As promised last week, I went to check out the new Cool Water Bar and Grill on St. Francis Avenue in, you guessed it, St. Francis! The place is a new restaurant and tavern just west of Kinnickinnic Avenue in the space that long housed Majdecki's.
I knew that the owners spent four years renovating the building but I didn't realize just how nice it would look inside. That's partially due to the unassuming exterior, which comes alive later when the sky is dark and the lights come on and give it an alluring glow.
Exposed brick, hardwood floors and rustic earth tones make the bar and dining room warm and inviting. There's a triangular stage to the left of the entrance and above it, a balcony that allows the patrons in the smoking section upstairs to look down.
Cool Water is one of the smarter eateries in town that follows common sense (and physics) and puts the smokers upstairs. That way the non-smokers don't have to pass through the smoking area and the rising smoke, doesn't "infect" the non-smoking section.
There is a full bar up there, too, just above the one on the main floor below.
When I arrived with my wife, son and in-laws for a Friday fish fry, both owners came to greet us and doted on the little one. To say service is friendly would be an understatement. As the name implies, the vibe is cool, but the service is attentive.
Although the menu includes soup, burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, appetizers (the classics: wings, onion rings, shrimp cocktail, etc.), surf & turf, steaks and more, we were eager to try the fish fry. Especially because we'd heard the Majdecki's version was legendary and Cool Water was carrying on the tradition.
The fish fry -- we had battered cod -- was hot and delicious, with thick, sumptuous potato pancakes and all the fixings. The "meaty" pancakes were a nice counterpoint to the light, potato flour-style ones I'd had at State Fair the night before.
Considering we all had at least one beer, the $60 tab seemed like a bargain.
There's live music on weekends, but we missed it. That's no surprise; having a toddler at dinner often means we're on the road toward home while the band is just unloading its gear from the van.
Although Cool Water had only been open about a week and a half when we visited, it was doing a brisk business, suggesting that the word was out. And that's good news, because even though it's close to the KK nightlife, it's ever so slightly off the beaten path.
But don't let a block or two stop you from checking it out.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
