Category: 2021

Townhall in Cleveland-- Worth the Hype?

2/12/2022

A late post from Thanksgiving 2021 Travel to Cleveland, Ohio. A few more are still in the backlog-- but local content takes priority. Enjoy!

Another morning came during our visit to Cleveland, Ohio where my husband and I would be on our own while his siblings slept in to enjoy their holiday to its fullest. We didn’t know where to go for breakfast, but we most certainly did not want to be the types that went to Starbucks while on a mini vacation. A cursory google search for favorite brunch restaurants in town lead us to Townhall down by the West Side Market. It appeared on every list I checked, and it provided us an opportunity to stop by one of our favorite locations in the city again if we wanted to bring something along for the Ohio State game that afternoon.

Townhall has been around long enough that I have vague memories of driving by the front of the restaurant and staring at it longingly. It was a very superficial fascination with the decor out front more than anything, because I had no idea what was inside it. This trip, I was able to find out because my husband left me in charge of these outings. We walked around the market and into the cafe side of the restaurant to order.

This is where it can get somewhat confusing if you’re an out of towner. There is a dedicated restaurant side which I believe has a wider menu and an easier way to order alcohol if that’s your thing during brunch. We didn’t realize that, and we went through the cafe line by ordering at a kiosk. We couldn’t get our drinks through the kiosk, so my husband went to the front to get himself a coffee and myself a Great Lakes IPA-- I am the type that wants a drink at brunch.

Townhall has a great menu with options for all types of eaters, including vegans. That variety is certainly what catapults the restaurant up to the top of many lists across the internet. We went for two of the most common types of brunch dishes, eggs benedict and the egg sandwich. Both can be ordered with rosemary roasted potatoes which are only available during actual brunch hours. We decided to go that route.

Koko Sushi Bar and Lounge -Lombardi

1/25/2022

Koko Sushi Bar moved to their new location over the summer of 2021, and I have taken my time getting out there. We are big sushi lovers. Umi Sushi, however, is a block away. Our experience at Koko Sushi Bar in their downtown location in 2020 remains the best in town even with Umi Sushi so close to where we live. Our decision to visit Koko’s new location came in a Friday evening while we were out on the west side trying to decide on dinner. We had originally went out to visit Badger State Brewing and the Bay Burger Food truck. The truck was delayed, and we were hungry.

So we went farther down Lombardi to visit an old friend of a restaurant that we had neglected over time. Stepping into the restaurant and seeing the tree that was a famous fixture of the old location reminded me that I had done them a disservice by not coming to visit them again. We were seated quickly despite the Friday night crowd, and we ordered our small meal for the night.

Saint Brendan's Inn - Green Bay, WI

1/20/2022

The Packers first playoff game of the year is coming, and it reminded me that I forgot to post a review I wrote for a downtown classic back in November. Please enjoy this backlogged post and consider Saint Brendan's Inn for your playoff needs-- food and lodging!

My husband and I wandered into Downtown Green Bay on a chilly November evening looking for something to eat. Something was going on at the Meyer, so many of the places we scouted out before we got into the car were already full. Vintage Cantina had long been on the radar, and I swear that every single seat in there was full. We parked just outside of Saint Brendan’s Inn, so we walked back down toward the car, found ourselves guided to the door of the Irish Restaurant/Hotel by the delightful smell in the air, and walked inside.

This wasn’t the first time we visited. Back when we first moved here, one of my husband’s new coworkers invited us out to lunch here. It is still one of my fondest memories of town. We ate and drank very well, and yet my husband and I hadn’t been back since. This Friday night provided the opportunity to return without a wait at the door, and we sat down in the dining area with the Bucks game on at the bar behind us.

The dining room is gorgeous, exactly what you would expect of an Irish pub. Celtic knots in the stained glass and Gaelic phrases painted onto the walls above them. Soft tones against natural wood. It felt very cozy after a short walk out in the wet cold of the evening. My husband ordered a Spotted Cow for his drink, and I enjoyed a Brandy Old Fashioned in the first building I ever had one in. The crowd was beginning to thin out, so we were able to catch up on the day in relative quiet while we waited for our meal to arrive.

Schlafly Highland Park - Highland, IL

1/12/2022

Going home for Christmas often provides the unique opportunity of reviewing restaurants outside of my traditional coverage area, and this year was no exception. It’s the first time in three years that I’ve been home. The universe gave me a gift: Schlafly Brewery of Saint Louis opened a location in the family’s ancestral home of Highland, Illinois during Christmas week.

