Bartolotta’s High Stakes Opening in September
Chef Paul Bartolotta returns to the kitchen with new European steakhouse opening next month.
Future site of High Stakes and Peacock Lounge. Photo taken Aug. 5, 2026 by Sophie Bolich.
High Stakes, a European-style steakhouse and Bartolotta’s newest downtown venture, will open Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026
The storied restaurant group is breathing new life into the former site of the Rumpus Room, which closed in 2020, leaving empty a prime piece of downtown commercial space.
When the new concept was announced earlier this year, Bartolotta’s heralded an ambitious restaurant drawing inspiration from chef Paul Bartolotta‘s experience running a James Beard Award-winning steakhouse in Las Vegas. High Stakes was described as carefully planned to offer a unique dining experience in a quarter of the city with the greatest density of fine-dining opportunities.
Next month, High Stakes opens to the public, who will find a “sophisticated and distinctive European-inspired steakhouse” in a setting designed by Jay Franke of Jay Franke Design. Reservations are already open. The restaurant’s opening menu is built on a foundation of corn-fed Black Angus beef, a fresh raw bar and a relationship with the French caviar house Kaviari. The chef has a longstanding relationship with Kaviari, going back to his days in Las Vegas. The plan is to make luxurious caviar approachable for Milwaukee diners, according to the restaurant group.
Like any good steakhouse, the bounty of both Terra and Mare is well represented on the menu. There will be langoustines and king crab, the chef’s signature herb-crusted filet mignon topped with porcini mushroom-bone marrow, blue lobster en croûte, a Wagyu tasting experience, the caviar program, a 45-day dry-aged ribeye, uncommon Ozaki beef, Australian Stone Axe Wagyu and another center-cut filet for any diners wishing to stray from the chef’s signature.
To cap a meal of red meat and rich crustaceans, High Stakes will serve a seasonal mille-feuille (puff pastry) of raspberries and basil, vanilla mascarpone and basil gelato.
If a diner should so choose, they may bookend their High Stakes experience with cocktails at the Peacock Lounge. The restaurant bar is there for patrons to “see and be seen” and diners can display their plumage while sipping a martini or old fashioned, or rattle their train with a specialty cocktail like the Regal Bird or Bet on Red.
“High Stakes by Bartolotta represents a new chapter in the evolution of The Bartolotta Restaurants, and it has afforded me the opportunity to return to the kitchen to work alongside director of culinary for The Bartolotta Restaurants Aaron Bickham, as well as chef de cuisine for High Stakes by Bartolotta Ian Jones, and the entire culinary support team to collaborate on this menu,” Bartolotta said. “It is deeply meaningful” to open the restaurant “in downtown Milwaukee, in the heart of the community that has supported our restaurants for more than 30 years,” he added. “This restaurant brings together the experiences that have shaped my career while reflecting my continued belief in my city.”
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