Category: Green Bay

PhoComa Relieves A Serious Pho Craving

8/2/2023

The Wednesday Night Farmer’s Market on Broadway has a variety of food stalls to try each week, but sometimes, one just wants to sit down inside and watch the world go by in the window while they have dinner. Pho Coma on Broadway allows you to do just that if you circle their food stall on the block and enter the building for a bowl of their delicious noodles.

I had the pleasure of hosting a friend from Kansas this past week, and he hadn’t had the opportunity for a bowl of Pho (his favorite meal) in years. Green Bay has no shortage of places to get Pho. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat at Pho Coma that evening as the rain threatened to drop on us during our visit to the farmer’s market.

Pho Coma has a relatively small store front compared to some of the other restaurants along Broadway. Their stall out front diverts some of the traffic you’d likely see on a normal day at the shop, and therefore we were able to have our pick of tables after putting in our order. A bowl of pho and crab rangoons was certainly enough for us, and we ordered from their custom drink menu two pomegranate lemonades.

A good bowl of pho can be refreshing even on a warm day, and the normal bowl at Pho Coma fulfilled that role. Herbaceous, deeply flavorful broth saturated the noodles, beef, and Hmong sausage that come on the bowl as standard. A plate of thai basil, jalapenos, and bean sprouts are served on the side so that you can customize the bowl to your own liking. I recommend starting with two leaves of the thai basil before taking it any further.

The Crab Rangoon, shaped in the common triangle that most of town’s Asian adjacent restaurants serve them in, arrived hot and fresh. They gave me a fatty, creamy treat to break up the few bites of the pho that I stole from my friend over the course of our visit.

Service was quick inside the restaurant despite the staff also needing to support their Broadway Farmer’s Market tent. The pomegranate lemonade was tangy and served in to-go cups in order for us to take them along while we wandered through a thankfully unsoaked market. Their custom drink menu is extensive, and as a result I did not miss the customary cocktail or beer that I often order when I go out for dinner to sit down.

They also deliver via Eatstreet if you don’t feel like coming to the Broadway district during the week. I have not done my due diligence in finding the best pho in town, but Pho Coma has quickly climbed the ranks after my visit.

The Cannery Reopens - And I try Honey + Cream Cafe

7/24/2023

The Cannery recently reopened in their new test kitchen format on Broadway, and this past weekend, I visited the morning concepts after the Saturday Morning Market to get in early. Entering from the Fox River side of the building that also contains Titletown Brewery and Voyageur Sourdough can lead to an experience not unlike trying to get through a maze. The Broadway entrance is far less difficult, however, and leads right into the location.

The bar, managed by Titletown, opens at 8 am for those that like a little tipple to go with their Saturday Morning Brunch. Not all concepts are ready to start service in the am hours, however, so knowing what you’re going for before you leave will save you headaches. Honey + Cream Cafe opens at 7 am to serve the breakfast crowd while all other current tenants open at 11 am. For that reason, we only had the opportunity to try Honey + Cream on this visit, but individual reviews for each tenant will be coming over the next month.

All concepts operate out of the same kitchen, so when I arrived at about 10 am, most of the kitchen staff was already hard at work preparing for their opening or serving the breakfast crowd that came into visit. A tablet setup is available at the center of the room for you to put in your order with the kitchen tenants, key in your phone number, and when your order is ready, you receive a text message letting you know that your order is at the window.

On this particular morning, Honey + Cream cafe delivered the order to our table by hand rather than either myself or my friend having to go up to the window to pick up our matching breakfast plates– hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, and sausages. These classic breakfast plates are symbolic of the other offerings coming out of Honey + Cream Cafe such as omelets, pancakes, and breakfast sandwiches to play into their classic American Breakfast concept.

Can you get these sorts of meals elsewhere? Sure. Denny’s exists. It isn’t a local chef creation, however, and that shows in the quality of the food that arrives at the table. I’m personally a fan of a good hard scramble, which is just what I got out of the kitchen during my stay. Warm, well seasoned hashbrowns with a little ketchup can’t be beat when they’re done well. The sausages as well satisfied.

If you’re running around Broadway earlier in the day and looking for something new to try among the many delicious breakfast and brunch options, check out Honey + Cream Cafe in the Cannery to support a growing food business.

Check back soon for more Cannery reviews!

