Each week on This Bites, dining critic Ann Christenson from Milwaukee Magazine and Radio Milwaukee’s resident foodie Tarik Moody dig into the city’s culinary and restaurant culture to help you find new spots, old favorites and the best ingestibles around Milwaukee.
Among the many signs that Milwaukee has entered the all-to-brief “nice weather” season is patio dining at the city’s many sidewalk-adjacent restaurants. While the majority of those taking advantage of the al fresco option are human, occasionally you’ll see a four-legged friend at (or under) the table.
Because dogs are great, most Milwaukee’s eateries are more than happy to cater to the canines — usually with a bowl of water or a couple treats. But a few have really stepped it up with proper dog-specific menu items or, in the case of this episode’s lead item, entire dog menus.
The most recent locations to join the trend are all part of Benson’s Restaurant Group: The Bridgewater, The Edison, Onesto, Smoke Shack, Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria, and AJ Bombers. Impressively, the six restaurants have gone well beyond table scraps to offer options that, quite honestly, wouldn’t look out of place on a human’s plate.
It’s hard to pick a winner from the menu items, but let’s highlight The Edison’s. As Ann pointed out in her Milwaukee Magazine piece, fido can chow down on grilled chicken bites with corn and rice; steak and potatoes with grilled steak tips; beef fat potatoes; salad with grilled salmon and charred cabbage. How we spoil our pets.
Other selections that jumped out were AJ Bombers’ Bomber Bites (their burger blend covered in cheese and wrapped with bacon) and Onesto’s beef zucchini meatballs (made with ground beef, zucchini, egg, rice and turmeric). If you want more info on these new options, you can find Ann’s full article at Milwaukee Magazine.
As for the rest of the city’s culinary happenings, here’s what we cover on this episode:
- MKE Dumping Fast is coming back June 23 and will see 12 competitors (for now) vie for the Golden Gyoza Trophy.
- My favorite part of every episode, Ann’s Top Chef recap, gets another go-around. There can’t be many more of these, right?
- Sad news from Riverwest, where Company Brewing abruptly closed its doors for good after nine years.
- Maya Ophelia also made the decision to shut down its food truck, with the last day of service coming June 30 at The Mothership.
- For the non-meat-eaters (or veggie lovers), the VeganMania pop-up market will bring 63 vendors to West Allis this Sunday.
- The owner of BelAir Cantina and Fuel Café will open Margaux, a French-inspired brasserie, at The Corners of Brookfield this Saturday.
That’s a lot for your listening pleasure in this episode, and we really hope you enjoy it by using the player at the top of this page or whatever podcast platform gets your business. Feel free to share This Bites with a friend or leave us a review/rating so we can keep Milwaukee’s longest-running culinary podcast going even longer. Thanks.
