Cool Water sweeps into the old Majdecki's Inn in St. Francis.

By Bobby Tanzilo Managing Editor Photography by Andy Tarnoff E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Bobby Tanzilo

Published Aug. 6, 2008 at 2:07 a.m.

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Posted by Beth.Irish on Aug. 19, 2008 at 1:27 p.m. (report)

I am fortunate to be a member of the St. Francis Community and have recently enjoyed several visits to a wonderful new bar and grill called Cool Water Bar and Grill on St. Francis Ave. Our community has been waiting for something fresh and exciting to arrive in the neighborhood and now it has. I have had the pleasure of trying several items off the menu and thus far don't have one single complaint. The food is very good and the prices are definitley within the "south side" range while still being downtown quality. The same goes for the beverage prices as well. The atmosphere is hip and trendy yet at the same time nostalgic and historical. Plenty of room for groups yet intimate for couples and very "family friendly" as well. As a single gal I never worry about going there alone because the staff is so very friendly and inviting that I have enjoyed my time there. I have also brought co-workers over on two seperate occasions and they really enjoyed the place. We will be using the Cool Water for entertaining our clients from out of town due to the spectacular rave reviews that they recieved when I brought in our top Executive Sales Rep to sample the place and see what he thought about bringing in our customers. He said we have been looking for a place like this or a long time and a place that's NOT downtown for a change that's "homey and familiar" without the hype of downtown. Looking at the menu he thought all our customers would find things that would satify their appetites. As for me personally, I love the pulled pork sandwich and the baked and fried fish. Although last week I also had a Bleu Cheese Burger that was melt -in -your -mouth- to- die -for~ :):) Firdays and Saturdays there is a house band that is very good and extremely accomodating to the crowd. Yes, they play requests within reason~ :) Most of the music is along the lines of jazz and they will be bringing in some blues to mix it up a bit. This is also something me and a lot of my friends have missed for a long time.....great live music, no cover and great atmosphere. The sound system is incredible! I can tell you this, there is nothing downtown like this at all. In the words of Syskell and Ebbert (forgive my spelling) I give Cool Water a big 2 thumbs up and I think the rest of the neighborhood is going in that direction as well. I hear a lot of really great comments fromm the old Madjecki's customers while having the fish fry. One comment that stuck with me especially was....."We're going to tell everyone we know" coming from a couple that has been in the neighborhood and dining at the old Madjecki's for 40 years. That's pretty impressive. Stop in and give it a try. I guarentee you have absolutley nothing to lose by going to this fantastic new neighborhood spot. I'll see you there~ :):)

Posted by bezerk86 on Aug. 16, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. (report)

I went to cool water last night and had a great time. There was a group of eight of us, most had the fish and both the fried and the baked were very good. The potato pancakes were like my grama used to make. I had a burger and i would say that it ranks up there with some of the best i've ever had. The band that they had was very good and played mostly jazzy kind of things like i expected when we first walked in. I understand that they are going to get some paintings on the walls where we ate to help with the sound. Overall we had a great dinning experience and will be back, it had wonderful charm and great food. I would recommend this place to anybody looking for a great time.

Posted by Observer on Aug. 9, 2008 at 8:57 p.m. (report)

Fish was good as was the fillet, chicken soup, clam chowder and salt rye, potato pancakes were a bit too thick, close to the dreaded gummy stage. My wife's promised haystack of onion ring was a serving of pre-made Sam's Clublike product, not good at all. Most interesting was a visit from one of the owners. I mentioned that we enjoyed the steak and the fish but I'd suggest that they consider some ceiling hangings or wall hangings as the (half filled) room was very noisy. He said he'd like to send me to Taylor and Dunnes. I looked a bit puzzled and he said it was the old Mille's Spaghetti Factory on Cedarburg Road on Hwy. 57 and if he was standing the same distance away there (aprox. 4 feet) , I wouldn't be able to hear him. OK, I found that response both a non sequitur and unacceptable. The walls, a deep red, had only sconces on them and the ceiling had the exposed heating systems with the sound bouncing off everything. I made a note to myself that I should be able to find my own noisy dining experience a bit closer to home.

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