For the 10th straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee, presented by the restaurants of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, dining guides, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as voting for your "Best of Dining 2016."
The Hale House
10539 W Forest Home Ave
Hales Corners, WI 53130
The Hale House, which opened in 2015, brings scratch cooking and craft beers to the South Side suburb Hales Corners. A wide range of grilled foods, fish frys, a selection of craft beers, including many from Wisconsin, and a full bar to keep the whistle whetted. The restaurant is a local cozy favorite by many in the area that focuses on fresh local ingredients.
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We wandered through on a Friday night prior to a visit to the China Lights at the Boerner Botanical Gardens and was quite happy we did. The small-ish bar and restaurant were packed when we walked through the doors – which is always a good sign. We cozied in to the large L-shaped bar and opted to eat there rather than wait for a table.
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Three of the four of our group went for the hard to resist fish fry and made a good life decision. The soup of the day, clam chowder ($5,) was the perfect starter before we sampled cod ($12) and blue gill fish frys ($14.) Lake perch ($15) and a sampler called the "fish monger" ($17) are also available. The potato pancakes were crisp and fresh with a side of applesauce that was a little sweeter than I am used to but thoroughly enjoyed.
Type of food: Bar food, sandwiches, fish fry, burgers, salads.
Prices: Bar bites run $11 and under. Entrees are priced roughly $10-16.
Vegetarian friendly? Yes. There are numerous salads, though about half have meat.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m daily for the kitchen and till bar time for the bar portion.
Parking: Street parking available on Forest Home Ave. as well as a small lot adjacent to the restaurant. There is also a church parking lot immediately to the north which seemed to be full of Hale House's happy customers.
Vibe/dress: Casual and relaxed with a friendly local crowd.
Hits: The fish fry options were plentiful and worthy of your order.
Misses: The wings ($7) – which I'd heard prior were quite good – didn't impress at all. Maybe they are better on non fish fry nights.
Carolynn Buser is one of Milwaukee's loudest and most adamant cheerleaders (don't dare try to disagree). She's the primary voice behind much of OnMilwaukee's social media and content direction, and apologizes in advance if she can be too sarcastic at times.
What else? She's a wine lover, closet trashy novel reader, beauty supplies addict and devourer of cheese (shocker for a Wisconsin born and bred girl, right?). She's also a bit of a foodie, which is a word most of you hate, we know. She works as hard as she plays - and that includes in the gym! So, you've probably seen her at one of the area's newest restaurant openings (and yes, she will share her opinions good or bad) or enjoying a cold one at a local pub.
All in all, Carolynn's a believer in positive thinking and will do her best to smack down your negative ones while writing about her city, her loves, quests and more.