Eating Bay Area Burger Co's Lenten Special

3/4/2023

I have long loved the Bay Area Burger Company. It’s often been hard to get my hands on their smash burgers since their inception in the middle of the pandemic, but it is a testament to how good those burgers were that they now stand in a brick and mortar location on Broadway. I’m admittedly late to the game, paying them a visit. I rarely make my way into the Broadway district anymore now that I live in De Pere. I had to be in Green Bay’s downtown for less than savory business, but I knew exactly where I could find a savory lunch.

And I deserved it, didn’t i?

McKayla Marie Sweets Opens in Ashwaubenon

10/2/2022

I first met the mastermind behind the sweets at a June event in the Revolution Market and found something special in the crisp shells of her miniature macarons. I checked on her facebook page once a week waiting for that final announcement of opening day. It came almost a month later than her original estimate.

A crisp fall morning in Ashwaubenon rose over the grand opening of McKayla Marie Sweets, a much anticipated event by yours truly. I arrived nearly thirty minutes early to discover that a line had already formed outside of the door, bisecting the parking lot. I had to park along the road. I waited patiently alongside other connoisseurs of the baker’s goodies, listening as they talked about their plans for the rest of the day after this.

No one was ignorant of what they were about to eat. McKayla Marie Sweets attended several events in town, spreading the anticipation over the summer– and it worked. I’ve attended many openings like this since I started writing for this blog, but I can’t recall this level of anticipation in a crowd. It spoke highly of the mind behind the product.

Taco Tones Returns

8/24/2022

Green Bay has a blessing that is sorely lacking in many other cities in our country: access to Native Frybread prepared by natives themselves. Indigenous cuisine in the states has long been an under-represented area of our culinary history. At Taco Tones food truck, the frybread is the base upon which more familiar dishes and flavors are built as an introduction to the under-represented cuisine.

And, let’s face it, it’s just plain tasty. From a frybread taco to a ribeye sandwich to a burger, you don’t have to be a food history weirdo like me to appreciate what they’re doing. We tried them once during the winter while the proprietor ran deliveries when unable to do business in the Green Bay Streets. At the time, I tried their native nachos and their frybread burger. I remembered it so fondly that when I heard they were involved in an accident that rendered their food truck inoperable early in the season, I was crushed.

Thankfully, it was not a goodbye when they shut down their original facebook page– just a see you later. Taco Tones is back, and we had our first chance to get their flatbread taco right out of the fryer at the Washington Street Block Party this past weekend. Under the warm sun with a cold beer, the slight crust on the exterior of the pillowy interior of the frybread worked hard to contain an overflow of delicious taco meat and the usual suspects. The small slices of tomato on top went down particularly refreshing with the heaviness of the overall experience. It was a perfect food truck meal.

As early as I arrived at the event, the line was not long. The staff moved through those that did stop in immediately for their meal quickly, which is a good sign for their setup on the interior of the truck. For the hour and some that I stayed at the block party, it appeared that the quick service I got continued. Every frybread taco that I saw go by looked as good as mine. There’s something special going on in there. Don’t let the unassuming exterior of the truck fool you.

You can follow Taco Tones on facebook to keep track of their schedule, or you can check our own facebook page off and on as well. We do our best to repost when we see many of our area food trucks announcing their openings outside of regular events in town. Tell them Eating Normal sent you. I’m so glad to see them out on the streets again to share a unique food truck experience with the city.

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.

Vintage Cantina - Green Bay, WI

12/6/2021

My husband and I’s first meal out to eat in Green Bay after returning from Cleveland was at Vintage Cantina downtown, a little taqueria and bar combo that I’ve watched from afar with lust. Their weekly taco features, AKA WTF’s, are a delight to see every week on their social media, and more than once I’ve found myself swearing I’d go for them when it just never happened. Christmas shopping left my husband and I hungry, so we drove into downtown during a business lul at our local restaurants to make sure we got in.

We tried to visit once before on a busy Friday evening where every single seat in the building was full, and we were relieved to find that this was not the case at 4 pm on a Saturday. We took a seat by the window to watch the cars go by, and we ordered their smoked chicken and chilis cheese dip to get us started alongside our drinks.

My husband ordered a Tecate while I opted for their house margarita. Tequila has been an acquired taste for me over the years, starting very slowly during our honeymoon in the Yucatan four years ago. I haven’t ordered a margarita when I’ve been out at a restaurant for quite awhile, but this one hit the spot with a strong citrus flavor to combat the natural taste of the tequila. One worked out for me across the whole meal.

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