Thanksgiving: MKE to DePere

[MelissaH]

My husband and I will be flying into the Milwaukee airport on Thanksgiving Day, renting a car, and driving to DePere. We'll be in DePere through the holiday weekend, drive back to Milwaukee on Sunday to spend the night in a hotel near the airport, and fly home early Monday morning.

Where should we eat? Is there anything in DePere, or will we need to drive into Green Bay? I'm particularly concerned about making sure we can find food on Thanksgiving Day. Will grocery stores in the area be open, or are we doomed to McDonald's?

Thanks,

Melissa

[madisonite]

Hello! Most grocery stores are open the day of Thanksgiving until around 4 pm. You will have better dining luck in Green Bay than in the Depere area. Honestly, all of my favorite Green Bay dining experiences are pretty casual. I love Kroll's (there is an east and west side location) for burgers and some of the best fried mushrooms and cheese curds! Los Banditos is my favorite place for americanized Mexican. (I typically like authentic cuisine, but their chile con queso is almost drug-like addicting.) I grew up on Chili John's Chili (There is a location in Lambeau Field.) If you are looking for fine dining, Hinterland is probably the best choice, although their wine list is incredibly overpriced.

Let me know what you are looking for and I may be able to give you some more specific options!

As for Milwaukee (my current residence), I can give you lots of suggestions in all categories. In my opinion, the best restaurants in town are Ristorante Bartolotta, Mr. B's, Sanford, El Senorial and Solly's and Elsa's.

Ristorante Bartolotta is an authentic Italian restaurant in Wauwatosa. My favorite restaurant in the city! The duck pappardelle is amazing! They are owned by the Bartolotta Family, Paul Bartolotta is the chef of Ristorante Bartolotta in the Wynn in Las Vegas and is pretty renowned. (He was on Iron Chef last week.) The Bartolotta's own 4 restaurant in Milwaukee and their Corporate chef housed in Milwaukee just took home the James Beard award for best chef in the midwest for their French concept, Lake Park Bistro. Mr. B's is their steakhouse in Brookfield (wood-burning oven) and their steaks are out of this world.

Sandford is another renowned restaurant in Milwaukee. It is owned by Sandy D'Amato who is also a James Beard Award winner. The menu offers seasonal dishes as well as a chef's tasting menu, which in my opinion is the way to go! Service here is wonderful.

El Senorial is a dive, but is the best authentic Mexican in town. They do a dish called "parriada" which is a sizzling platter of short ribs, steak, chile rubbed chicken, chorizo, chicken wings, onions, peppers, etc. served with tortillas and sour cream. Their salsa and horchata is also amazing and you can feed a family for 20 bucks!

Solly's is the home of the best butter burger I have ever have... (Better than Sobelman's and Kopp's in my opinion, which are their main competitors, but Kopp's is great if your a custard fan!)

Elsa's is an lounge downtown that serves food. They're known for their wings, burgers and chicken sandwiches. It's a great place to grab a cocktail and people watch. It's owned by the same people that own Kopps!

Let me know if I can answer any specific questions for you! I hope this helps!

Edited June 15, 2008 by madisonite (log)