Milwaukee Beer Bistro

I went to the Beer Bistro restaurant for the first time with a few friends last night and have not experienced this terrible of service in a long time. I live in the area and also being in the service industry, I enjoy trying different restaurants and bars, so I thought I’d give it a try. Our server greeted us with waters in a timely matter and continued taking our drink and appetizer order. We asked what the seasonal vegetable was and the server had no idea, and also did not even think about going and asking the chef to find out for us, and just told us «i think maybe cauliflower». My friend then asked if they served frozen margaritas, which the server clearly had no idea, no intention to ask the bartender and just told us «i think so». When the drinks were brought to us, the margarita was not frozen and tasted horrible, we all tried it so we sent it back. We sat for about 10 – 15 mins. and waited for our appetizer of cheese curds, to find out later that it was coming out with our meals. All but one of us got our meals and the server asked if we needed anything else. We then asked if the last meal was still coming and the sever said «i think i put that in’. Clearly he forgot to ring in the last entrée because it took another 15 mins for the last meal to come out. I then asked for sour cream for my chili I had ordered, patiently waited for it while my chili sat for 10 mins. and the server was cleaning other table in the restaurant while I waited. There were only 3 tables in the restaurant, so there is no reason we should have waited that long for anything. When the bill came out, which we separated in two, the meal that was forgotten to be ordered was still on the check. The server never offered to take half off or completely take off the meal. And it was a $ 16 meal! We waited a few mins. to maybe ask our server for some sort of discount and never saw him. I have never not tipped being in the service industry, but we had no choice to only leave a few bucks on our roughly $ 80 tab in total. The food was decent, nothing too special, but I will never be coming back here…

The beer cheese sauce is great. Add some chicken and waffles to it, and it’s a date! That is all.

Their menu features beer infused dishes that make a beer-​loving foodie squeal at first glance. (We drove up from Mt. Pleasant just to make a pit stop last September.)
Two of the three items we ordered were ok, but the service experience was subpar. I just wish that the service was as acceptable as the food.
We had the chance to taste their brunch menu and ordered roasted eggplant with cheese soup, their smoked salmon carpaccio salad and the chicken & waffles with beer cheese sauce.
Now, the chicken and waffles were tasteless. The chicken was heavily battered in what tasted like season-​free cornmeal. I could barely taste the chicken. The waffle was okay and sauce not as robust as I would have expected but I thought this was a poor attempt at a simple dish. I would have expressed my feelings if our server could have been found.
On the bright side, the roasted eggplant was fantastic and served with warm bread. The smoked salmon salad was to die for. Such massive quantities and great quality fish with a spotted cow lemon dill dressing (again, to die for!). I say was because they no longer serve it. Unfortunately, the price at the time was unbeatable but I can no longer find it on the menu.
It was a beautiful Sunday that was ruined by this oversight. Watching several couples leave that entered well after us waiting for our check put a sour taste in my service experience. The foods we enjoyed were not too adventurous, but given my past experience I would not want to try anything too gastronomical if I were to return.

We REALLY want to love this place. But we’ve been twice and left both times feeling like it was lacking something. The first time, we went for dinner. The fiancé got fish fry, he said it wasn’t bad. I got a brat, it wasn’t bad either. The food was by all means eatable but not anything special. The second time is why this place is getting 2 stars instead of 3.
We wanted to do our annual New Years Day brunch at The Hubbard Lodge. We were super bummed to learn that Hubbard wasn’t doing it’s brunch and instead was doing a special brunch menu at Beer Bistro (apparently they own Beer Bistro?). We check out BB menu and see that in fact they are having a special brunch and even have the menu posted. We were bummed, but they were doing a breakfast burrito that looked fantastic and we are suckers for Mexican, so off we went to BB. Why do we get there and after drinks are ordered and at our table, I ask if I can see the brunch menu and they tell me «oh, sorry we aren’t doing that anymore.» Say whaaaaaa??? No explanation. Nada. What gives??? Obviously I had my heart set on that burrito! But a big pet peeve of mine is when a place is out of something on the menu and they don’t mention it until you try to order it. We just thought it was weird that they advertised this event on their site, we specifically went there for this event, and then we are casually told they aren’t doing it anymore without an explanation.
We didn’t want to look like jerks and just leave, so we had to quickly pick out something else to eat. The brunch food ended up being better than the dinner food. Except for the «chips» and guacamole. The «chips» were actually warm pita bread. We were disappointed enough to not go there again.

