Top 14+ iconic Milwaukee foods and drinks, ranked

Milwaukee takes its dining and drinking culture seriously. 

We wait all winter for the first bite of our favorite festival foods, stand in hourlong lines for a simple taste of tradition and turn a seemingly low-stakes brunch beverage into a meal unto itself. 

We all have our favorites. Yes, many are cheese-based (this is the Dairy State, after all). Sure, sausages are on the list, too. And you bet we saved room for beer (hello, Brew City!). 

Here, we’ve ranked some of the top foods in Milwaukee everyone should try at least once. Let the debate begin! 

14. The Pink Squirrel 

The Pink Squirrel, as far as anyone can tell, was invented in Milwaukee at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge in the 1940s. Bryant and Edna Sharp opened Bryant’s as a Miller Brewing tied house in 1936, and it later became the first cocktail lounge in Milwaukee.

Did you know the Pink Squirrel — the ice cream cocktail made with vanilla ice cream, creme de cacao (chocolate liqueur) and creme de noyaux (almond-flavored liqueur) — was invented in Milwaukee? It’s said that, in the 1940s, the drink was created at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, another Milwaukee icon that’s still in business. Today, you might be greeted with an eyebrow raise or two if you order it at your corner tavern, but at classic cocktail joints like Bryant’s and sister bar At Random, it’s still a staple. 

13. The loaded-up bloody mary 

Sobelman's Pub & Grill serves a full menu of over-the-top bloody marys (made with Tito's vodka), like this Chicken Fried Bloody Mary with a full chicken on top.

You’ve seen the viral photos. A glass mug or pint filled with the tomato juice-based cocktail topped with a whole fried chicken. Or an entire cheeseburger. Or a bouquet of mozzarella cheese whips. Or all of the above — at once. 

Not all Milwaukee-area bars buy into the overloaded bloody mary trend, but spots like the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shop, The Wicked Hop and Sobelman’s Pub & Grill — where a six-foot sculpture of its signature drink sits outside — have made the more-is-more-is-more drink famous. 

And while you may say, “Hey, I’ve seen plenty of places in Wisconsin do an over-the-top bloody,” (and you’d be right), there’s only one city in the state that hosts the National Bloody Mary Festival. And that’s right here in Milwaukee. 

12. Real Chili’s Marquette Special 

Real Chili has been serving up chili to the Milwaukee area since 1931.

I bet that in 1931, Real Chili founder Francis Honish never would’ve guessed his little chili parlor would become a downtown Milwaukee institution more than 90 years after he brought his chili recipe from Green Bay to Milwaukee. 

Rich, thick and loaded with peppery spices, the restaurant’s namesake dish isn’t the kind you’ll find at a homespun chili cookoff — but that’s what gives it its intrigue. You can build your own bowl or top a hot dog with the stuff, but Real Chili’s signature is the Marquette Special, paying homage to the restaurant’s original location on the Marquette campus. The bowl of spaghetti and beans is topped with meaty chili (standard heat is medium, but you can go hot or mild, if you prefer) with your choice of toppings (shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped onion and jalapenos are available for $1 each) and, of course, a little bowl of oyster crackers on the side (watch for them flying around you if you’re there after hours). 

It’s the kind of meal that can soak up any amount of revelry you had before stopping in or satisfy you until you commute home from work. And closing in on a century in business, it’s just as beloved as ever. 

11. Wisconsin State Fair Original Cream Puffs 

Early August in Wisconsin can be sweltering, and among the butter-dipped corn, sizzling grilled cheeses and deep-fried everything, one of the coolest foods you can find at the State Fair also is one of its longest-tenured treats (cream puffs made their debut in 1924).  

Here’s the deal: A ruffle of fresh whipped cream is sandwiched by halves of an impossibly airy pastry shell — and that’s it. Simple, but so decadent. Try as you might, it’s almost impossible to chomp into one without a squish of the stuffing flopping out on your fingers and all over your face. But that’s all part of the fun. 

The Wisconsin Bakers Association sells around 30,000 cream puffs each day during the fair’s run, and it celebrated 100 years of serving the dairy delights last summer. 

10. Cheese curds 

These cheese curds are from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.

