Out to Lunch: Smoke Shack

I seriously love southern food so I was really excited to check this place out. Smoke Shack in the third ward serves up BBQ done right. The place is small, you drink out of mason jars, and the country music is ON. If there were ever a place in Milwaukee that didn't feel like Milwaukee, this is it. My husband and I split the four meat combo (a sampler of their pulled pork, sliced brisket, house made sausage, and pulled chicken. Then, we split dessert -- a bacon bourbon brownie usually served with Purple Door vanilla ice cream, but I had them substitute with their whiskey ice cream. Three words: Oh Lordy Moses.

Check out their website here. Check out their menu here.

Out to Lunch: Cafe Calatrava

top photo: strange closets I love spending the day at the art museum and then getting a late lunch at Cafe Calatrava in the lower level of the Milwaukee Art Museum. It has really grown on me. Initially, it looks like a true cafeteria -- a little sterile, a little sparse. But the view from the curved Calatrava-designed windows totally makes up for it. The food has been consistently good, too. The falafel pita shown above was very good. I went to the art museum last week with my mother-in-law to see the Accidental Genius exhibit - has anyone seen it? Well if you go, check out the cafe, and if not, you can still eat at the cafe without buying admission. Check out their current menu (it changes seasonally) below:

Out to Lunch: Jing's Lunch Buffet

If you're looking for a good downtown lunch spot, Jing's Chinese restaurant in the Third Ward has an amazing lunch buffet. Jing's is my favorite Chinese restaurant in Milwaukee. It might be because their dishes, mostly from the Hunan province, are a little lighter and fresher than what I'm used to getting. Or it's because their crab rangoons are out of this world. I can easily be bought and sold with crab rangoons. Either way, Jing's is definitely worth checking out and their lunch buffet has a great sampling of their best dishes. I had (of course, crab rangoons) Ginger chicken with green onions, twice cooked pork, hot and sour soup, and a pork dumpling.
Jing's Lunch BuffetTuesday - Friday11:30-1pm $8 per person

Out to Lunch: Maharaja Lunch Buffet

This is surely one of the best hidden lunch spots in the city. Even better than Jake's. The lunch buffet at Maharaja is only $9.95 and includes as many gulab jamun (those syrup-soaked donut-holes) as I want. I also love it because buffets makes trying foreign or strange foods ten times easier. I always worry when I order something new with an unpronounceable name that I will end up with something very spicy or very weird. Because of that, I've shied away from Indian restaurants for years. But here, I try a little of everything and take iPhone notes of what I like.

Here are some of my new favorites:
Matar Paneer: peas and homemade cottage cheese stewed in a ginger curry sauce
Avial: Mixed vegetables (yams, gourds, bananas, beans) in a coconut curry with chiles.
Vattalappam: steamed rice and coconut cake with dried fruit/raisins
Lamb Shahi Korma: Lamb in saffron, almond, and cardamon sauce

Out to Lunch: Jake's Deli

On 17th and North Ave. Open M-Sa 10:00am - 3:00pm

I love that this place hasn't changed in decades. I also loved the sign on the wall that read "Sorry, the only Bud we serve here is Bud Selig". And I looove their corned beef sandwiches.