Cool Water Bar & Grill [edit] 2247 E. St. Francis Ave. St. Francis, WI 53235 (414) 810-3975 www.mycoolwaterbarandgrill.com... info@mycoolwaterbarandgrill.com
Description [edit]
Owner Joe Santoro, whose daughter Tessa is a well-known caterer around town and owner of the former Broadway Bistro and current Broadway Bakery, spent nearly three years renovating the space. One thing that has remained from the old Majdeckis is the popular fish fry. Also on tap are burgers, soups, salads, sandwiches, surf and turf and more. George Busateri leads the house band, which plays most Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. Other bands also perform some weekends. Cool Water is open for dinner from 5 until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 4 until 11 on Friday and 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. Saturday. The bar is open daily until 11 p.m. except Friday and Saturday when it remains open until bar time. Smoking is allowed in the upstairs bar and dining room but is prohibited in the dining area and bar downstairs.

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Posted by latebreak on Nov. 24, 2009 at 11:47 a.m. (report)

I've eaten at Cool Water many times. It has been a mixed bag experience each time. Service has been poor, but the food is usually pretty good. This place could be great if they had some competent people working the bar and tables. Usually I like to sit at the bar. The bartenders have been clueless. They don't know how to pour a beer, what wine they carry, or how to place an order. I see waitresses come place an order for drinks only to be told "that is not in stock". How embarassing to have to go tell your customer that merlot is not in stock. Another time my g/f and I ordered two burgers. One medium with cheddar and fries, the other medium well with chips and blue cheese dipping sauce. After about 30 minutes we started to wonder where the food was, so we asked the bartender. He went back to the kitchen and informed us that they were out of buns and we needed to order something else on the menu. We then placed an order for a few appetizers. About 5 minutes later our burgers came out! It was clear they had been under a heat lamp for some time. Both were over cooked and the buns soggy. One had blue cheese all over it (they must have thought dipping sauce is meant for the burger and not the chips). How is this possible, I thought they were out of buns? What a mess!!! What sucks is when the food is good, its great. They just need to look at management and the rank and file and make some changes.

Posted by food4thought on Nov. 19, 2009 at 11:28 a.m. (report)

Please forgive the spelling errors in my review below (fiance and entree) as this website does not allow "e-acute" despite the fact that the preview option given before posting showed no problems.

Posted by food4thought on Nov. 18, 2009 at 10:54 p.m. (report)

My fianc and I decided to try this place out for dinner tonight. It's a small bar and grill with a decent atmosphere. We sat at one of the window seats which unfortunately was underneath a heating vent. It was on high enough to dry out my eyes quickly. We eventually moved to the back which had a colder draft (not horrible) and the floor was a bit shoddy and shook the table whenever someone walked by (this did bother us). Our waitress (who was also the bartender) came and took our drink order. I ordered a glass of riesling to which she said they ran out last Saturday (this was Wednesday night...) I then ordered instead a glass of zinfandel to which she replied they didn't carry. They did have the sauvignon blanc that I asked for next. I also ordered their portabella mushroom bruschetta which came out shortly afterwards. The appetizer would have been wonderful if the crouton discs they served them on were not stale. This item was taken off our bill. For the main entre we both had ordered the mac n' cheese. I am not a big fan of most grilled chicken breast as it's often grilled too dry. I asked if they had battered and fried available, they did not but the waitress said she could have the cook use their herb crusted breast instead. She came back out moments later saying the cook said he couldn't do that and asked if grilled chicken was ok. I said it was fine and later our food was brought out. This dish was very good. The chicken was moist and the bacon (which my fianc ordered) had a somewhat chestnut flavor to it which complimented the sauce. The sauce was rich and flavorful but not too heavy. When our plates were taken and asked if we wanted desert I asked for a glass of mimosa and a piece of their carrot cake. She apologized again and said they didn't stock any champagne and that they also ran out of carrot cake the previous Friday (again... this was Wednesday night...) At that point we decided we'd had enough and left mostly dissatisfied. The service and main dish were good but they weren't good enough to make up for the other faults. We might go back if we get a craving for their mac n cheese but we know now not to expect much else.

Posted by tjm1951 on Aug. 7, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. (report)

Originally went for the Friday fish fry special during lent. May not be to everyones taste but both my wife and I think its one of the better fish frys around. Light breading, well seasoned. Have gone back multiple times for the fish. Also have gone during the week. The steak sandwich is excellent. The steak would be as good off the bun as many other restaurants steak dinners.

Posted by GaryG on April 8, 2009 at 8:54 p.m. (report)

I have tried to go to this resturant a few times with my wife and was hoping that it would be good. We heard great things from people that used to go when it first opened. We live in the neiborhood and hopes of a good place. What we have found is it is always dead, when we did go in we were greated to the smell of old burnt food. When we tried talking to the girl behind the bar it seemed to be too much for her to answer any questions for us. The fish fry that we did have was the worst thing I have ever eaten. I don't have any clue when the people here eat there but they get 4 thumbs down. I really hope this place goes back to the way it was an empty building. If you have the idea to go there you should just say no and not be insulted by the staff and go to Mcdonald's to get a better fish fry.