Branko Radicevic, the son of one of the founders, and his family. The building began life as a tavern in 1897 and has retained a cozy charm, made more charming still by its old-fashioned kitchen tables, the subdued lighting, and such offerings as roast suckling pig and burek, a rounded pastry filled with beef, cheese, or spinach. The care the owners put into their food is suggested by the fact that they pickle their own cabbage.

A Friday-night fish fry is as much a part of Milwaukee’s heritage as a shot and a beer chaser at Art’s Concertina Bar or a suds frame at Koz’s Mini-Bowl. Demonstrating the scope of the fish-fry scene, a local food critic recently conducted a poll to find the city’s favorites. Hundreds of dedicated “fryers” responded, praising more than 500 establishments.

This tradition of dishing up deep-fried cod, perch, or walleye originated generations ago. Milwaukee’s German and Polish Catholics dealt with their religiously ordained meatless Fridays by dining out at neighborhood taverns, corner restaurants, or church halls as a transition from the workweek to the weekend. A true Milwaukee fish plate must be accompanied by french fries or crisp potato pancakes, applesauce, coleslaw, and lavishly buttered pumpernickel. One of the better-known fish fries can be found at the American Serb Hall ( www.serbhall.com / 414-545-6030), a cavernous 55-year-old building also used for political rallies, concerts, and wedding receptions.

Another fine fry is served in the 1906 powerhouse that now is the Lakefront Brewery’s Palm Garden ( www.lakefrontpalmgarden.com / 414-273-8300), where the fish is accompanied by a polka band. And then there is Turner Hall ( www.historicturner.com / 414-276-4844), built in 1882 to serve the Swiss Turners, a gymnasts’ organization. The dining room is hung with old portraits of heavily mustached athletes. The Turner Ballroom Preservation Trust is working to renovate the structure’s magnificent 7,000-square-foot upstairs hall.

Lodging

Milwaukee is famously a German city, of course, but the Irish were among its first settlers, holding sway in city government, working on the docks, building the railroads. Cary James (“Rip”) O’Dwanny does honor to his Gaelic background with the County Clare ( www.countyclare-inn.com / 888-942-5273), an inviting lodging and restaurant on the East Side. The Clare is a mile or so north of the lakefront festival grounds that host Milwaukee Irish Fest each August and is in heavy demand then.

The magnificently refurbished Art Deco Ambassador Hotel ( www.ambasshotel.com / 414-342-8400) lies immediately to the west of downtown and the impressive sprawl of Marquette University, near the Pabst Mansion and the Irish cultural and Heritage Center. The Ambassador’s much-needed rejuvenation was a multiyear project for its owner, Rick Wiegand, who eventually put about $12 million into it. The building, which went up in 1928, is credited with being a decisive force in the neighborhood’s revitalization.

Two of the city’s downtown hotels, close to Lake Michigan and the audacious Santiago Calatrava–designed Milwaukee Art Museum wing, are listed with the Historic Hotels of America. Both have lobby bars that are at once lively

and soothing.

The Pfister Hotel ( www.thepfisterhotel.com / 414-273-8222), which opened in 1893, has a threestory-tall lobby as extravagant as a late-nineteenth-century ocean liner. Its fame is well deserved.

The Hotel Metro ( www.hotelmetro.com / 414-272-1937), just around the corner, was constructed in 1937 as an office building and was converted, with imagination and great expense, to a luxury hotel less than a decade ago.

Both hotels are near the vigorous new nightclub and restaurant district along North Milwaukee Street. If you are out for a stroll there, check Cubanitas ( www.cubanitas.us / 414-225-1760) for mojitos and Havana-style pork sandwiches—and a sense of just how well this old German town can accommodate the invigorating presence of newer arrivals.