With the temperatures remaining stubbornly below freezing, there’s never been a better time to dig into some warm, delicious comfort food. Here are our top picks from around the city.
Filet Mignon from Henry Flach’s. Photo by Marty Peters.
HENRY FLACH’S | 9140 W. NATIONAL AVE., WEST ALLIS
If you think of filet mignon as the boring beef equivalent of a boneless, skinless chicken breast, you’re not wrong – but hear me out. There are times when a seared filet just hits so hard, and this is one of them: tender, crusty, served with sautéed mushrooms and melted blue cheese on top if you ask nicely.
ONO KINE GRINDZ | 7215 W. NORTH AVE., WAUWATOSA
Being asked to choose between tender, smoked Kalua pig and finger-licking-divine char-sui chicken is impossible. Together, they are Laverne & Shirley, Starsky & Hutch – different, but they complement each other. Plus, that purple sticky rice and macaroni-potato salad are so tasty.
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LAKE PARK BISTRO | 3133 E. NEWBERRY BLVD.
Moules-frites, the pairing of steamed mussels and french fries, is classically, comfort foodily French and Belgian. Somewhere I learned to eat a mussel by pulling the meat out with my fingers, popping it in my mouth and slurping the exquisite white-wine cream broth out of the shell. Then I use the empty shell to scoop the meat out of the next mussel, and so on. The skinny frites are served in a cone to keep them crisp – but I love to dunk them in the broth.
THREE BROTHERS | 2414 S. ST. CLAIR ST.
This Bay View old-timer has a menu full of cozy dishes (see burek), but its lasagna-
esque casserole seems to stay out of the limelight. In Greek restaurants, it’s called “moussaka.” Three Brothers’ Serbian rendition with breaded eggplant and mellow-spiced ground beef is meaty, custardy and distinctly rustic. It’s the meal for cold nights.
Momma’s Vesuvio from Safina. Photo by Marty Peters.
SAFINA | 785 N. Jefferson St.
A few gotta-mention details rise to the surface with this dish – the crust of Sicilian herbs on the chicken, the bed of roasted fingerlings and plump green peas, and that bright, elevating lemon-butter sauce. Co-owner and executive chef Giuseppe Safina pays tribute to a dish his late mother, Rosa, made for her young sons, refining it and “replicating that feeling of a loving mother’s meal.”
PARKSIDE 23 | 2300 PILGRIM SQUARE DR., BROOKFIELD
While shrimp and grits is sometimes lumped under the label of Southern cuisine, its humble roots are specific to the Carolinas and Low Country, where the dish drew from Native American and African culinary traditions. Modern evolution hasn’t made this specialty better, but it has broadened its appeal. Parkside 23 makes shrimp and grits something else almost entirely – a comfort casserole of creamed corn; fried, Cajun-spiced polenta cake; zesty sautéed shrimp; and a crisp, smoky avalanche of chopped bacon.
CUTE ROBOT | 704 S. SECOND ST.
This savory Japanese creation – texturally, like a cross between a pancake and an omelet – is not bland. The light, fluffy cake part is tunneled through with cabbage, green onion and chunks of pork or whole shrimp (which makes it heartier), and the top is decorated like a party: generous drizzles of Kewpie mayo and a funky ketchup-Worcestershire sauce, a sharp exhale of ginger, and enough flaked seaweed and bonito (smoked, fermented skipjack tuna) to bring on the umami. The dish is classified as a starter on Cute Robot’s menu, but to me, it’s the main event.
Photo by Marty Peters
TENUTA’S | 2995 S. CLEMENT AVE.
At the Bay View Italian Tenuta’s, they celebrate zucca, or squash, season with this rustic-sophisticated dish – butternut squash ravioli in sage browned butter. In Northern Italy, butter and sage is a classic combination, particularly favored with stuffed pasta. Browned butter is a revelation, for bringing a toasty, nutty, rich element without adding heaviness. There is also a “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” going on here – from the golden pan-fried pasta and thick, creamy roasted squash filling to the earthy sage-infused butter and crispy kale placed on top.
Photo by Marty Peters
CALDERONE CLUB | 842 N. MARTIN LUTHER KING DR.
Penne, with its tubular shape, hollow center and ridged exterior, is a thick sauce’s best friend, because it gives the sauce something to hold on to. And this sauce – an arrabbiata (it means angry in English) – is one you want to hold on to. The angry dimension is the peperoncino (hot chile pepper), combined with the excellent homemade Italian sausage. This is not a complicated sauce, but it relies on quality ingredients – San Marzano tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh basil.
Beef Short Rib Gnocchi from Story Hill BKC. Photo by Marty Peters.
STORY HILL BKC | 5100 W. BLUEMOUND RD.
This dish has become a Story Hill trademark, and I think that’s because it screams Wisconsin winter. It surprises because it feels 30% Italian and 70% German or Eastern European. The soft, starchy potato gnocchi and red wine braised beef deliver heartiness. This dish could stay rich and mellow, but instead the tangy braised red cabbage and pungent mustard reduction cut through with almost perfect sweetness and acidity.
UPPA YARD | 4943 W. FOND DU LAC AVE. o
Holy smokes, this bird has flavor. Jerk is at once a style of seasoning and cooking and a cultural tradition that came from the Jamaican diaspora. When you order jerk chicken at Uppa Yard, you get charred, skin-on, bone-in bird, into which the seasoning (from thyme to allspice) deeply penetrates. It’s one of the best ways to enjoy chicken.
GOODKIND | 2457 S. WENTWORTH AVE.
I have a lot of good thoughts about Goodkind. Foremost are these mushrooms. They’re battered and fried, becoming magically light, puffy, amorphous blobs that I could eat without stopping – even without their dressing of crisp slivered kohlrabi, sweet piquillo peppers and that just-right honey vinaigrette.
Bocce Ball from Santino’s Little Italy. Photo by Marty Peters
SANTINO’S LITTLE ITALY | 352 E. STEWARD ST.
So big – 6 ounces short of a pound of ground beef! – that it justifies its name. This giant meatball (dense but I’m not complaining) comes with marinara sauce, asiago cheese, a blob of ricotta and kalamata olives for that juicy tang. Made for sharing!
SAPSAP AT ZÓCALO FOOD PARK | 636 S. SIXTH ST.
Let’s dissect: brisket and fried rice. The rice doesn’t skimp on seasoning (plenty of garlic and scallions) and manages to be both moist and al dente. It would be good on its own, but the smoked brisket adds to the richness and umami depth. I’ll be thinking about this fried rice for a long time.
BUCKLEY’S RESTAURANT AND BAR | 801 N. CASS ST.
This dish nails it, every little detail – the rich seared filet topped with a bright-green dab of wasabi caviar, the bed of crispy Asian sofrito rice, the Thai coconut milk sauce. Salmon is rarely this interesting or satisfying (coming from someone who eats a lot of salmon).
This story is part of Milwaukee Magazine’s December 2025 issue.
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Dining and Cooking