 |
| 1st flr from 2nd. From Yelp.com |
Since he was going out of town, Bryan and I decided to celebrate my birthday with dinner and some drinks since he was going to miss the birthday festivities. So, we decided to hit up Brady Street, one of our favorite places to hang out. Always an opportunity for good people watching. We decided to go to Crisp Pizza Bar and Lounge. It helped that I had a Groupon to use. I'm a Groupon junkie. Why not get some great deals for fun places to eat? Right? Right.
It was a lovely Tuesday evening around 630pm so we didn't have much of a wait to get a table. Our time inside was brief as it was just to talk with the hostess. We asked for a table outside. I had been to crisp prior to this experience but only to check out the vibe and grab a drink. In regard to their food, we were both Crisp virgins. The place was two floors. The main floor, from what I noticed, has a bar, tables and a walk up counter for orders to go. The second floor wraps around to look down at the main part of the first floor. Very modern and clean lines decorate this place. There is a place for a DJ to mix some tunes for the later bar hours. The place overall seems somewhat out of place on Brady street and instead has a Milwaukee Street type feel. In my opinion it would be more appropriate to be located by Kenadees, Umami Moto, Sake Tumi, etc. But, then again, maybe that's their strategy... to be the only place like this on Brady that can attract the fist pumping crew of Brady Street. Anyway, we sat down at a table on the sidewalk and the hostess brought some waters and the menus.
The menus were loose pieces of paper on little clipboards. On a breezy night as that night, they were hard to handle and read because the paper was all over the place. But, nothing to really complain too much about. Just enough to mention. Of course, since it was me and Bryan, we attempted to order PBR tallboys, which were cheaper than the regular PBR cans on the menu... I'm thinking it was a typo. Either way, we were left disappointed because they were all out of them. So, we had to settle for the regular sized ones ($2). Definitely not heartbroken over it. We looked through the menu to try to decide what to get. It was a rather extensive menu but we knew we wanted pizza so that helped. Also, not a toughy because we share similar tastes in pizza toppings.  |
| Obviously PBR and water. |
Details: As an app, the Crisp Bread Sticks and chose the garlic butter as our dipping sauce. $6
Signature Large Pizza. Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper. Italian sausage, mozzarella, goat cheese, and fontina paired with roasted red peppers in a spicy red sauce and topped with basil. $20
Thoughts:
 |
| Crisp Bread Sticks with Garlic Butter. |
Appetizer. The bread sticks were light and fluffy and drizzled with what seemed to be a balsamic vinegar reduction, some grated parm and herbs. At first glance, it reminded me of funnel cake with much bigger pieces of dough and the balsamic drizzle looked like chocolate sauce. Wasn't the prettiest looking thing, that's for sure. Shaped like pieces of ginger root. But, this was very delicious. The bread itself was very light. The balsamic reduction provided a sweet and tangy zing to it. The garlic butter was just that...nice, what appeared to be, drawn butter with larger fresh pieces of roasted garlic that settled to the bottom. Despite the larger pieces of garlic, it wasn't overpowering. Even though the sticks being light, they were rather filling and a great amount for the price.
 |
| Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza. |
Pizza. The crust was the same as the bread sticks. Hand tossed, thinner crust to the pizza. Crisp yet chewy on the inside. First bite... so fresh. The sauce has great fresh tomato flavor but isn't overly acidic, as some sauces can be. Every ingredient tasted like it was just cut up and put together right before it came out. Crust was dusted with corn meal which provided some nice texture. Goat cheese creaminess and flavor countered this crunch. The fontina was barely noticeable to me. The sausage itself was crumbled into smaller pieces which allowed it to be in every bite. The sweetness of the peppers balanced and paired well with the savory sausage.
Other things to consider:
-Server was rarely mentioned because she was barely present. Someone always kept our water full though, which was nice.
-App came on a nice Fiesta-ware style plate but the dipping sauce came in a little plastic cup... cheesy for such a higher end type of pizza joint
-They do serve brunch and have other menu items that include salads (which is a bar that you can pick all the topics), sandwiches, individual slices, dessert and various apps. Gluten free (crust) options! Yay Jen!
-Large drink menu. Didn't glance at it all that closely because when with Bryan, we go PBR.
-Happy Hour: 3-5pm on weeknights. Half priced slices and $2 selected taps (per yelp.com)
I'll definitely come here again. The vibe itself is a little different and I can see myself being a brunch, lunch and early dinner patron versus the bar and late night crew. Instead you'll most likely see me fist pumping at Jo-Cat's on Brady. But yes, I'll come back to try some of the other menu items especially brunch. They offer a 24oz bloody Mary with a tallboy PBR chaser. That's intense...
Crisp Pizza Bar and Lounge
1323 East Brady St
Milwaukee, WI
(414) 727-4217
Open
Fri/Sat 1130am - 230am
Sun-Thurs 11:30am - 2am
Slices served until close
Great idea for a blog, Lisa! I love the name :)
ReplyDelete