Tasty food and a great beer selection.
Casual dinner in a different part of town than normal.
The fish fry and sweet potato fries were both on better than most Milwaukee restaurants.

They have a great beer selection! Alien took a while to decide what beer to have… and the waiter offered Alien samples. Good service!
Alien enjoyed their BBQ short rib, $ 15.95 and Grown-​up Mac & Cheese, $ 12.95. BBQ was very tender and yum! M&C was fairly good. The side brussels sprouts were too salty though. Foods are bit pricey. Alien also enjoyed their downstairs playroom!

I am not understand the 4 star average rating of Milwaukee Beer Bistro. I’ve either completely missed the point of this place (a bar?) Or just caught them on an off day.
My boyfriend and I came here for brunch a couple months ago after seeing the high ratings on Unilocal.This is not a neighborhood we are usually in, and the concept of the food here was particularly interesting — beer inspired/​infused EVERYTHING.
We started with a cheddar soup. It was lukewarm but the waiter did kindly heat it back up for us. I ordered the root beer pancakes with 2 pieces of bacon and scrambled eggs. These were probably the worst scrambled eggs I’ve ever had. My nephew (who turned 4 this year) could probably make better scrambled eggs with stove assistance. The eggs were not fluffy at all. They were really gritty, and flat. It was like a mound of egg crumbs. The root beer pancakes were also terrible. They were gummy and had a strange aftertaste.
Overall, the food here left much to be desired and is probably the worst meal that I’ve had in Milwaukee thus far. That being said, the service was excellent. Our single waiter was attentive, and checked on us frequently despite the fact that we were the only ones sitting outside.
Honestly, brunch may not be there scene. Given, my recent experience, I’m not eager to find out.

You know how some restaurants have little descriptions on the menu to add clarification to the name of the dish? This usually happens if the name of the dish is it’s (1) not in English, like in «uova in purgatorio»; (2) a really goofy name with the words «special sauce» in it; or (3) a restaurant spinoff on the dish those fancy places places typically have. If Milwaukee Beer Bistro had a description under their menu item of scrambled eggs, it would have looked like this:
Scrambled eggs – cooked very thoroughly swirled eggs
I put a way too much thought into that simple description. These eggs were definitely NOT your ordinary scrambled eggs. These eggs weren’t even that light yellow scrambled egg color; it was whipped so poorly that it had section of darker yellow, white, and charred brown bits. It looked like somebody lazily stirred two eggs in a bowl, threw it on a hot grill, forgot about it for 15 minutes, saw the poor creation and though «screw it», and then finally tossed the deflated masterpiece onto a plate.
I won’t be giving much more grief regarding the other dishes in fear that somebody will see this incredibly long review and skip over reading it, but similar to the scrambled eggs, the rest of our food (brat, soup, root beer pancake) had a «screw it» taste/​feel to it.
TLDR: Brunch is a no go here

Great brunch! Our server/​bartender was so helpful and super nice. The Bloody Mary made me the envy of my dining companions, but they did enjoy their beermosas. Food was excellent. I had the beer cheese chicken and waffles, Linda had the cheese biscuits and bratwurst gravy, mom had the root beer pancakes. All were delicious. Would come back if I’m ever in Milwaukee again. Definitely recommend. Outdoor seating available. As a side note, we enjoyed their playlist too.

Being in Milwaukee, I should have known that the Bloody Mary would be outrageously delicious. I ordered the bloody as a default brunch drink, and was truly surprised by the drink. It is definitely comparable to Sobelmans, but instead of a burger, it includes a mini brat on a pretzel bun. Yum. I didn’t need a meal after this drink, but I ordered the biscuits and gravy anyways. Again, delicious. The biscuits were light and fluffy, and the gravy was rich and hearty. My friend ordered the chicken and waffles. They came stacked in a tower, and the gravy seemed to have a seafood element to it. Overall, one of the best brunches I’ve had in Mil.

