Wicked Hop Is a Crowd Pleaser

The Wicked Hop has a dynamite location on the northern edge of the Historic Third Ward where it anchors the corner of St. Paul and Broadway, just across the street from the Milwaukee Public Market. The restaurant is fairly small, but to add more tables and a view of food delivery for customers who sit at two-tops by the railing, there’s a second-floor dining area. From that bird’s-eye view you can watch servers on the first floor bringing platefuls of food to customers at street level. Outside tables in a heated area line both sides of the wide sidewalk and are protected from Wisconsin’s spring showers by an overhead awning. All told, this adds up to a lot of tables in a small space.

From their opening 18 years ago, Wicked Hop has been a popular watering hole and restaurant with a menu designed to please, with burgers, several kinds of wings and big salads with Buffalo Chicken or Ahi Tuna. Add to that its large portions and you have a winner. For example, my Quesadilla de Juarez, an appetizer, was humongous, enough to serve at least two for lunch. I should have known that the appetizers at Wicked Hop are meant to be shared. The quesadilla was griddled, filled with chicken, green chilis, Chihuahua cheese, and served with sour cream, guacamole, and Chili de Arbol Sauce. The guacamole was bland, a disappointing side which I often find in restaurants, but the tangy Chili de Arbol Sauce transformed the quesadilla into something crisp and cheesy with spicy heat, exactly what a quesadilla should be. Half of it went home with me for another meal.

Since it was Friday, my companion ordered the Panko-Crusted Lake Perch, another generous plateful of food that confirmed Wicked Hop’s reputation as a to-go place for a Milwaukee fish fry. The tartar sauce tasted homemade; the perch was tender inside crisp panko; the coleslaw was boring but necessary to a fish fry; and the potato pancakes were flawless, crunchy, and soft inside, the perfect marriage of shredded potato and hot oil.

Once we read the descriptions of the Handcrafted Cocktails, we couldn’t leave without a Pack Mule and a Red Sangria, two from a list of a dozen. My mule, muddled oranges, pear nectar, stoli, and ginger beer, and my friend’s sangria, house made sangria, orange juice and Sprite, tasted like dessert with a minor alcohol kick.

The second time I came to lunch at the Wicked Hop, I ordered a Reuben because it was reputed to be one of Milwaukee’s best. Instead of chunks of corned beef which I have had at other local restaurants, the corned beef was cut into thick slabs. It was tender and had good flavor but it needed the Swiss cheese and especially the sauerkraut to make it interesting. The cup of 1000 island dressing rescued the sandwich and gave it the punch it needed to rise above an ordinary Rueben.

My companion’s Hop Burger, one-half pound of meat on a toasted bun, was a perfect medium. He hit the jackpot because burger toppings are free on Mondays. He chose skinny fries, a better choice than my sad array of fruit. Cottage cheese was also an option, albeit not something you would think of to accompany a burger, and $2.00 got you an order of Soup de Jour or a Side Salad.

We washed down our sandwiches with Krombacher Weizen NA, a brew that tasted as good as a regular draft beer, a fine choice when you want a beer but prefer to take a pass on alcohol.

After 5:00 you can order an entrée from a short list of four: Ahi Tuna; Creole-Spiced Chicken Breast and Andouille Sausage Pasta; Salmon; and Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo.

At the table you will find a coaster with a QR code, however if you prefer not to squint at the menu on your phone, you can request a paper menu.

We found our servers efficient, friendly, and patient, despite the fact that we ate upstairs. Taking orders and delivering meals required many trips up and down those steps. We rewarded that extra effort with generous tips. I hope their other customers do likewise.

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The Rundown

• Location: 345 N. Broadway
• Phone: 414-223-0345
• Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m Mon-Fri, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sat-Sun. Kitchen closes at 10 p.m.
• Neighborhood: Historic Third Ward
• Website: http://www.thewickedhop.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewickedhop
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewickedhop/
• UM Rating: stars (average of Yelp, Trip Advisor and Zomato)