In just over a week, dinner won’t be the only option at dandan, the Chinese American restaurant located at 360 E. Erie St. in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.
The restaurant has announced that it will launch lunch service Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning Tuesday, Sept. 20.
The lunch menu will offer diners a choice of a starter and entree for $15. Starters will include an egg roll, veggie momo or shrimp toast. Meanwhile, entrees will include dishes such as sesame jook chicken, schmaltz fried rice, dandan noodles, happy chicken, walnut shrimp, egg foo yung and kimchee pancake.
Customers should note that parking in the lot adjacent to dandan is not available prior to 5 p.m.; lunch-goers should instead take advantage of street parking surrounding the restaurant.
Dandan will also host its first dinner events in the coming weeks.
Sept. 29: Straying From the Path dinner
In celebration of Milwaukee Cocktail Week, which takes place Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, dandan has partnered with Twisted Path Distillery for a special cocktail pairing dinner featuring modern takes Prohibition-era food and classic cocktails. The dinner will take place on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6:30 p.m.
The five-course menu, which will feature Prohibition era food with re-imagined classic cocktails includes:
- Canapés including egg salad sandwiches and chicken liver mousse with "The Spritz" featuring Meletti Amaro ice, Szigeti Sparkling Grüner Veltliner and lemon noose
- Champagne Poached Oysters Rockefeller with "Beer Americano" featuring Cappalletti, Cocchi Americano, Stiegl Radler foam
- Steak tartare with shallot marmalade and foie gras alongside "Dirty Martini" with Twisted Path vodka, aged olive, first cold press olive oil wash
- Dungeness crab soufflé with sauce Americaine paired with "Brandy Crusta" featuring Copper & Kings brandy, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, Budapest syrup and lemon
- Beef Wellington with bordelaise paired with a Chicago Fizz featuring Twisted Path dark aged rum, Warre Warrior Port, Cedrata, flip
- Blackberry Jell-O Mold, Gin, Chantilly Cream
Cost for the dinner is $100 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
Oct. 6: Hank Shaw dinner
On Thursday, Oct. 6, Dandan will welcome former restaurant cook and James Beard Award-winning author Hank Shaw for a four-course collaborative dinner celebrating his recently released book, "Buck, Buck, Moose: Recipes and Other Antlered Things."
The menu will feature family style dishes created by Shaw along with Chefs Dan Van Rite and Daniel Jacobs. Cost is $50 per person. Books will also be available for purchase at the event.
Reservations for lunch and special events at dandan can be made by calling (414) 488-8036.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
