Trip Review: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This post is just a tad bit overdue, but a glimmer of hope about moving back to Spain is giving me new motivation to write again. 🙂 At the beginning of August, Matt and I took a road trip from Kansas City to Milwaukee. We went to a wedding about an hour outside of Chicago, but we didn’t want to just turn around and drive home. So we decided to spend a few days in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — because Matt’s sister lives there! So we had a free place to stay.

Also, one of my new friends that I met during my summer soccer league, Anna, just moved to KC from Milwaukee! We met up for coffee and she gave me a bunch of tips and places to see before we went, which was super helpful. We weren’t there for very long, but I feel like we still packed a lot into our visit.

A Quick Disclaimer

We were in Milwaukee from a Sunday morning to a Tuesday late afternoon. If you’re only going to visit Milwaukee for three days, I recommend choosing literally any other days besides Sunday through Tuesday.

It turns out that many — if not most — of Milwaukee’s attractions and restaurants are closed on Monday and Tuesday. So here’s a list of things I wanted to do that weren’t open or available to do when we were there:

Milwaukee Art Museum: Closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I really wanted to go to this because they have an exhibition called Americans in Spain.

Milwaukee Public Museum: Closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Merriment Social: Closed Monday and Tuesday. Anna told me they have pie crust Brussels Sprouts and I’m very bummed we didn’t get to have them.

Kegel’s Beer Garden: Closed Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Boone & Crockett: Closed Monday and Tuesday.

I guess it just means we’ll have to go back again.

About Milwaukee

That being said, Milwaukee was a really fun city to visit. To me, it had similar growing-Midwestern-city vibes as Kansas City does, but it was made better because it’s on Lake Michigan instead of in the middle of flatland. Plus, the weather was a lot nicer than it is at home.

In case you didn’t know, Milwaukee loves its beer. Look no further than their MLB mascot being the “Milwaukee Brewers.” (Maybe that’s why we spent so much time drinking beer while we were there… it was kind of unavoidable.) Some of the U.S.’s most recognizable beer brands are based in or near Milwaukee, like Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz.

On top of the great weather and beer, there were also lots of cute walkable neighborhoods, from Bayview to the Historic Third Ward and more. And there was a lot of green space, and people riding their bikes and doing outdoor activities. Overall, I really liked it there and I hope we get to go back soon! (And we can do all of those things that were closed this past time.)

Food & Coffee

I’m not going to put beer in this section because I’m going to put it in the “things to do” category. But we did eat really well while we were in Milwaukee! Here are my best recommendations.

Three Brothers Restaurant

This is another restaurant that isn’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays. But luckily, Anna told me all about this place in advance. The first recommendation: Make a reservation. This place is tiny, and it maybe has 12 tables. And it’s a very intimate dining experience, so they aren’t pushing people out the door to make room for the next customers. So reservations really help. I called a few days before we arrived in Milwaukee and they squeezed us in on Sunday night.

Three Brothers is a totally authentic family-owned Serbian restaurant. The restaurant was started by a family of immigrants from Serbia/Yugoslavia in the 1950s, and it’s been in the family ever since. When you look at the menu, you might not see anything that looks very familiar. (Unless you have some Eastern European heritage like me, or you’ve traveled a bit!)

Another thing Anna recommended we order is their famous “burek,” which is a traditional pastry. Since it takes an hour to bake, it’s a great idea to let them know you want it when you make your reservation. It was waiting for us as an appetizer shortly after we arrived! Other food — I had the goulash, which was really really good. We wanted dessert, but we were too stuffed.

One one other tip: Three Brothers is cash or check only. There’s a pizza restaurant right around the corner, DiMarini’s, which has an ATM you can use if you need it.

La Merenda

This place caught my attention because we were looking for a place to eat dinner on our last night (a Monday) that was actually open. And so we came across La Merenda. It had amazingly good reviews, the menu looked awesome, it was 1/2 Price Wine Day, and somehow it still had reservations available for that night. I booked it on OpenTable, and we showed up, not really knowing what to expect.

La Merenda felt like an elegant dining experience that was very down-to-earth at the same time. As our waiter described the restaurant to us after we got seated, their specialty is “tapas with a Wisconsin twist.” With a diverse menu featuring favorite dishes from around the world, we got to travel around the globe while also eating hyper-local — La Merenda’s ingredients are sourced from local Wisconsin farms.

I don’t remember everything we had, since we ordered quite a few plates to share, but we really liked the goat cheese curds and the duck confit.

Coffee: Colectivo and Anodyne

 

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I love a good coffee shop, and Anna told me about two!

Since I was still partially working while we were there, I figured I could spend a few hours checking out a coffee shop and getting some work done at the same time. Both Colectivo and Anodyne had locations all around the city, so I scoped out their respective geotagged locations on Instagram too see which ones looked like they had the most space.

I ended up at Colectivo over in Wauwatosa, which is just west of downtown Milwaukee. It had great vibes and lots of space (and power outlets!) for remote workers. And on our way out of town, we hit Anodyne in the public market. I had an iced “Bee Sting,” which had agave nectar and vanilla. Highly recommend.

Things To Do in Milwaukee

Now, it might sound like all we did was eat and drink. And that is mostly true. I decided to put beer-drinking experiences in the “things to do” section because it seems like more of an activity… especially in Milwaukee.

South Shore Terrace and Beer Garden

This place was beautiful, and I was so glad Anna told me about it! This was actually one of the first places we went when we got into town, before our reservation at Three Brothers. South Shore Beer Garden is in a lovely park right next to Lake Michigan. You get to sit on picnic tables and look out over the lake and the skyline while enjoying some brews. Bring a jacket, though, because it gets windy that close to the lake!

MobCraft Brewery

MobCraft was a random find… again, we needed to pass some time before our reservation at La Merenda, and what better way to do it than visiting a local brewery? It’s half indoor and half outdoor in a cool little neighborhood next to a glittering water tower sculpture. We laughed when we saw a taxidermied deer head with a sign that said “Beer the Deer,” as the Milwaukee Bucks had just won the NBA Championship and their motto is “Fear the Deer.” But then we learned that they actually serve beer out of that deer’s mouth. So of course, Matt had to try it.

Historic Third Ward

Matt was working a little too hard one of the days we were there, so I tried to find somewhere we could walk around and explore the city for a bit. The Historic Third Ward is near downtown, and there are lots of local shops and restaurants to check out. My favorite was a stationery shop, Broadway Paper. I could have spent hours in there, but the parking meter said we only had 10 minutes left.

Milwaukee Public Market

Right before heading out of town, we stopped at the Milwaukee Public Market, which isn’t far from the Third Ward. It’s reminiscent of other markets in the U.S., like Pike Place Market in Seattle or Quincy Market in Boston, but I don’t think it’s quite as big. But you can still probably find almost anything you want in there. We had lunch at the St. Paul Fish Company — a lobster roll for me and clam tacos for Matt. Also, market vendors will validate your parking for you if you buy something.

 

Like I said, I thought Milwaukee was a great city and I’d love to go back sometime when it wasn’t Monday or Tuesday. Luckily, since Matt’s sister is there, we always have a place to stay!

Have you ever visited Milwaukee? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy