Dining at the 4th Base sports bar is a little like being president: Just pick what you want out of the fully-stocked refrigerator case, they'll make it for you, and it'll be great.

It's in this way that the "gourmet" sports bar is unlike any other tavern in Milwaukee. There's no menu, and the food you'll eat is surprisingly excellent -- especially considering you're sitting on a bar stool in an old-school West Milwaukee corner tap.

Yet owner Daryl Scholl is quietly humble about the bar that opened at its original Piggsville location in 1980, and moved to its current home, 5117 W. National Ave., in 1985.

Scholl, 60, worked in the restaurant and bar business while in college, and he says the decision to open his own place, "just seemed like a natural outgrowth."

Now, it's known as a place to go before a Brewers game or during a Packers game, or even on a Friday night out on the town. But its lack of a menu is what really turns heads.

"There's a menu, it's just not printed," says Scholl. "Whatever we've got, we'll make for you. It just sort of evolved. We just started adding different items, and we thought if we had to print a menu, it would be endless, because it would be as long as your imagination."

Scholl also knows -- and is sensitive about -- a reputation of exorbitantly high prices. In fact, Scholl admits that the first thing people ask someone who's eaten at 4th Base is, "What did you pay?"

"Everything has a set price," says Scholl. "But to alleviate that sort of question coming up at all, I should probably come out with a menu, to be honest with you. But all of the flexible dishes would be available."

Until then, Scholl recommends patrons just ask what an item costs. They'll find that a meal is hardly cheap, but considering the quality and size of portions, it's on par with what you'll pay elsewhere. Yes, if you ordered a bunch of jumbo Bloody Marys, pints of imported beers, appetizers and steaks and side dishes and desserts, you'll wind up with that $100 bar tab. But if you can put aside the fact that you're in a corner sports bar and concentrate on the food, the pricing isn't much of a mystery:

Take the $10 farmer's omelet. Heaped with vegetables, cottage fries, bacon, (and anything else you can imagine), as well as a loaf of freshly baked bread, it's double the size of what you'll pay $6 for at a Greek diner. (Yes, double -- trust us.)

Or for dinner, a top-quality 8-oz. Filet Mignon will set you back $22.

"My father told me you get what you pay for," says Scholl. "I think some people got stung and it carried on and on. Every year, Mark Belling rips us apart. I remember when Dennis Getto was alive, he gave us a half star, so we hung half stars all around the restaurant. Some people think that because it's a casual bar atmosphere, they shouldn't pay over $12 for a steak.

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14 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by swiftydunbar on July 23, 2008 at 2:14 a.m. (report)

nobody is making you cheapos go there and eat...you know going in that there is no menu...or set prices...how much are they really charging you that is making you complain...you are getting a 12oz. filet with a huge plate of fresh vegetables let's say...do you really think this is going to be 12.95??...have you ever been out to eat?...go to White Castle if you want cheap...

Posted by toby0123 on Oct. 30, 2007 at 12:47 a.m. (report)

Having dined there years ago, and having a co-worker that used to work there, they do not have set prices as mentioned. It is based upon what you look like, how you are dressed, and how you behave. Now there is nothing wrong with this if you are honest and let people know about this. Anything more is the place running a scam.

Posted by citykid on Oct. 24, 2007 at 6:35 p.m. (report)

The 4th Base is an institution! Every ballpark should have a place like this in the neighborhood. The food was great and i enjoyed making my choices at the kitchen. Come on folks, ask what it's gonna cost or suffer the consequences. Momma didn't raise no fool.

Posted by prairiedogg on Oct. 24, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. (report)

yeah, he is totally right. How many doctors have a menu? NONE. How many places to go out and eat have a menu? Only the fourth base.

Posted by Dusty on Oct. 24, 2007 at 9:29 a.m. (report)

Gotta say, Hawkeye's comment is not one of the smartest things I've ever read. It's a bar/restaurant, dude. It's not a doctor's office or a mechanic. (Never mind that many mechanics these days do have some sort of price chart, or "menu" posted). The point of these comments is that it's unusual for a restaurant not to have a menu. That's like complaining about the price of gas by saying "Pork chops don't cost $3 a gallon."