The tavern scene in the city of Milwaukee is amazing. There seems to be a hidden gem on every…read moreother corner. Phylo's, hiding on a corner in West Allis, is a wonderful vestige of a time of warmth and welcome. Within ten minutes, we were talking with everyone in the bar. The maestro of this symphony is the indomitable Lou, the owner and master of the grill. She cooked up one of the best burgers I have tasted, with a choice of cheese, onions, tomato, lettuce, pickles and whatever else you want. Lou is there to please. She is also the consummate master of ceremonies and makes Phylo's a special place.

After seeing the charbroil grill behind the bar on my first visit I knew that I would be back for a…read morecheeseburger. The menu is small with sandwiches and appetizers which is ok for a corner bar. The menu is very reasonable with two cocktails and a burger with side totaling $17.50 flat. Lou is on the ball with drinks when your ready for another one. The place is your typical Wi dive bar. Service is great with Lou being a firecracker opinionated bartender. The sandwich's are all under $10 with choice of side being onion rings, steak frys or tots. I ordered the half pound bacon cheeseburger and battered onion rings. The bacon cheeseburger looked great on a toasted Kiser roll with fresh leaf lettuce, tomato, pickles and raw onion. The battered onion rings were perfectly crispy with tender onion on the inside. WOW my bacon cheeseburger was cooked perfect rare with a delicious deep char broiled flavor. With the fresh toppings this is a really tasty burger to my surprise from an unassuming coroner bar. This is the perfect cheeseburger for my tastes and what I seek out in a cheeseburger so this will become my known good cheeseburger bookmark in my head. I will definitely be back when I'm craving a char broiled flavored cheeseburger and try some more of the menu. This is probably the last place in town where you can get a 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger with fresh toppings and a side for under $10 so value vs delicious is outstanding.

The lent cod fish fry continues. One more week to go. So today we went to Slick Willies in South…read moreMilwaukee. If you want to go, get there before 4 or after 8. The bartender said between those times it is usually standing room only. So, lunch is a good time to go. I wanted to get the sampler plate, but I want to be consistent and I am doing cod plates for this lent tour. The hubs had the slick willies burger and said it was fantastic, had bark on it like he likes. The fish was okay, you could taste the grease in the batter. In saying this, I am a bit picky with a fish fry, I don't want it to taste greasy or fishy. When I put the fork into the fish, the batter broke away from the fish, bummer but not a deal breaker. The prices are great!

The food is amazing and reasonably priced. Great big burgers! Great tacos. All the food is really…read moregood! I will be back.

This is my second visit here. My first visit was great. I had the famous fish fry (my first in…read moreMKE), and it didn't disappoint. Great tasting fish and sides. Cheap domestic draft beer. The second visit was also good. Appetizers and a shrimp basket. Simple good, good prices, cold beer. Its not the most elegant option, but it sure works well. Its just comfortable.

My neighbor has been raving about Schneider's for years and I didn't realize it was just down the…read morestreet from me! We went a few Friday's ago for the Fish Fry. We went mid-day and we were the only table seated with the exception of a few people sitting at the bar. We sat at the bar at first while we waited for our food. There were a few older men watching the news and starting to make ignorant racist comments. We decided to seat our self in the dining area and skip the drinks. There was a bartender present but she didn't say anything to them. I normally would have but my friends who I were with (who happen to be POC) told me to leave it alone. The first thing I noticed was that the place was kind of a dive. The decor and atmosphere felt like I went home to grandma's house - it was dingy and outdated. The waitress was nice but not overly friendly or welcoming. The service was fast and the food was great! I had the beer battered cod with potato cakes. My only complaint about the food was that the tartar sauce was basically just mayonnaise with lemon squeezed in it - it was nothing like tartar sauce. I'm really conflicted about this place because the food was fantastic but the atmosphere wasn't. I'm not sure that I feel comfortable supporting this establishment.

Definitely my new favorite spot for brunch, dinner, and all things sports! The bartenders were…read moreamazing, super friendly, attentive, and provided some of the quickest service I've had. And the food? Absolutely delicious! This place really checks all the boxes for what downtown should feel like: great food, great drinks, great atmosphere, and even better service. I can't wait to bring my friends here the next time they're in town!