Love this place! A friend brought us there for brunch and I fell in love ever since. The burgers and sandwiches are very messy to eat, but they are so tasty! My fav: short rib sandwich & Wisconsin cheese bacon burger. The beer brat and clam chowder is really good too. And the food has really good price.

Decided to try it out for a Friday night dinner. No problem getting a table for 4 at 7:00 PM. Very cute interior with a nice bar. Bartender was super friendly.
We started with some apps. Sriacha buffalo wings, cheese curds, guacamole, and brat rolls. They were all very good. Only 3 brat rolls to an order though :(. Make it a nice even four Beer Bistro!!! The wings (about 10 per order) were absolutely fabulous!!!
While munching on our apps and enjoying the abundant beer list, a gentleman started to play an accordion. Wow!!! What a great surprise. He played a wide variety including the Three’s Company song, Like A Virgin, and some Outkast. We then started into a game of name that tune.
Our main dishes, the chicken mac and cheese and the beef short ribs were delish! The short ribs were so tasty and tender. Definitely a must get.
Desserts were great too.
We also checked out the brunch menus and will definitely return to try that out.
Only downfall was that it wasn’t that busy and everything took forever! Finally ended dinner at 9:20PM. I would probably not go there if I had anything planned after.

I kinda liked this place. My ladyfriend/​dining partner did not. I’m splitting the difference between my four stars and her two stars.
The good:
–Varied, respectable selection when it comes to beer.
–The barbecue short ribs have a great home-​cooked flavor.
–Large portions.
–When we went it wasn’t super packed, so it was easy to have a conversation.* (That’s a huge asterisk, by the way!)
–The wood motif throughout the place makes it feel warm and inviting inside.
The bad:
–My ladyfriend didn’t really like her adult mac-​n-​cheese. I ate the leftovers later that night, and it was sorta bland.
–My ladyfriend also felt the server was kinda awkward. I thought he was doing the best he could. He did almost bring us menus a second time after taking our drink order and forgot to give us silverware at first. I’m pretty forgiving of stuff like this, but my partner was annoyed throughout the meal.
–Despite being basically empty when we arrived, we were seated next to a fairly large party of diners (five, six people maybe?) who were clearly having a good time. At points, there were pretty loud. We could have asked to be moved and we didn’t, in defense of the restaurant.
–The sauce poured over the potatoes served with my ribs just… didn’t work. I’m sure it’s the same thing that was on my ribs, and it went well with that. Just not the potatoes.
–The chairs/​bench seats themselves are sorta uncomfortable to sit on.
–Like Kim A. mentioned, it is extremely difficult to read the tap beer list.

From the outside this place isn’t much to look at.
But the inside is nicely done.
We sat at the bar, I ordered the Turkey Sandwich. Suggested by the bartender. It was very good. A solid 3.5.
Service was ok, nothing great. Food was decently priced.
I would go here again. Giving them 4 stars but it’s really more like 3.5 overall.

So, this place has a really impressive beer selection-​including 3 – 4 gluten free options. I had a Sprecher Shakparo that was good if you like really beery beer, which I don’t.
Bar service was really friendly and we ordered some chips and guac served in a big martini glass. Cute presentation, but the guac was fairly bland. Needs spice. And onions. And salt.
I was with a group of friends and the sat us near the windows which was nice, but once he evening sun started setting, we noticed that there are no shades on the windows, which meant three of our party sat directly in the glare.
The service was friendly, but dinner took almost 30 minutes to come out-​and we were basically the only table so that was strange. I ordered the herb crusted cowboy pork chop that was mostly ok. My mashed potatoes came instead as roasted red potatoes. The Brussels sprouts were amazingly delicious, the high point.
Overall, three stars. Solid effort, but not a place I’m running to get back to. I’d go for happy hour because the bar was great, but somewhere else for dinner.

Beer Bistro was able to accommodate a party of 9 on a Friday night with only a few hours notice. OUR SERVER KILLED IT! He was on top of it, and patiently put up with every other person asking him to put the game on. The wings and mac n cheese was as good as last time. This is a great spot for good beer, delicious food, and no wait on a Friday night. Also, Friday nights –accordion music. What’s not to love?