Yellow or white cheddar, deep-fried or squeaky-fresh, served with marinara or ranch, cheese curds are a delicacy ‘round these parts. You’ll find ’em anywhere from food trucks and festivals to sports bars and fine-dining spots. The little morsels of dairy goodness go with just about anything.  

The only reason they aren’t higher up on the list is their ubiquity around the state of Wisconsin. They may not be an explicitly Milwaukee Thing, but we think you’ll find some of the best here. 

Black Sheep makes theirs with pancake batter. Camino serves theirs with a side of tangy Russian dressing. Lakefront Brewery has a gluten-free version to ensure everyone can satisfy their curd craving. 

And, oh, we do crave them. Often. 

9. Miller Lite 

Miller Lite is probably the most ubiquitous of the Miller beers. Miller Brewing bought a low-calorie “Lite” brand of beer from Meister Brau Inc. in 1973 and advertised the beer with the help of sports stars. “Tastes great … less filling” was the popular line.

“Tastes great ... less filling.” It’s a tagline that changed the way Americans drink beer forever, and it all started (sort of...) in Milwaukee. 

Nevermind that Miller Lite’s origins technically began in (gulp) Chicago, where Meister Brau Lite was brewed in the late 1960s (Miller Brewing purchased the brand in 1973 and relaunched the beer as Miller Lite in 1975). It was Miller Brewing (now MolsonCoors) that found widespread success with the low-calorie brew, and, along with its “champagne of beer” big brother, Miller High Life, is still one of the most ubiquitous fixtures on bar taps and coolers not just in Brew City, but across the nation. 

8. Secret Stadium Sauce 

Secret Stadium Sauce originated at Milwaukee County Stadium and is a staple condiment at the Brewers' American Family Field today.

What would a brat (or hot dog) at American Family Field be without a squirt of Secret Stadium Sauce? The smoky-sweet and tangy condiment that’s a cross between barbecue sauce, ketchup and mustard has been a fixture at Milwaukee Brewers games since the 1970s, found right next to the ketchup, mustard and sauerkraut at condiment stations throughout the ballpark. It may not be produced in Milwaukee (it’s manufactured by Buffalo, New York’s Delaware North SportsService) but it was developed here at County Stadium by food vendor Rick Abramson, who eventually became chief operating officer of Delaware North. 

7. Usinger’s bratwurst 

Brats may be known as one-third of the Wisconsin Big Three (beer and cheese are the others), but in Milwaukee, the name Usinger’s is almost synonymous with the snappy German sausages. Maybe it’s the fact that the company has been making sausages in Milwaukee since 1880. Maybe it’s the charm of picking up your links from the historic downtown deli. Maybe it’s those beloved commercials starring the late, great Bob Uecker. But whatever the case, “it’s just not summer without ‘em.” 

6. Sprecher Brewing Co. root beer 

Sprecher Root Beer earned a No. 1 ranking from food and drink website Tasting Table.

Beer (the kind made from hops and malt) may have been what “made Milwaukee famous,” but the city’s first craft brewery, founded in 1985, is best known for its root beer.  

Sprecher’s fire-brewed soda is sweet and ultra creamy with a touch of honey flavor and so smooth going down. The root beer’s won plenty of awards since debuting in 1987, but one of its highest honors came in 2008, when the New York Times named it the nation’s best root beer in a blind taste test. But by that point, that was something Milwaukeeans had known for years. 

And word is spreading. Sprecher currently distributes its root beer and other sodas to more than 25,000 stores in 49 states.   

5. The butter burger 

The Original Solly Butter Burger is made with fresh 100% sirloin, butter, stewed onions and Wisconsin American cheese.

There are restaurants that brush their burger buns with a bit of butter before hitting the grill, then there is Solly’s Grille, which slaps a spatula of softened butter on its burger patties like frosting on a cake. It’s indulgent. It’s rich. It’s just so Wisconsin. And while the butter burger’s origins are a little blurry, it’s widely recognized that it all started at Solly’s, which has been in business since 1936. 

Solly’s goes through 500 pounds of beef and 150 pounds of butter per week. And even though it may not be the most famous butter burger in the nation (that distinction likely goes to Prairie du Sac-based chain Culver’s), it very well might be the butteriest butter burger, which would make any Milwaukeean proud. 