Absolutely amazing vibe, great good, GREAT ambiance. The bartenders were so attentive and made the…read moreexperience!!! GO BREWERS

The inside was clean and looked like a normal bar. The service was great. Ashley was bustling…read morearound to all the tables and the bar! I got this drink with Door County cherry vodka, and it was really good. The cheese curds were also great and only four dollars during happy hour! I also ordered the mushroom Swiss burger. The menu recommended a double patty and I figured it was because they were smash burgers. From my understanding, smash burgers were typically thin and crispy patties. Unfortunately, this was not the case. They were much thicker than I imagined and a double was way more than I could handle, a single would have been perfect. There wasn't really any crisp to them and they were pretty heavy and greasy. I actually forgot that the burger was supposed to come with Riley sauce then I saw a nice bite with some of it, but when I went for it all I tasted was hamburger grease. The cheese fries were pretty good and I would definitely get those again. I would also love to try some of their other menu items and maybe even give the (single) burger another chance one day!

Went for happy hour, good deals on drinks! The outside area…read moreis nice and big with picnic tables. The inside bar area was big with only high top seating inside. I got the Riley's burger which was good, I liked the sauce on it. I got a single but think a double would be even tastier. There were lots of friendly bartenders and staff that were always checking in!

It's always busy, but it goes fast. Food is worth waiting for. Bartenders are all friendly and very…read moreattentive.

1 junior fish fry 2 regular beer battered cod fries. Waitress said they were 3 & 4 piece but they…read morewere 2 & 3 pieces. Potato pancakes not homemade but quite tasty. German potato salad was good. Coleslaw bland & tarter sauce had an odd sweet taste (cinnamon?). Slice of rye bread. Fish was pretty good. It's a small place get there early!

I love Vanguard because it's a Bay View staple with an interesting theme and decor. It's heavy on…read morethe bourbon for craft drinks and fun with TV kitsch like 80s wrestling and old sci-fi. My favorite will always be the fried potato ball covered in cheesy goodness with sour cream and chives. I opted for the new Sammartino which is a brilliant combination of ingredients. Who could refuse an Italian sausage on a toasted bun with crispy bits of pepperoni, pesto, marinara and cheese. If you don't like spice do not get this sandwich because the Italian is a, medium hot which was a little too spicy for me. Also I think the sausage could have used a little more fat for mouth feel but that's a personal preference. Note that all the Italian sausage is made spicy because my friend had one with sauerkraut and it was spicy. I can't wait for it to be warm out to grab a beer and a craft hot dog on the outside patio.

While visiting Milwaukee on a short weekend trip with my husband, we decided to come to The…read moreVanguard for a late lunch before we checked into our hotel downtown. Parking was fairly easy as we managed to grab a spot on the street out front. We decided to sit at the bar and soak in the ambience. When in Milwaukee ... eat all the comfort food. We started with an order of cheese curds and poutine. The cheese curds were perfectly fried salty goodness and the poutine had plenty of gravy, sautéed onions, and of course, more cheese curds. We also ordered a Milwaukee-style bratwurst and a Chicago-style cheddarwurst. We both thought that the Chicago-style cheddarwurst had great flavor and delicious toppings. The Milwaukee-style bratwurst was tasty, but we both felt that it needed some type of sauce or something to bring it all together. Needless to say, we left completely full and actually did not even have room for dinner that evening. So if you find yourself in the Milwaukee area and looking for some delicious comfort food, come check this place out.

Stopped by this bar in our neighborhood for fish fry takeout after walking past so many times and…read moresaying we need to try it because the sign is so funny. The fish fry was pretty good. I've had better but I've had worse. Absolutely loved the potato pancakes and fries. I got the feeling that everyone there knows each other. It reminds me of dive bars in small town Wisconsin, so it's kind of fun to get that same feeling in the city. I'd like to stop in sometime and sit at the bar rather than do takeout - I think that would give us the full experience.

Not a bad fish fry in an amusingly unabashed unashamed dive bar. The potato pancakes are better…read morethan average though they look at me funny when I ask for sour cream. I may never completely understand Milwaukee. It may look a little scary but nothing bad has ever happened to me here. It's a shot and a beer sort of place with an honest kind of neighborhood charm mere steps from some of the most pretentious bourgeois eateries and bars in Wisconsin.