The atmosphere is very neat, lots of wood detail and a rustic BBQ feel. Speaking of BBQ I got the short ribs and they were very good! Super filling. The two reasons I did not give 5 stars is that the tap beer list is difficult to read, just written on a chalkboard wall, and our waitress never asked if we wanted another drink. Just gave the check, thanked us, and walked away.
I would definitely return to this place. Fair prices, great beer selection, and delicious food.

Date of (first) visit: April 18, 2014.
Timidly, I drove my wife from our penthouse on the 103^rd floor of the Chase Tower (you can’t see it cause it’s invisible), and to be extra safe because RW is scary with urban camping hippies burning bonfires while chasing me on their fast fixed gears (not good enough to just be single speed, it has to be fixed, duh), we decided to take the A3 because you know, that’s the car for when we just want to «fit in», even though I had just bought a Tesla coupe the other week specifically to hang out with the nature loving/​gas hating people of this fine neighborhood. They probably would have thought I was totally awesome had they seen my Tesla, it gets like infinity miles per gallon, city driving.
No wait, back to reality…
Location: ³⁄₅
As we spend more months in Milwaukee, it’s turning into less months as work is drawing us away again, and as a result, we’re really trying to fit in as much as we can in the time we have left. The wife and I both enjoy a range of beers, and even if it’s just a novelty for me, I do enjoy sampling various FFF, so we took the short drive to MBB. There’s a parking lot for the establishment, but visually it looks smaller than it should be for the size of the restaurant; luckily there’s ample street parking. The Humboldt bus runs right by, and no joke — there is very ample bicycle parking for single speeds, fixed gears, old 10 speeds, and even probably your xenophiles on their Pinarellos.
Ambiance/​Décor: 1.75÷5
Not sure what this place used to be, but it looks like a pancake/​family restaurant from the outside. Not in a disrespectful or hateful way, but I’d classify the ambiance and décor currently as a work in progress, i.e., as more capital flows in, they can spruce the entire place up to be commensurate with the way that the bar area currently looks, which is actually quite nice. For example, the table and seats by the window where we sat reminded me of this establishment called «Shoneys» that I used to frequent growing up in east Tennessee. Functional but not pretty — but with the construction, super easy to clean.
Customer Service: ⁴⁄₅
Didn’t have a problem with the customer service at all. We were greeted, sat, waited on, served, etc. all very promptly. Our waitress even had the tap beers written down on a piece of paper because it was harder to see the chalkboard from where we were sitting. A minor critique would be the under-​familiarity with all of the beers on tap, but I am sympathetic to a place that changes their taps often with a waitstaff that may not have worked his or her way up in an establishment like that.
Selection of food items: ³⁄₅
As others have already noted, the menu is laconic but is buoyed by the fact that most, if not all, of the items are beer-​infused. You know — I wouldn’t take a grandma who’s used to full blown supper clubs, and small plate style restaurants aren’t for everyone, but MBB does serve a selection of sandwiches and pizzas in addition to their small plates. While it defeats the purpose of tapas style eating, it wouldn’t be impossible to have 4 people at the same table each having a personal «entrée» while sharing an «appetizer». It would be beneficial to check the menu ahead of time if this is your intended approach.
Selection of Beer: 3.75÷5
My expectations were probably sub-​consciously impacted by the name of the establishment, i.e., Beer Bistro, and while their beer selection is above average in quantity and style, I would objectively observe that places closer to where I live like Stack’D or even Benelux Café have lists that are as extensive as, if not more extensive than, the ones at Beer Bistro. And maybe what puts an acrid/​sour taste in my mouth was that the «tourist attraction» tap on the day that I went was Guinness, i.e., an item I could get in a widget can from the local grocery store. Enough whinging though — the beer selection otherwise is ample and eclectic.
Quality of Food: ³⁄₅
Luckily for MBB, the fish fry wasn’t so lacking (like Benelux’s) that I’ll remember it as being anything horribly negative. Unfortunately for MBB, it wasn’t so good either like Ashley’s or St. Francis’ or even Brat House’s that I’ll remember it, period. The wiffy had the shortrib sandwich, and while it WAS tasty, she noted that multiple sandwiches she’s had across the street from where we live (Bavette) were far superior. As a mistake in hindsight, we ordered the brat rolls. Fun to look at, fun to theorize about, but it’s about the equivalent of crab rangoon, but with ground meat instead of «crab» and in roll form instead of «purse shaped». Again, this shouldn’t construed as «I hate the food»; it’s literally, «this food is A-​OK.»
Value: 3.5÷5
Decent prices all around, but not what I would call «cheap».
Overall: ³⁄₅
Neat place, and looks to be an awesome locals spot because of pricing/​quality/​selection/​proximity/​niche.