After coming to the USA from Switzerland, the founders of the craft brewery first put down roots in a small town not far from where I would be staying this Christmas. I saw the news of the opening through the old television station I got all my news from as a kid. It struck me as unusual for many reasons. Saint Louis, while not far away, so rarely extends the tendrils of its businesses out into these rural communities. It wouldn’t be until I actually visited that I’d find out the historical significance of the choice. It also promised a dining experience to an area often underserved.

So I planned Christmas Eve lunch with my father and my husband at the new restaurant, and we arrived ahead of the doors opening to make sure we could get a table. The location wasn’t taking reservations– and they may never. That wasn’t particularly clear. What was clear, however, was that we were not the only people in the region with this idea. Even ten minutes early, car after car arrived to park along Highland Square and wait their turn to walk into the doors of the old bank turned brewpub.

When you enter, it’s obvious that the place was once a bank. They even kept the vault around as decoration behind the bar. The high ceiling and long dining room feel like the sort of place you once might have stood in line waiting on a bank teller. The wide windows on the right side of the room look out into the renovated yard, which will soon serve as an outdoor dining and entertainment area. There are tables with chess boards permanently part of them and concrete cornhole boxes set into the yard. We can’t wait to see it full of visitors in the summer.

Toast and Company - East De Pere, WI

12/24/2021

There’s something to be said for having a weekday off work. I don’t get to do it often, but my husband and I took a Friday off together to recharge before the holiday. That day took us to Toast and Co., a brunch location in East De Pere that I’ve kept an eye on for quite awhile. Plans of all kinds got in our way from making a visit for months now, but not today. I insisted we go, so we went with the free time available to us.

Even on that Friday morning, we arrived at nearly full tables and customers awaiting coffee to take with them on their way out to work. We got a small two seat in the back of the restaurant and patiently awaited our turn. The staff was thin for the busy morning, especially when someone is needed at the coffee bar, the front desk for to go orders, and to wait the tables. The woman waiting the tables was on her own.

Poke the Bear - Green Bay, WI

12/5/2021

My husband and I first moved to Green Bay in November of 2019, and the first meal we shared together was at Poke the Bear in downtown. It was the only restaurant he knew of in the area because its where his job took him during his interview process, and he wanted to share the experience with me on that first evening. Back then, I didn’t review it. I was not as serious about my blogging back then as I am now, and I was somewhere brand new.

Now, two years later, we walked into the doors of the Northland Hotel for the first time since. It is exactly as I remember it. A luxurious looking hotel lobby out of a magazine is there to greet you before you turn to your left and into Poke the Bear. We arrived as a bridal shower was wrapping up in their back room area, so we took a seat at their high tops by the window to look out on a bright, sunny, and most importantly warm Saturday afternoon.

Crown & Common - Green Bay, WI

11/15/2021

Saturday afternoon. My husband just got back from his field day for his hunting certification. We were both hungry, and we couldn’t decide where to go. So, we made a list of restaurants and bars in town that we hadn’t visited yet and rolled a die. The number seven was face up, and number seven on our List was Crown and Common-- a relatively new bar in the area that I only noticed on my radar shortly after lockdown.

Crown and Common sits in the district of Main Street where a lot of new businesses have started to pop up in recent years-- particularly restaurants and bars. They built up an interesting patio area for more space for business to follow post-lockdown restaurant business practices, which is perhaps one of the best things about the bar. The covered patio has long and wide tables with a little firepit in the middle to keep folks warm in the winter if they go outside, and the garage door type windows raise to bring some air in in the warmer months.

It was the type of day for the garage doors to be open, and the Brewers playoff game was on the TV, making it the perfect afternoon to drop into a bar for some drinks and snacks. The prices at Crown and Common are incredible for the quality of mixed drinks and the variety of beer is respectably low. Every mixed drink is served in a tall glass the size of a draft cup of beer for almost always only six dollars.

The food is a different story. While also reasonably priced, I’ll be honest. The quality of the food isn’t exactly something to write home about. Crown and Common is a bar first with food to keep you in your seat a little while longer. They do very interesting specials every day of the week that my husband and I didn’t participate during our visit which may prove more enticing than the regular menu to future patrons. I know their taco Tuesday specials each week are what kept me following their facebook page to watch their progress.

