{"id":7823,"date":"2026-09-22T15:25:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/7823\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T15:25:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:25:09","slug":"milwaukee-chef-paul-bartolotta-opens-new-steakhouse-revitalizing-water-street-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/7823\/","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee chef, Paul Bartolotta, opens new steakhouse revitalizing Water Street area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;My stake in the ground&#8217;: Milwaukee chef, Paul Bartolotta, opens new steakhouse revitalizing Water Street area<\/p>\n<p>High Stakes by Bartolotta opened in September near Water Street and Highland Avenue.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/author_avatar.png\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"Larson Seaver\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>MILWAUKEE \u2014<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"0\">A new restaurant is open in downtown Milwaukee, and it&#8217;s in the center of one of the city&#8217;s busiest nightlife districts.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"1\">High Stakes by Bartolotta is a European-inspired steakhouse and cocktail lounge near Water Street and Highland Avenue.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"2\">The restaurant takes over the Rumpus Room, which was previously owned by the Bartolotta Group until it shut down in 2020, bringing new energy to an important part of downtown.<\/p>\n<p>A European take on the American steakhouse <\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"4\">The inspiration for the restaurant&#8217;s unique design came from a trip to a department store in London.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"5\">While shopping there, Bartolotta&#8217;s wife purchased a vividly patterned pillow, which Bartolotta brought to a meeting with his designer as a visual representation of the atmosphere he wanted.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"6\">&#8220;He said, &#8216;I know exactly what you want,'&#8221; Bartolotta said. &#8220;You want something between the private clubs in London and a little bit of glitz like LA or Vegas, without being too gimmicky.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"7\">That combination helped shape High Stakes and the Peacock Lounge, where guests can stop in for cocktails.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"8\">Casino-themed decorations, like custom playing cards used as coasters, also appear throughout the restaurant, another nod to the restaurant&#8217;s name.<\/p>\n<p>Raising the stakes in downtown Milwaukee<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"10\">More than another restaurant, the new project represents Bartolotta&#8217;s personal commitment to revitalize the Water Street area.<\/p>\n<p data-node-id=\"11\">&#8220;It&#8217;s my stake in the ground, saying we are investing in Milwaukee,&#8221; Bartolotta said. &#8220;Doing something on Water Street is critical. It&#8217;s a major thoroughfare.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;My stake in the ground&#8217;: Milwaukee chef, Paul Bartolotta, opens new steakhouse revitalizing Water Street area High Stakes by Bartolotta opened in September near Water Street and Highland Avenue. MILWAUKEE \u2014 A new restaurant is open in downtown Milwaukee, and it&#8217;s in the center of one of the city&#8217;s busiest nightlife districts. High Stakes by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8377,5,8378,8379,8380,8381,8382,8383],"class_list":["post-7823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-bartolotta-group","tag-chef","tag-chef-paul-bartolotta","tag-downtown-milwaukee","tag-high-stakes","tag-milwaukee","tag-water-street-and-highland-avenue","tag-wisn-12"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117315392119150306","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}