If your definition of bar food consists of greasy burgers, frozen pizzas and a deep fryer dishing up battered cheese curds, well, you won't have much problem finding dinner in Milwaukee.

But if you're looking for something different, perhaps even healthy, to go with your High Life, several area bars offer options that range from vegan to eclectic to gourmet.

Still, with new options springing up all over, it's the old-standbys that sometimes actually sell the best. But there's an evolution of bar food taking place in Brew City; that is, bar owners who find that customers want better-than-average fare when they're tying one on.

Take Scott Johnson's Palomino, 2491 S. Superior St., in Bay View. The popular corner bar serves up greasy fare like chicken fried steak and deep-fried pickles that'll coat your stomach during a long night on the town. But it also offers vegan riblets, hushpuppies and po' boy sandwiches -- not the kind of food you imagine gobbling down while watching a Packers game.

"We tried to do something a little bit new, but not too new," says Johnson. "There's this pull between wanting to be super creative, crazy, totally out there, and selling food items that will actually sell."

Then there's The Wicked Hop, 345 N. Broadway, which must compete with an ever-increasingly sophisticated Dowtown bar scene. Situated on the north end of the Historic Third Ward, owner Myles O'Neil says he understands the need to differentiate himself from the competition by offering a diverse menu, including wraps, salads and fire-grilled Angus beef burgers.

"We're not a corner bar in the traditional sense. Being in the Third Ward, it changes the dimensions a bit about what do with the menu," says O'Neil. "We gravitated toward something that is relatively simple, but provocative, as well."

Or you could go an entirely different route with 4th Base, a gourmet (yes, gourmet) sports bar at 5117 W. National Ave. in West Milwaukee. There, you won't even find a menu. You simply request anything you can imagine, made to order. That includes steak or lobster, a gigantic farmer's omelet or a simple burger and fries before heading to nearby Miller Park.

"There's a menu, it's just not printed," says owner Daryl 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."

4th Base, which Scholl opened in 1980, has perhaps unfairly earned a reputation by some as being outrageously expensive. But that may be because, without a menu, people forget to ask what an item costs. That, and they're usually enjoying several well-made cocktails with their meal -- which naturally drives up the cost of the bill.

A top-quality 8-oz. filet of beef, for example, costs $22. "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."

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

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Posted by college_dave on Oct. 17, 2007 at 7:37 p.m. (report)

I ate at The Palomino twice in the last couple months and both the food and the service were awesome. I'll make a point to go back soon. Does Four Eyes (or FO eyes) still work there? He's the bomb; explosive!

Posted by Z_boy on Oct. 17, 2007 at 11:58 a.m. (report)

mrsKC -- I've often wondered, how come so many vegetarians/vegans eat vegetarian food either attempting to taste like meat or disguised as meat? I'm not trying to be funny, but it just seems that if you're a vegetarian/vegan, you wouldn't want your food to taste like meat or even look like it. It seems that you'd want your tofu to taste and look like a vegetable, if anything. Just curious.

Posted by curlyboy1978 on Oct. 17, 2007 at 11:53 a.m. (report)

Let's be honest..when your drinking doesn't most bar food just end up tasting the same? And does anyone really care about prices when drunk?

Posted by MrsKC on Oct. 17, 2007 at 11:21 a.m. (report)

I can understand why burgers sell better than the veggie stuff, it's a classic & there are a lot more carnivores out there. I appreciate the veggie option though, I've been a vegetarian for 15 years. In fact, I've eaten so many vegan riblet sandwiches at the Palomino, some call me Riblet.

Posted by Z_boy on Oct. 17, 2007 at 10:29 a.m. (report)

Four dollars for a basket of fries has to make for a nice profit margin -- considering how much a 3 lb. bag of potatoes costs.