4. Saz’s Sampler Platter 

The iconic trio of sour cream and chive fries, mozzarella marinara and Leinie's beer-battered cheese curds is a festival staple throughout Milwaukee summers.

Mozzarella sticks, sour cream and chive fries and Leinie’s-battered cheese curds. On their own, this trio of deep-fried foods that comprises the Saz's Sampler Platter might not scream “Milwaukee,” but it’s the combo — tied together with a smattering of sweet marinara — that's made it a festival-season superstar in the city.  

Enjoyed while balanced on an aluminum bleacher or scarfed before a trip down the Giant Slide, it's a must-have for many folks flocking to Summerfest, State Fair or any of the festivals held on the Maier Festival Grounds, and it just wouldn’t be summer in Milwaukee without it. 

3. Milwaukee-style pizza 

The Special, the classic Milwaukee combination of cheese, sausage, mushrooms and onions, as prepared at Zaffiro's Pizza, 1724 N. Farwell Ave.

And now it’s time for a debate-within-a-debate. Is Milwaukee-style pizza a thing? City pride sways me to say “yes,” that it’s not just a rebranding of the thin-crust, Midwest staple of tavern pizza. 

Milwaukee-style pizza’s signature is the saltine-thin crust, which leaves a scattering of tiny shards on the pan (or cardboard circle) it’s served on. Almost exclusively square-cut, the classic Milwaukee-style pizza has three standard toppings: pinched, fennel-laced Italian sausage, onion and mushrooms (fresh or canned are both fine). Stalwarts like Zaffiro’s (the definitive example of the style, if you ask me), Balistreri’s Italian-American Ristorante and Calderone Club have been serving Milwaukee-style pizza for decades and are still some of the city’s best. 

2. Hot ham and rolls 

After church, it’s tradition to pick up what’s known as hot ham and rolls in Milwaukee. The meal is part of Milwaukee’s identity with roots in the city’s German or Polish communities

What’s so special about a pound of warm deli ham and a half dozen rolls? Ask the hundreds (maybe thousands?) of folks who wait for them in around-the-block lines at bakeries, grocery stores and butcher shops every Sunday. 

They might tell you it’s about the weekly custom families have followed for generations, the waft of savory-sweet ham as it’s unsheathed from its foil wrapping, or the fact that those fluffy, fresh-baked rolls are thrown in for free (we are a frugal bunch, after all). 

But whatever the case, this curious and utterly charming tradition — served and celebrated everywhere from new-ish spots like Batter & Mac to neighborhood cornerstones like Grebe’s Bakery and Peter Sciortino Bakery — has solidified its spot as one of Milwaukee’s most beloved weekly specials. 

1. Frozen custard 

Kopp's has been a popular place to get frozen custard since it opened in the 1950s.

Was there ever any doubt?  

Take a cruise through the city and its suburbs on a steamy summer night and you’ll see why Milwaukee’s considered the frozen custard capital of the world (it’s said we have a higher concentration of frozen custard shops than anywhere in the world). Under the glow of retro neon lights, hordes of hungry folks huddle in parking lots, a cone swirled high with the sweet stuff in one hand, a wad of napkins in the other. It’s the stuff of Dairy State dreams. 

If you‘ve spent any time in Milwaukee, you already know the holy trinity: Gilles, Leon’s and Kopp’s (the stands opened in 1938, 1942 and 1950, respectively). There are so many more, but the trifecta of frozen custard kings are still winning over new fans today. 

“Top Chef” host Kristen Kish and longtime judge Gail Simmons did a custard crawl while the show’s 21st season filmed in Milwaukee in 2023. They went wild for the stuff. On multiple occasions, Kish said it was her favorite thing to eat during her stint in the Cream City. 

We’ll take that endorsement, but frozen custard was already number one in our hearts. Thick, creamy and extra rich (thanks to the egg yolks it's made with), a single scoop can soothe a sweltering soul in a way standard ice cream can’t mimic.  

It’s a summertime tradition like no other. And it’s the most iconic Milwaukee food there is.

Rachel Bernhard joined the Journal Sentinel as dining critic in June 2023. She’s been busy exploring the Milwaukee-area food scene to share her favorite finds with readers along the way. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers.   

What should she cover next? Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on BlueSky at @rachelbernhard.bsky.social or on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.