Getto's Top 30
Red meat, great treats and more
By DENNIS R. GETTO
Posted: June 7, 2007

Of the four new restaurants that appear on this annual list of Milwaukee's best eating establishments, two have the word "grill" in their names, a third beckons with a carnivore-friendly name, and a fourth has built a reputation for great slabs of red meat cooked to order.

Together, they show that more of Milwaukee's elite restaurants are stepping up to satisfy the area's seemingly insatiable appetite for steak.

Over 22 years of assembling the top 30 (originally top 25), I've watched the number of steakhouses making the cut
grow steadily.

The newcomers are the Mason Street Grill, Jackson Grill, Carnevor and the Savoy Room.

Carnevor and a returning top 30 restaurant, Dream Dance, are even betting that some Milwaukeeans are so intoxicated by the taste of steak they will be willing to shell out $140 to $160 for the privilege of eating true Kobe steaks from Japan, which are considered the world's best. (See story on 14E.)

But not all of the restaurants on this list are steak establishments. French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Cuban and American cuisines are all represented. And for those interested in vegetarian dishes and organic foods, two restaurants - Roots and Barossa - both serve dishes guaranteed to satisfy.

All of these restaurants have been accorded a full review within the last 18 months, some very recently. All earned at least 3 stars, many 3½ or even 4. In addition to their ratings, each of these 30 restaurants has distinguished itself with a high quality of both food and service.

For this annual listing, I've compiled capsulized descriptions with busy readers in mind. While strict dress codes are a thing of the past in even the most elegant establishments, I've tried to offer apparel guidelines based on how patrons in each restaurant typically dress.

I also provide details about outdoor dining (where it exists), and the quality and nature of each restaurant's wine offerings.

Once I compiled the list, I looked it over to determine distinctive aspects of each restaurant - the view, the atmosphere, the food - to provide diners with a clearer picture of their choices.

My ultimate goal is to guide you to those places where your meal will transcend mere eating and become an experience you and your companions will remember for years.

FOR MEAT LOVERS
Mr. B's
17700 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield
(262) 790-7005
www.mrbssteakhouse.com

What makes it great: Steaks, grilled in a wood-burning oven at temperatures in excess of 800 degrees, along with excellent other meats and fish.

What to wear: This is Brookfield, so dress conservatively.

A great spot for: Steak lovers who want the very best.

You might not notice, but the oven in which the steaks are prepared is housed in a separate building with its own foundation. It weighs 2½ tons and had to be lifted into place by a 5-ton crane.

Outdoor dining: No.

Wine list: Has lots of big reds to go with the steaks. Tuscans, Cabs, Merlots and Pinot Noirs are all widely represented.

Hours: 5:30-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5:30-10 p.m. Friday; 5-10 p.m. Saturday; 5-8 p.m. Sunday. Prices: $19.95-$64.95.

Credit cards: All major.

Reservations: Always recommended.

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Mr. B's comes out swinging with succulent steaks
By Dennis R. Getto
Journal Sentinel dining critic
Published: July 7, 2000

A few feet inside the door of the new Mr. B's steakhouse in Brookfield, I noticed the music had changed. Gone were the Italian tunes that floated over me as I ate pizza and pasta at Nonna Bartolotta's a year ago.

Now I was listening to big band sounds from the 1930s and '40s, complete with swinging saxophone solos. For a minute, I thought I was an extra in a Humphrey Bogart film.

Six weeks ago, this restaurant was a casual Italian place that well-known restaurateur Joe Bartolotta had designed to capture a slice of the mid-priced business in the western suburbs.

On Nov. 6, Bartolotta abandoned his experiment in mid-priced meals, changed the name to Mr. B's, cut the number of seats from 120 to 80 and turned the restaurant into a high-end steakhouse with dinner prices from $15.95 to $29.95. Those prices are much more like the other two Bartolotta establishments - Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro on Milwaukee's east side and Bartolotta Ristorante in the village of Wauwatosa. Mr. B's opened Nov. 18.

Unlike the music, other changes Bartolotta made in the 11 short days were more subtle: He removed many of the Italian knickknacks, lowered light levels and replaced the tables, chairs and china.

There's an expanded wine list and a large cart covered with plates of meat all covered with plastic wrap, which our server wheeled to our table as we studied the menus.

"This is the most tender of all the steaks I can offer you," our waitress said holding out a plate half-covered with a three-quarter-pound filet mignon ($29.95).

"And if you want something smaller, we have it in a 9-ounce ($24.95) size as well."

From there, she worked steadily through the other cuts of meat on the cart. There was the house special, a 22-ounce, long-bone rib eye ($26.95) cooked on the bone to enhance its flavor. There was a double-size pork chop ($19.95) so thick I had to look twice to make sure there wasn't any bread stuffing inside it. A veal chop ($28.95), also with a bone still attached, glistened pink and inviting.

