Outdoor patios and margaritas are popular partners during summertime in Milwaukee.
And while many people head to South 6th Street to sip their blended or on the rocks cocktail and knock back chips and salsa, the area near the airport features its own Mexican dining option in Jalapeno Loco, 5067 S. Howell Ave.
The restaurant, which operated for several years in Cudahy in the mid-to- late 1990s, reinvented itself on Howell Avenue nearly 10 years ago and appears to attract a clientele of after-work companions and younger, neighborhood families.
A recent scouting visit on a Wednesday evening revealed a nice-sized, fenced in patio, tableside singing mariachis, a great non-alcoholic sangria that was nearly as good as the margaritas and a menu filled with interesting, atypical selections.
Based only our scouting visit, I would forego the appetizer selections and soups in the future. But, the regular menu and tabletop house specials give you myriad selections to choose from that make the starters overtly optional anyway.
Selections dance between the typical plates of rice, beans and burritos to more eccentric and regional dishes. Jalapeno Loco's printed menu still gives diners some welcome options for the basics, such as letting you select two different meats for a fajita combination. If you're craving something different, look beyond this standard menu and grab the tabletop version.
House specialties include plenty of moles -- served with chicken, pork, and a variety of vegetables -- all for $14.25. Mole verde, mole amarillato (red mole made with chilies), Oaxaqueno (made with chilies and dried fruits for a sweeter flavor) and a Colorado mole (made with ancho chilies and sesame seeds) highlight the menu.
Diners also can expect to see multiple shrimp dishes, including a shrimp Garbardina, which stuffs shrimp with Chihuahua cheese and wraps them in bacon, and some interesting regional dishes, including pork chops sautéed in tomato and chipotle sauce and another pairing of sautéed shrimp and bacon in tacos.
Prices here are reasonable, with the most expensive dishes topping out just shy of $20 for those that contain higher-end meats like tenderloin, and most other dishes hovering in the $7 to $10 range.
And with the restaurant opening daily at 11 a.m., it is encouraging to see huevos rancheros and chorizo con huevos on the menu as well, for those who like their eggs spicy, and later in the morning. If it's lunch you crave, servings are paired down from the dinner options and fall in the $6.50 range.
In addition to a long list of margarita offerings, Jalapeno Loco boasts one of the best non-alcoholic drink selections I've seen in a long time, with several different offerings of Jarritos (Mexican soft drinks) and a Sangria Senorial, which tastes more like the Spanish drink of Coke and red wine (Calimocho) than a traditional sangria, but is a welcome offering on a sweltering summer day, and, as with much of their menu, is something different to sample.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
