Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The Fall Drive is on! See the new gear and become a member.

Three types of restaurants Milwaukee needs more than another poke spot

The Milwaukee area is getting another poke restaurant. The first place in Milwaukee to serve poke was Ono Kine Grindz. Now we have Aloha Poke, Fusion Poke, two Fresh Fin Poké locations and Wauwatosa's Greenfish Poke and R&R Poké. Now Brookfield will join the poke party with one of their own called Pokéworks. Who's next, McDonald's poke?

Don't get me wrong, I love poke and I'm not mad a the plethora of options. I just want to see a little more variety in the restaurant scene in Milwaukee. There are still so many global food options we're missing. But, I'll starting by suggesting just three types of restaurants that Milwaukee needs more than another poke spot.

A proper dim sum restaurant

I still can't believe Milwaukee doesn't have a proper dim sum restaurant.  When I mean proper, I mean carts of goodies like Chicago's Phoneix Restaurant in Chinatown, which serves Hong Kong style dim sum. I use to get dim sum instead of brunch when I lived in Minneapolis and DC. Now, I have to take a train to Chicago if I want that same tasty experience.  If we can get a world-class arena, we should be able to get a proper dim sum joint, right?

Izakaya with a wide variety of yakitori

There is nothing like bits of chicken cooked over a unique type of charcoal and brushed with yakitori sauce, a savory Japanese-style pancake called okonomiyaki or quenching your thirst with a wide variety of Japanese beers, sake and whiskeys.

A good example of a place like this is Philadelphia's Yakitori Boy, which is an Izakaya (a Japanese pub that serves small plates). Another is Atlanta's Ok Yaki, which specializes in okonomiyaki.

Filipino cuisine

At least Milwaukee has one amazing Filipino restaurant—Meat on The Street, but we can use one more, right? Don't forget, Filipino cuisine is growing in popularity in the States thanks to amazing restaurants like DC's Bad Saint. Imagine digging into some Filipino-style lechon baboy along with that crispy skin or some tasty lumpia (Filipino spring rolls), which you can get at Meat on The Street. To be honest, I would love to see a place like Bad Saint in Milwaukee.

Director of Digital | Radio Milwaukee