Almost every Milwaukee neighborhood seems to have at least one place to grab burritos, chimichangas and a margarita or two.
The challenge, then, for these types of establishments is to create food that is of a high enough quality to attract people from beyond walking distance; people willing to pass one or two similar restaurants along the way to your door.
La Serenata, 4978 S. Packard Ave., seemed to be struggling with this obstacle when I recently visited on a Thursday evening, and my guest and I found ourselves to be the only diners in the vivacious, brightly colored restaurant. Yellows and reds cover the walls, a horseshoe style bar separates two seating areas and tables are dressed with vases of flowers and paper, doily-styled placemats, making the place lively and inviting.
Likely due to the slowness of the evening, our server was doing double duty as the bartender, and mixed up an excellent margarita. Served in a delicate, curvaceous clear margarita glass, this beverage was definitely one of the better you'll find in the area.
Complementary chips came with two versions of salsa, mild / medium and hot. The milder version was a pureed salsa, which can sometimes skew towards more of a ketchup taste than that of a salsa, but that is not an issue at La Serenata. The hot version is a bit chunkier, although still finely minced and carries just a slight latent heat.
In addition to guacamole, taquitos, queso fundido and other common appetizers, La Serenata offers some interesting variation in the form of ham and cheese quesadillas (Sinchronizadas, $5.75) and Bombita ($1.80), strips of ribeye in a tortilla with melted cheese.
Main Courses offer standards like burritos, tacos and enchiladas (both rojas and suizas), and a variety of Mexican plate dinners and house specialties. The menu is extensive, and covers a full four pages, mostly with selections in the $10 range.
Diners should also expect to see tortas, sopas and some of the more interesting Mexican dishes you won't find in a cookie cutter Mexican restaurant.
Chicken and ribeye milanesas both make the menu (breaded, fried cuts of meat), mole is fairly prevalent and beef tongue (lengua) makes a few appearances. As added bonus, La Serenata offers a children's menu and a fairly substantial daily breakfast menu.
We tried two dishes with very good results. Both the enchiladas suizas de pollo ($10.50), and a tostada dinner ($9.95) were excellent, and the freshness of the ingredients was noteworthy, as were the generous portions. The enchiladas suizas in particular were quite excellent with corn tortillas and just a slight bite of heat. And unlike other restaurants which charge extra for sour cream now, La Serenata includes it with most of their entrees.
Overall, La Serenata has all the makings of a top-notch Mexican restaurant, from margarita to flan and fried ice cream. And with three years under its belt, hopefully this South Side eatery will draw in more people and thrive.
Next time I visit, I hope to see many more people enjoying the food as much as I did, because without a doubt, I would happily again drive past the three Mexican restaurants on the way from my home to go back to La Serenata.
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.