Black Sheep Pub & Grill - Green Bay, WI

10/28/2021

A crisp Thursday evening, one of the first in October, set over town on the night of the Alton Brown show, Beyond the Eats, that my husband had ordered tickets for me for my birthday when the visit to Green Bay was first announced. We had to be at the Weidner Center at UW-GB in a few hours, but we wanted to go out for dinner. It looked like other people attending the show had the same idea. There was one restaurant close to campus that looked promising-- Black Sheep.

Black Sheep Pub and Grill has been an active social media presence in the Green Bay food scene for long enough that I’ve watched them longingly at a distance. I never make it in the direction of campus, and I never really knew exactly where Black Sheep was until I started making plans for the evening of the Alton Brown show. The pub was within a less than ten minute drive to the Weidner center, making it a perfect place to sit down for a meal and a drink before the show.

My husband and I arrived to a packed parking lot. I can’t say for sure that it was only Alton Brown Show traffic. UW-GB students were at some of the tables, but there was not a single open seat at the bar. The three parties that arrived behind my husband and I had to wait a little while for some of the other interior tables to clear out. My limited restaurant experience told me that a perfect storm was brewing.

Dark & Stormy

Souper Day - Green Bay, WI

10/25/2021

The Oktoberfest at Revolution Market welcomed a new vendor into their halls for a prolonged stay. Souper Day wasn’t here just to pop up. They were here for the long haul, and they were ready for the morning when the doors opened to the Oktoberfest goers one cool October afternoon. We stopped in immediately once we realized that the newcomers were ready, and we learned a lot about them while the crowd remained thin.

This was their very first day in their new stall at the Revolution Market. We spoke to Farmer Rick of Produce With Purpose who seemed very excited to welcome in the new blood, swearing that he'd be their best customer as the weather gets colder and soup becomes even more welcoming. The ladies manning the new stall seemed excited for the new beginning in their business and shared their plans for the future with us while my husband and I worked out what we wanted to sample. It was our mission that day to try to buy something from every vendor in the building, and we would be remiss not to do so with the newest permanent residents of one of our favorite locations in town.

As they get used to their new space, there are promises of smaller sandwiches to go with the six daily soups that are prepared each day. There will be at least two special soups each day, and on this day, those soups were a leek and potato soup and an eggroll in a bowl soup. We went in on a small bowl of the eggroll in a bowl soup to get started on our culinary tour of the market that day, and they offered me a small sample cup of their chili as well.

The eggroll in a bowl soup is exactly as advertised. Small pieces of cabbage, carrots, onion, and a little bit of ground pork all floating in a broth that reminded me of a hot and sour soup at any Chinese restaurant in town. The warm broth was a comfort in the cooler weather, especially after we had been walking around at the Farmer’s Market not all that long ago wandering in the cold morning.

These soups were reasonably priced and the to go cups on display above the soup case all appeared like they would travel well. The small cup of eggroll in a bowl that we got to enjoy while at the event sealed nicely, and if we took it home with us, I have no doubt we’d have no spills to worry about on the way home.

Player 2 Arcade Bar: The Eats

10/15/2021

We have reviewed Player 2 Arcade Bar in the past, focusing on their drinks and our experience among the vintage arcade cabinets of youth. Player 2 remains a destination for any visitors that come to see me from the era of the classic arcade, and no one has been disappointed. However, we never formally ate there. That ended one October weekend where it got too hot in my apartment for me to cook, and my husband and I needed something to do.

We arrived just before the rush came pouring into the door with enough time to order drinks and our meal from the one bartender on staff. The poor guy was managing the bar, food orders, and any malfunctions on the variety of machines in the building by himself by the time we left. Overwhelmed is one way to describe the guy by the end of our visit-- but he was as courteous then as he was when my husband and I initially ordered.

The burger menu is an homage to characters of the 80’s and 90’s video games. Donkey Kong, Mario, The Terminator, and more have a signature burger on the regular menu for you to pick out at any given visit. They go through a special burger each month, and this month’s burger was named for that classic NFL Arcade Game: Blitz. It’s a game my husband plays every visit, and the burger he decided to get for himself.

The Blitz is constructed as part of a classic northeastern Wisconsin burger variant with a beef patty and a brat patty at the center of the bun. That’s where the classical construction ends. Cheddar and American cheeses separate the patties from each other, and slathered over the top is a thin blanket of nacho cheese with some garlic aioli. A nest of crispy onions sits on top before the bun crowns the Blitz in its cheesy glory.