ice Cream. All yummy!
Waitstaff were friendly and Happy Hour specials look good and I will be back. If you looking for nice tapas spot in Walker Point neighborhood – try this place! Enjoy

I went here a couple of weeks ago with some good girlfriends and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My reviews can be a bit rambly and unfocused, so let me just say my main take away is 1. The atmosphere is very warm and relaxing. They made the place hip yet approachable which is always a good combo. It felt unlike other restaurants in MKE which I also enjoyed. I think someone from the table even mentioned feeling like we were on vacation.
2. So much food for not so much money. The prices are right. Tapas joints can add up real quick with teeny portions at almost entrée prices, but not this place. As a table, we ordered 9 small plates and 2 cocktails each and our bill totaled to only $ 30 per person. Unheard of! I rarely have a night out with cocktails and food that is that reasonable. Very appreciated.
The plates were all delicious, with some far more memorable than others such as the rosemary mac n cheese or the shrimp risotto (of course the two richest that we ordered:) but all in all, great atmosphere, great service, and great food with decent prices.
Afterwards walk down the street to Purple Door for some ice cream :)

The space is cute and all day Tuesday happy hour is a good deal. As part of happy hour the tapas are only $ 3. If I’d paid any more than that for the plantain chips or rosemary mac & cheese I would have been disappointed. They were just barely worth the $ 3 as it was.
It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t anything special either.

Actually really good.
I loved the vietnamese noodles. They really nailed this one. I am a HUGE fan of vietnamese cuisine and had yet to find something that satisfied me in Milwaukee.
Other than that, the mousse was excellent (side note: I usually hate mousse so this is saying a lot!)
I was really surprised at this place because it didn’t have the best reviews on Unilocal,but I would actually definitely go back.

We came for WP foodie week special — $ 21 for duck nachos, steak kabobs (with some savory kale on the side) and a delightful chocolate mousse. The portions were tasty, but on smaller side (typical tapas). I tried the strawberry lemon mojito. It was a refreshing strawberry lemonade mixer, but for being a mojito it lacked the mint. I’d consider coming back for $ 3 tapa Tuesdays (or similar happy hour specials). Ginger is a clean establishment with a nice patio out back.

The dining started out really well with our excellent server recommending the Plaintain chips. I would never order that because they are usually way too sweet for me. But these we’re more on the savory side, dipping sauces were great and the only complaint was that we ran outta chips! So Good. Really good.
Next were the jerk shrimp which weren’t (thankfully) too peppery. The sauce was great and risotto was excellent although the rice texture— well, I’m no expert but I need verification that it was really risotto. Again, tasty.
Tots were great. But how can one screw up deep fried tots? At least none we’re soggy. Each was perfectly crisp ;) good, crisp filler for the dainty apps, too.
Catatina app? Kind of sucked for me.
2 tiny breads per plate. Flavor of cheese was briny and great but something questionable was off-​putting, perchance the freshness of the prosciutto?
Scallops wrapped in bacon = Not impressed. Soft bacon w soft scallops and sauce that imitated the jerk shrimp– how could that be? If a sauce is great leave it for the dish it’s meant to be on.
Overall I’d order those Plaintain chips 1,000 times again. And the tots If I needed a filler but it feels wrong saying that — they should be better than just a plate of perfectly fried tots for a filler. Shouldn’t they?
Solid 3 stars.
I’ll come back.
Plantain chips for sure and probably some new dishes & not anything else a second time (which is the true question of how much one liked a certain meal) unless I have a hankering for perfectly deep fried tots :)

Ginger is another one of Milwaukee’s many small plate restaurants. I stopped in for their Happy Hour which runs 4:00PM-6:00PM Wednesday through Saturday. They also have Tapas Tuesday, which pretty much offers the same specials except they run 4:00 — 9:00, so may as well include Tuesday in the Happy Hour schedule.
Happy Hour features $ 3 sangria or domestic beer and select $ 3 appetizers such as their Jambalaya Fritter, Rosemary Mac-​n-​Cheese, Thai Chili Shrimp Rolls, or Grilled Flat Bread.
I started with the Jambalaya Fritter. (I’m sorry I don’t have photos posted. The lighting was too dim and I don’t like the way camera flashes take away from the true beauty of the food.) The deep fried ball was supposed to be filled with shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, and rice. All I tasted and saw was the shrimp and rice. The fritter was crispy and the filling was soft as jambalaya typically is. I thought it was okay. Would have liked more, or some, sausage and chicken. Maybe the regular priced fritters supply them.
The Thai Chili Shrimp Rolls were a little better. They were filled with a small amount of shrimp and veggies. The chili sauce is served on the side as is a side of sweet teriyaki sauce.
The true hits seem to be on the regular menu, which shouldn’t be a surprise. My bartender told me that the Mushroom and Cognac Risotto ($ 9) was her favorite dish, so I ordered it and added the herbed chicken for $ 2 more. She has good taste. The dish was very rich and flavorful. The crimini mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and truffle oil created great flavors and texture. The diced, herbed chicken wasn’t even need, but certainly did not hurt the dish. There was no reason to order anything else. That was the taste and memory I wanted to leave with.
I’ll go back another day to try the Jerk Shrimp with Coconut Risotto or the Duck Nachos, like maybe tomorrow!