There’s been a lot that’s been written and said about the wealth of good new restaurants that have opened around the Milwaukee area in the past few years.
With new restaurants coming along so rapidly, it can be tricky to know where to eat immediately, where to wait a while and where to avoid all together.
Milwaukee Magazine senior editor and writer of the Dish on Dining column, Ann Christenson, came up with a list of her favorite new places for the magazine's December cover story.
"It's quality more than buzz. I mean, buzz in the sense of I'm always looking at what makes [it] popular. But ultimately it's the quality," she told Lake Effect.
Here are some of Ann Christenson's top picks:
Farwell Avenue
"It is not like any other restaurant...the owner is an alum of other restaurants in the area, but his style is so unlike anybody else's," Christenson says. "Everything that he's doing there is so incredibly beautifully presented and plated."
Walker's Point
"Just in the past two years it's astounding how many restaurants have opened down there [in Walker's Point," Christenson says. "It's an incredibly vibrant neighborhood, and a fun neighborhood."
Bay View
"It's just kind of a dream team because you've got these two people that are incredibly good at the food...then you've got the bar owners who absolutely know cocktails and beer inside and out...it actually has turned out really, really well," she says.
West Side
"[The chef] is really getting a lot of mileage out of some really interesting things," Christenson says.
And, restaurants to keep on your radar:
Engine Co. No. 3 - Walker's Pont - breakfast and lunch
The Brown Bottle - Schlitz Park - lunch and dinner