It's 1983, my family is living on the East Side of Milwaukee and we almost never go out to restaurants. (This is probably not all that unique, as eating out is definitely more of a modern habit.) So, we're looking for pizza, what are the options? Cardboard cut-out Lisa's Pizza and Little Cesar's? Why bother.
Fast forward to 2007, you can get pizza in a million ways, shapes & cultural options. Yes, I'm sure someone makes an Ethiopian pizza out there. but I'm not eating it.
Riverfront Pizza is a new spot, situated on the banks of the Milwaukee River where it meets the mouth of Lake Michigan. The view is superb. Rusted and abandoned train bridges, long defunct cement factories, foundries. Although I've never actually gotten to sit on the riverside patio, it's modern aesthetic is perfectly parallel with the aging sites of the 3rd Ward. You can find the history of Milwaukee etched into the boards of the river walk that extends east towards the end of the block, just in case you hadn't gotten enough text-book history with your cereal that morning.
This is our second visit and we've yet to wait for a table as the restaurant is expansive and in the early evening, mostly frequented by families or barflies that haven't had their fill of festival fun (Riverfront is at the south edge of the Summerfest grounds). The tables are large, the corners have family/party size tables that can accommodate 8-10 easily. I imagine that this place heats up post 8 o'clock, so getting here early is wise. What first hit me was the air, clean and smoke free. What crept up a little more slowly is that it's loud in here. This helped to waterdown the noise from a melt-down but also makes little ones edgy.
The Water Guy greeted us with fun plastic cups that just scream "we cater to the kid crowd" and we settled in to order. Starting with wine. Always start with wine, you'll probably enjoy the experience a lot more, your kid will too. We chose a bottle of the daily suggestion: an Italian Chianti, Castello Di Querceto 2005. It drinks easily without food, but later is a great accompaniment to the tomato sauces and cheese dishes. This red is dry and balanced, earthy and only slightly tannic. A varietal of Sangiovese & Cannaiolo.
The waitress, while friendly and quick to arrive, didn't offer to put any of the kid's orders in quickly or bring anything unexpected to entertain the youth. The birthday party gathering in the corner entertained far better than a box of crayons. We all waited patiently for the guest of honor to arrive, it was a surprise party. He must do alright, his crowd was filled with lusty chicks in low-cut tops. I heard he cried upon arrival. That was all I needed to get me in the mood for food.
My Husband ordered an appetiser, the Combo of Fried Stuff*. Eggplant, cheese, mushrooms. Even with his dislike of eggplant it disappeared quickly aided by the help of the Daughter, who loves all things fried and too hot to eat. *name withheld to protect it's identity
Next we move on to the pizza. There are many traditional offerings as well as weirder selections, and since I'm not in a pizza mood, I leave that option up to the Men. They chose a Mediterranean Pizza, with feta, black and green olives, Roma tomatoes and sausage. I go veg with roasted vegetable ravioli, which I'm certain will have too much sauce and a dinner companion opted for pasta and marinara sauce with sausage AND meatballs.
Fast forward to 2007, you can get pizza in a million ways, shapes & cultural options. Yes, I'm sure someone makes an Ethiopian pizza out there. but I'm not eating it.
Riverfront Pizza is a new spot, situated on the banks of the Milwaukee River where it meets the mouth of Lake Michigan. The view is superb. Rusted and abandoned train bridges, long defunct cement factories, foundries. Although I've never actually gotten to sit on the riverside patio, it's modern aesthetic is perfectly parallel with the aging sites of the 3rd Ward. You can find the history of Milwaukee etched into the boards of the river walk that extends east towards the end of the block, just in case you hadn't gotten enough text-book history with your cereal that morning.
This is our second visit and we've yet to wait for a table as the restaurant is expansive and in the early evening, mostly frequented by families or barflies that haven't had their fill of festival fun (Riverfront is at the south edge of the Summerfest grounds). The tables are large, the corners have family/party size tables that can accommodate 8-10 easily. I imagine that this place heats up post 8 o'clock, so getting here early is wise. What first hit me was the air, clean and smoke free. What crept up a little more slowly is that it's loud in here. This helped to waterdown the noise from a melt-down but also makes little ones edgy.
The Water Guy greeted us with fun plastic cups that just scream "we cater to the kid crowd" and we settled in to order. Starting with wine. Always start with wine, you'll probably enjoy the experience a lot more, your kid will too. We chose a bottle of the daily suggestion: an Italian Chianti, Castello Di Querceto 2005. It drinks easily without food, but later is a great accompaniment to the tomato sauces and cheese dishes. This red is dry and balanced, earthy and only slightly tannic. A varietal of Sangiovese & Cannaiolo.
