This Midwestern City Is Known for Butter Burgers, Bratwurst, and Custard—Here Are The Essential Meals to Try

Ignore the beer-and-curds stereotype. Milwaukee is a city that appreciates good food from street to haut. James Beard baggers won’t want to miss Birch (farm-to-table fine), Odd Duck (global small plates), Bavette La Boucherie (oh, that muffuletta), and the many Bartolotta restaurants (from Francophile to steakhouse).

But when you want to eat Milwaukee classics at their source, these meals that made the city famous should fill your gastronomic bingo card.

Butter burger

Butter has deep roots in Wisconsin. In 1899, more than 90 percent of farms in the state raised dairy cows. Putting a giant dollop of butter atop a burger to goose the juice might have occurred to other short-order cooks, but in Milwaukee, it became famous at Solly’s Grille in suburban Glendale, which has been slinging butter burgers since 1936 (and won a 2022 James Beard Award for them). The combo’s gild-the-lily style has achieved cult status (see filmmaker Errol Morris’s 1998 commercial for Miller High Life featuring butter burgers and extolling the “one beer that can stand up to a man’s meal”).

Brats

Early-19th-century German immigration to Milwaukee helped build its brewing empire—courtesy of brewers such as Frederick Miller and Frederick Pabst—and its taste for sausages. From the ballpark to backyard barbecues, bratwurst is the tastiest, most filling weiner. On the Milwaukee River, Usinger’s has been making bratwurst since 1880, when more than a quarter of the city’s population was German (the factory has a retail shop). For a time-trippy visit to old Bavaria and a satisfying brat with the requisite sauerkraut, visit Mader’s—Germanic from its turreted exterior to interior decor featuring armored knights and stained glass—which survived Prohibition on the strength of its cooking.

Photo by Vincent B David/Shutterstock

Custard

There’s ice cream, and then there’s custard, a similar frozen treat made with extra egg yolks for a richer flavor and a propensity to stay colder longer. Invented in Coney Island, New York, in 1919, custard became particularly popular during Prohibition, when Wisconsin breweries latched onto it when beer was banned. Milwaukee’s long-standing shops Kopp’s Frozen Custard and Leon’s Frozen Custard vie for the affection of locals. Kopp’s is all about daily specials (consider Bienenstichkuchen or wedding cake) while Leon’s radiates cool with ’50s-era neon. “I love Kopp’s—they have a pancake custard with maple syrup—but Leon’s is my favorite,” says John Dye, the owner of several Milwaukee bars, including At Random, Bryant’s, and The Estate. “It’s 10 below, and you’ll see people lined up and waiting.”

Photo by Miranda & Adam Kneeland

Fish fry

Catholicism meets Lake Michigan, an original source of fish, in the classic fish fry, generally served on Fridays and ubiquitous during Lent. “Fish fries started with the churches because factory workers were going to bars, and churches wanted to create places for families,” says Theresa Nemetz, the owner of Milwaukee Food and City Tours, which offers a fish-fry tour in the Lenten season that visits parishes holding traditional Friday events. For out-of-season samples, visit Lakefront Brewery, which serves fried cod and walleye on Fridays, accompanied by a polka band and house Dive Beer lagers.

Photo courtesy of Bryant’s

Pink Squirrel

Wisconsinites’ love of dairy eventually made its way to the bar. Bryant Sharp, the original owner of Bryant’s, which dates back to 1936 in the Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood, was known for his creativity. He turned a former beer bar into the city’s first cocktail lounge—still swanky and dimly lit—and invented drinks. His Pink Squirrel, a blushing ice cream quaff made with almond and cocoa liqueurs, caught on at bars around the country. “Sometimes it’s dessert,” says Dye, the current owner of Bryant’s, “sometimes it’s a cocktail. And sometimes people have more than one.”

Photo courtesy of Bacchus

Wisconsin cheese

As the biggest city in America’s Dairyland, Milwaukee is a mecca for the blues, goats, and havartis of 1,200 licensed cheese makers across the state. Home to grocers, restaurants, and specialty food stalls, Milwaukee Public Market is a good place to start a cheese crawl. Its West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe carries aged cheddars from Hook’s and goat gouda from Carr Valley Cheese. For Wisconsin-centric cheese boards, check out Bacchus, which includes the acclaimed alpine-style Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese, made only in summer from the milk of grass-fed cows.