Scene I:
(at home, in conversation with a significant other)
You’re both wanting to go out and get some grub on a Friday night, but neither of the two of you really wants to go too far from home (in this scenario you live in Riverwest). You’re in agreement about what you’re both after: casual and fun, but your collective brain is stuck because it’s easy to get into a rut. Then, you (you’re Rachel in this scenario) remember that the Milwaukee Beer Bistro is now open where Rio West Cantina used to reside and you decide «why the hell not?» because you like beer, and food, and trying new places and things, of course. S/​O agrees, and off you both go.
Scene II:
(the heavy scent of fried fish permeates the air, the room buzzes with noise and activity, servers, arms full of plates, bartenders pouring beers, loud chatter and… live accordion and xylophone amidst it all, squarely situated entertainment front and center, literally, of the dining area. one dude, one accordion, one xylophone, endless hitz; more on the hitz themselves later…)
You both pony up to the bar and peruse the beer menu, because first things first. Lots of craft options on tap, many hailing from our good ol’ Wisconsin herself. I opt for an imperial stout on tap (MBB rocks a rotating, 12-​tap selection alongside a relatively impressive bottle list).
Then, onto food: I’m famished and have neglected to feed myself most of the day. Sharing is caring and so it goes, with the two of us ordering and sharing a conventional fish fry, a side of potato salad (smashed taters, hot bacon dressing, hard boiled eggs), and a side of brussels sprouts. (The quick breakdown: brussels wicked overdone, potato salad preso strange but the dish delicious, and the fish fry a solid effort.)
Of note: There’s a huge downstairs area at MBB that seems JUST PERFECT FOR EVENTS. (O hai, MBB.) With a stage, a ping pong table, some video games, and a private bar, the possibilities seem pretty dang limitless.
Scene III:
(satiated and one imperial stout in…)
Is that… Blurred Lines? Is that… Journey? Is that… Dean Martin’s «Volare?» Is that… yes, yes it is, and all of it. It’s a mash-​up of old and new and mainstream and underground, ALL ON ACCORDION AND XYLOPHONE. A little dinner music, if you will. A little night music. I couldn’t even stand it, you guys. So funny, and cute, and fun, and perfectly perfect given the space and the neighborhood. So fun to sit and try to identify the songs. Seriously You’ve never heard «Like a Virgin/​Surgeon» like this before, like you will when this MBB Friday night accordion dude plays it mid-​mouthful of fish + coleslaw.
This place: cute, casual, fun, solid eats, and good beer. Hopefully accordion guy will be there when you go.

Our visit here was really, really impressive. I didn’t know what to expect other than a big beer selection and beer-​infused food. We came on a Friday night and they had an accordion player there playing the whole night. This guy new EVERY song and was so good. Lots of of pop songs and even the Three’s Company theme song. «Come and knock on our dooooor!» Yes!
Our server was really friendly and did the perfect amount of checking in. She was helpful with recommendations, too. I decided on a Fox Barrel pear cider, and Dan got a Rocky’s Revenge. Dan says their beer selection is good — especially the local selection. It’s all there.
For food I tried the eggplant cheese soup and it was delightful. Really thick and creamy with that dark note of eggplant. I also liked the lemongrass and ginger tofu cakes and braised root veggie dishes. Dan was torn between trying something new and going with the fish fry. He ended up going with the stout braised barbeque short ribs and was in heaven. I also snuck bites of his smoked salmon carpaccio salad and wished I had gotten it for myself. The creamy lemon dill dressing went well with everything in the salad. For dessert we shared the French toast banana bread pudding. It was good.
The ambiance is nice. They had a TV in the section we were in but it wasn’t too distracting and the sound was off — gotta hear that accordion! There’s plenty of parking in the lot or on nearby streets.
I was really impressed that the owner, George, came out to talk to each table. He introduced himself and made sure we were enjoying everything. This is a great addition to the Riverwest neighborhood.