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When Bavette La Boucherie closed its original Third Ward den - digs it occupied for nine years - I started to feel what I call Restaurant Attachment Disorder. I thought back to that summer night I met a friend for a charcuterie plate, after which I biked the Oak Leaf Trail home to the serenade of legions of crickets. I worried that this storefront where the diner feels embedded in the action - sausage-making to sandwich-carving - would lose its Bavette-ness.

From polka-fueled Friday fish fries at a craft brewery to saucy vegan burgers at a weed-themed, plant-based joint, here's where to eat in Wisconsin's largest city

Restauranteur Wolfgang Schaefer has a saying about Milwaukee food that sums it up better than any outsider ever could: From comfort food to fine dining, it's "awesome and approachable," a sleeping giant that doesn't take itself too seriously.

There are good nights out and great nights out. If you're looking for the latter, this is your list: the spots that have perfected the alchemy of stellar service, a great space and unforgettable food.

Three Milwaukee chefs have made it to the final round of the James Beard Awards, in the best chef Midwest category. Dane Baldwin of the Diplomat, 815 E. Brady St.; Karen Bell of Bavette La Boucherie, 330 E. Menomonee St. (moving to 217 N. Broadway in April); and Gregory Leon of Amilinda, 315 E. Wisconsin Ave., were named finalists on Wednesday.

Wisconsin semifinalists for the annual James Beard Awards include a bar and longtime restaurateur brothers for two national awards, and five chefs for a regional award. Bryant's, at 1579 S. Ninth St., owned by John Dye, is a semifinalist for outstanding bar program, a national category, and brothers Paul and Joe Bartolotta of the Bartolotta Restaurants for outstanding restaurateur, also a national category. Tory Miller, chef-owner of L'Etoile in Madison, is nominated in another national category: outstanding chef. Miller previously won the best chef: Midwest category.

A great meal, good drinks, a cool atmosphere. Diners looking for memorable restaurants turn to the Milwaukee 50, the list that also ranks the Top 30 restaurants. But with the pandemic's effects still wreaking havoc on businesses, it didn't seem right again this year to go about ranking restaurants. The last list is still a good resource, but it's an incomplete picture now. Here's a guide to restaurants not on that 2019 list that I consider among the most exciting right now, ones I'm telling readers, family and friends, "You have to check them out."

When it comes to who makes the Top 30 and the wider Milwaukee 50, food is always the most important consideration. Is it well-conceived and executed? How ambitious is the menu? Is it delicious? For the Top 30 restaurants, service received strong consideration. Did the food and the service merit the price tag? Were they what diners would expect and deserve on a special night out? Or any night out, for that matter?

This is my 10th list of Milwaukee's top restaurants. What a different restaurant landscape it is from 2009. What a different restaurant landscape it is from last year. Restaurants have come and gone, yes. (I miss you, c.1880; you were in every aspect a four-star restaurant when you closed in April. Miss you, too, Hinterland, Wolf Peach and All Purpose, all Top 30 restaurants that closed since the 2017 list was published.) But the way we eat has changed, too.

Karen and Jessica Bell make their mark on Milwaukee's food and wine scene on a daily basis. Karen - who was named a 2018 James Beard award finalist in March - owns Bavette La Boucherie restaurant and butcher shop and Jessica, former owner of My Wine School, currently runs Halo Vino, a company that manufactures portable wine glasses.

Today, many Americans have easy access to pre-prepared food-whether it be slabs of meat packaged at the grocery store or a ready-to-eat meal from a fast-food chain, acquired from just five minutes spent in a drive-through line-and the life cycle of each plant or animal behind the meal is often not thoroughly considered. With an outlook inspired from more than...

A butcher and chef in Milwaukee has a surprising answer to those who suggest cutting back on meat: she agrees. But, she says, when you do indulge, make it a meal to remember.

A Milwaukee native, Karen Bell lived in Paris, Madrid, Caracas and San Francisco before opening her Third Ward restaurant and butcher shop Bavette La Boucherie in 2013. Soon after, she was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for the coveted award "Best Chef of the Midwest." In fact, she's been a semifinalist or finalist five times.

Yelp put together a list of the top 25 restaurants in Milwaukee for the last 10 years. So, if you're feeling hungry, check out these locations!

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a city with a lot of culture and history. It is also home to some of the best restaurants in the country. Recently, several Milwaukee-area restaurants were awarded James Beard Awards, considered the most prestigious awards in the culinary world.

Bavette La Boucherie opened May 1 in the Historic Third Ward, on the north side of Menomonee Street facing, appropriately, Catalano Square. The small park by that name is dedicated to the many Italian families who helped develop the neighborhood in the early part of the 20th century. Bavette La Boucherie is a butcher shop harkening back to those historic days when small, family-owned stores dotted many corners in the Third Ward. It offers artisan meats, fresh sausages made on-site and Wisconsin cheeses, all offered in an atmosphere of almost classic elegance.

A great deal has changed since Chef Karen Bell opened Bavette La Boucherie at 330 E. Menomonee St. in the Third Ward in 2013.

Local chefs Karen Bell, owner of Bavette La Boucherie in the Third Ward, and Justin Carlisle, owner of Ardent on Milwaukee's East Side, have received nominations as finalists to receive 2018 James Beard Awards for Best Chef Midwest, the James Beard Foundation announced this morning.