The waitress, while friendly and quick to arrive, didn't offer to put any of the kid's orders in quickly or bring anything unexpected to entertain the youth. The birthday party gathering in the corner entertained far better than a box of crayons. We all waited patiently for the guest of honor to arrive, it was a surprise party. He must do alright, his crowd was filled with lusty chicks in low-cut tops. I heard he cried upon arrival. That was all I needed to get me in the mood for food.
My Husband ordered an appetiser, the Combo of Fried Stuff*. Eggplant, cheese, mushrooms. Even with his dislike of eggplant it disappeared quickly aided by the help of the Daughter, who loves all things fried and too hot to eat. *name withheld to protect it's identity
Next we move on to the pizza. There are many traditional offerings as well as weirder selections, and since I'm not in a pizza mood, I leave that option up to the Men. They chose a Mediterranean Pizza, with feta, black and green olives, Roma tomatoes and sausage. I go veg with roasted vegetable ravioli, which I'm certain will have too much sauce and a dinner companion opted for pasta and marinara sauce with sausage AND meatballs. Extraordinary, who would've thought.
I tried the meatballs, sausage and pasta first, before my palate was tainted by the vegetables. She is obviously a seasoned customer, knowing exactly what to order.
The meatballs are fresh and moist, the sausage salty and fabulous. My ravioli, oddly, has almost no sauce but the pesto is enough, not too deep, but decent none the less. I wonder for a minute if my question to the server about the quantity of the alfredo sauce may have changed the looks of my plate, as I've heard from others that it's usually a heavy dish. The pasta is light and yet filling, not amazing in any way, but good. The pizza, however, is definitely what this crowd comes here for. The crust is not too thin but it's still crispy and well-flavored, the sauce is a little sweet and the toppings are a balance of salty and not.
There is a kids menu, with all the typical things most kids like. Someday I'd like to find a restaurant that offers grilled goat cheese sandwiches and mahi mahi sticks, but for now we order chicken fingers (boneless and not resembling fingers in the slightest) with wedge cut fries with 2 sauces (oohh yeah, sauce!), suits our kids just fine.
I tried the meatballs, sausage and pasta first, before my palate was tainted by the vegetables. She is obviously a seasoned customer, knowing exactly what to order.
The meatballs are fresh and moist, the sausage salty and fabulous. My ravioli, oddly, has almost no sauce but the pesto is enough, not too deep, but decent none the less. I wonder for a minute if my question to the server about the quantity of the alfredo sauce may have changed the looks of my plate, as I've heard from others that it's usually a heavy dish. The pasta is light and yet filling, not amazing in any way, but good. The pizza, however, is definitely what this crowd comes here for. The crust is not too thin but it's still crispy and well-flavored, the sauce is a little sweet and the toppings are a balance of salty and not.
There is a kids menu, with all the typical things most kids like. Someday I'd like to find a restaurant that offers grilled goat cheese sandwiches and mahi mahi sticks, but for now we order chicken fingers (boneless and not resembling fingers in the slightest) with wedge cut fries with 2 sauces (oohh yeah, sauce!), suits our kids just fine.In a prior visit, we ate during lunch to experience the sandwiches and salads. I can't say much about he salads except they lack everything. It was the same salad I would make on a quick night at home. Although I don't do croutons. The grilled Cuban panini was wonderful, pickles, ham, cheese.
We continued to finish most of our wine, making sure to leave pre-inebriation. With the new "open liquor" law, one can now leave an establishment with an unfinished bottle of liquor and drive home without much worry, except for those who are swilling while driving. That might be an issue.
We did skip sweets, I'm not seasoned enough at this "critical eating" thing to pace myself and leave room. I'm sure it was typical, as most restaurants in the way of pizza usually don't have extraordinary desserts, but maybe I'll prove that wrong and go back just for pie. That's not unheard of.
We continued to finish most of our wine, making sure to leave pre-inebriation. With the new "open liquor" law, one can now leave an establishment with an unfinished bottle of liquor and drive home without much worry, except for those who are swilling while driving. That might be an issue.
We did skip sweets, I'm not seasoned enough at this "critical eating" thing to pace myself and leave room. I'm sure it was typical, as most restaurants in the way of pizza usually don't have extraordinary desserts, but maybe I'll prove that wrong and go back just for pie. That's not unheard of.
BETTY BON VIVANT RATING SYSTEM: 1-5
1 = ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH THE EFFORT, SAVE YOUR $ FOR GIN
5 = WOW, I WOULD STRIP NAKED AND ROLL IN THIS CHOW IF I WAS A DOG
RIVERFRONT PIZZA BAR & GRILL 509 EAST ERIE STREET
KID RATING: 4
PARENT RATING: 3
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