"And if you're really hungry," our waitress said, "Here's our 24-ounce porterhouse. . . . We also have a 32-ounce size."

Tempting patrons with beautiful cuts of uncooked meat isn't new. I'd seen it done in Chicago and at Mo's, the steakhouse that opened at 720 N. Plankinton Ave. last spring.

What I wasn't prepared for was the added flavor that wood-grilling would give those thick cuts of meat.

Mr. B's staff is using the same wood-fired oven that formerly produced pizzas and firing it with a cord of oak, hickory and maple a week. But instead of running it at 400 degrees, they're cranking it up to 800, Joe Bartolotta said, and loading it with cast-iron grills. When a steak is ordered, a chef plops a pat of butter onto one of those 800-degree grills, then follows with the meat. In the oven, the butter caramelizes to form a classic crust that crunches beautifully on the tongue.

In two visits, I sampled the house special rib eye, along with lamb ($29.95) and pork chops and was wowed by all three. The combination of perfect texture and the smoky flavor makes Mr. B's steaks some of the most distinctive in town.

I think I actually liked the chops better than the steak. The pork chop arrived perfectly golden brown and its flavorful, wood-scented crust added counterpoint to its rich, moist interior.

The three Australian lamb chops ($29.95) that made up a serving were surprisingly mild and, like the pork, nicely accented by wood smoke from the oven. Done medium rare, they showed perfect pink when we cut into them.

Steaks and chops at the new Mr. B's come with a choice of potato. There are thin-cut french fries, Italian-style garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes, pureed potatoes and salt-crusted baked, which were wonderfully moist and flavorful.

Diners who choose steak or chops are also offered their choice of six sauces: Hollandaise or Bearnaise (Hollandaise with tarragon), brandy peppercorn, barolo mushroom, lemon butter and maitre d' butter (lemon butter with parsley).

Both the Bearnaise and brandy peppercorn were quite good but unneeded - the steaks and chops had so much flavor of their own that it seemed a sin to cover it up with sauce.

Dinners also came with Bartolotta's answer to a relish tray - an Italian appetizer called pinzimonio - a basket of fresh asparagus, green onions, radishes, celery, carrots, fennel and pepper strips alongside a peppery olive oil in which to dip them. Two breads - Tuscan white and raisin-walnut - were good, but non-traditional: The white was salted and probably should have been called something else, because the most famous breads of Tuscany are unsalted.

The new Mr. B's calls itself a steakhouse, but there are enough Italian dishes on the menu to remind you that it's a Bartolotta establishment.

Two of the Italian entrees, veal scaloppine ($19.95) and Tuscan-style Cornish hen ($17.95), were excellent. The hen had been slowly roasted over that same fragrant fire and was moist and flavorful. Three thick, tender veal cutlets covered with a rich meat glaze were rich with flavor and went well with the pasta that accompanied them.

The only entree that seemed slightly amiss, fettuccine with white truffle cream sauce ($18.95), had a fine fresh cream flavor, but only a faint hint of the taste of truffle.

Appetizers delivered a range of tasty treats. Richly fried calamari ($8.95) and eggplant ($6.50) were both served with a bright lively tomato sauce. My favorite was bruschetta ($5.95), wood-toasted slices of Italian bread served with a lively marinated tomato salad on the side. For fans of raw beef, Mr. B's version of carpaccio is a must - the lean slices of paper-thin beef were served atop a traditional mix of olive oil and lemon, then sprinkled with capers.

Like most of the other steak houses in town, vegetables are served a la carte. Creamed spinach ($4.95) and wood-roasted mushrooms ($4.95) both brimmed with rich flavors, but a side of grilled asparagus was a bit of a let-down because the tough outer layers of the vegetable hadn't been properly peeled off.

Salads were the weakest suit: The dressing on a Caesar salad ($5.95) wasn't particularly flavorful and a green bean salad ($6.95) was weighed down by chunks of sticky cheese.

For dessert, turtle cheesecake ($5.95) and tiramisu ($4.95) were the clear winners. The former was thick, creamy and covered with what tasted like homemade caramel, the latter was light and charged through with lively coffee and liqueur flavors. Mascarpone cheese custard ($3.95) was a little too strong with the taste of almond.

Service at one meal was quite good. The other dinner became a drawn-out affair when both of our servers abandoned us after our entrees. We waited more than a half an hour before we were offered coffee.

But some foul-ups are to be expected in the first few weeks of a new operation.

The most important news for those who haven't already tried it, is that the core of the new - great steaks and chops - is solid and the new restaurant is a classy place for a fine meal.

If Mr. B's follows the lead set by the other two Bartolotta establishments, residents of the far western suburbs won't have to cross the county line to find an excellent steak.