My annual article, 52 Restaurants for your Bucket List, was originally created to provide readers with an easy way to explore the wealth of restaurants in the Milwaukee scene over the course of one year (52 weeks). Today, as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, it provides a fun and equally compelling guide for folks who’d like to bring variety to their weekly meals while providing vital support to some of our finest local restaurants.

Here's the featured restaurant of the day, plus five dishes to try!

Odd Duck
2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Bay View, (414) 763-5881
oddduckrestaurant.com

Can one ever tire of Odd Duck? I think not. It’s a delightful spot for food lovers to graze on countless shareable dishes from Korean pancakes and Moroccan kofta to whimsical bites like fried broccoli with "cheese poofs.’ It’s also one of those places where vegetable dishes shine just as brightly as meaty options, so don’t hesitate to order broadly. Even their pared-down curbside pick-up menu offers a feast of choices, from appetizers and snacks to small plates and weekly famiily meals for four. Open-minded diners will find a good many wins here, no matter what they order. 

Side note: Odd Duck just came back in close-to-normal force, after a run-in with COVID-19 left them working with a skeleton crew. So it's a great time to give them all the support we can.

Five dishes to try: 

1. Meat and cheese board: Selection of 5 assorted meats and cheeses served with grainy mustard, house preserves, sweet pickles, roasted nuts & herded crostini crackers ($20)

2. Salad Laitue:  Lone Duck Farm butter lettuce, Honeycrisp apples, shaved kohlrabi, Buttermilk Blue cheese, fresh herbs, toasted hazelnuts, sherry-Dijon vinaigrette, crispy bread tuile ($10)

3. Crispy Oyster Mushrooms with fried tofu, Malaysian cashew sambal, toasted coconut and acar pickles ($12)

4. Beef short rib carbonnade flamande: beer-braised short rib, carrot, turnip pickle, rutabaga mash, caramelized onion ($15)

5. Family meal (pre-order on Tuesday for pick-up on Thursday): This week it’s whole smoked cajun spiced chicken; creole gravy; farm pepper and house sausage jambalaya; greens salad with roasted squash, pecans and mustard vinaigrette; and jalapeno corn bread ($60, feeds four)