Palomino Bar

TS

2 months ago

I love Palaminos. The ambience is an old pub eatery. Many people eat at the bar, but there is ample seating for groups. The fish fry is the best in the city! There are 3 hearty pieces of cod. You will not go away hungry. The staff is great! definitely put it on your list!

Scott W

2 months ago

Been here a long time ago, but this was our first visit in years. We stopped in for dinner on a Friday night. I called ahead to make sure they had room, and we arrived around 6:30 p.m. Food: We started with a couple of beers, and I also ordered one of their specialty cocktails, the Girl in the Neon Moon. I think of it as a Miller High Life Summer Shandy, and it was very tasty. For dinner, we ordered the Street Corn, a Double Palomino Burger, and the Hot Fried Chicken Sandwich. The Street Corn was just okay. I'm used to street corn being roasted, and their version was sautéed. In my opinion, roasted or cast-iron-charred corn delivers much better flavor. The burger was excellent. They nailed the medium-rare temperature, the patties had great flavor, and everything arrived hot. The toppings added great texture, although the bun struggled to keep up with all of the delicious beef juices. The Hot Fried Chicken Sandwich was nothing short of amazing. They use chicken thighs instead of breasts, which are almost always more flavorful. The chicken was lightly battered and perfectly crispy. The pickles and mayo were a great complement. I ordered the hot sauce on the side and mixed a little into the mayo, which turned out to be the perfect choice. The fries were also very good. My wife said she'd come back just for another order of those. The portions were generous, and we ended up enjoying another meal from the leftovers the next day. Service: Several different servers took care of us throughout the evening. We were seated quickly, water and menus arrived right away, drinks followed shortly after, and all of the food came out hot. Everyone was efficient and helpful, but we never really connected with any of them. The restaurant was only about half full, so I don't think they were simply too busy. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it's always nice when the service includes just a little conversation along with taking care of the essentials. Atmosphere: It's a neighborhood corner bar serving surprisingly good food. The bar itself is attractive, with oversized, comfortable bar stools. The dining area is simple but comfortable, with plenty of space between the tables, and the noise level made it easy to carry on a conversation. We're really glad we stopped in and would happily come back. Next time, I'd skip the Street Corn and order the Brussels sprouts instead, but I'd keep everything else exactly the same.

ryan olson

4 months ago

I moved away and this was my first time back at Palomino Bar in about 6 years. I was looking forward to the vegan heaven that this place used to be. The new food…. is just terrible. It was shocking how bad it was as it USED to be one of my favorite restaurants in Milwaukee . The new vegan chicken sandwich is 75% breading, 25% seitan, and it tastes like salt more than anything. The seitan steak was SO THIN— definitely NOT worth $14 (price without fries). The fries now are soggy, flimsy, and were cooked in dirty oil- you can tell because the fries were super dark. There was a lot of burnt crunchy bits from previous orders too. I wish the new owners kept it how it was when they bought it. They completely ruined an incredible restaurant. Might want to put it back to how it was before it goes out of business….. feel free to reply to this comment and let me know if there any improvements in the food quality, I’d be 100% willing to give it another try and change my review.

Cheryl Wells

6 months ago

What a gem in the neighborhood. The bartender was fantastic and informative of the drink and food selection. 😲 did you see that chicken sandwich, we ordered the double with fries to split and the crispy Brussel sprouts for the table. We also each had the deciduously driftless cocktail sooo good! I want to bounce back to those sprouts, man they were like veggie crack, topped with a maple vinaigrette and pistachios. And, you can't go wrong with the good ol beer and a shot. If you're looking for a good place to eat or a cool chill atmosphere for some drinks, check it out, it will not disappoint.

Dane Macneil

a year ago

We had a few drinks and some fried snacks. The food and atmosphere and great. We also took a pie making class with Valeri in the back pie making kitchen. The class was supper fun. She is an excellent teacher and very knowledgeable. We made strawberry rhubarb pie and it turned out excellent. Valeri really ran a great class and made it fun and informative.