I need restaurant suggestions for a 60th birthday party (Milwaukee: house, live)

[ahava]

My mother-in-law is turning 60 in March and we're planning a surprise party for her. We want to have it at a restaurant somewhere in downtown Milwaukee. I'm from Chicago so I'm not too familiar with restaurants there and I'm hoping you locals can help me out. We had my father-in-law's 60th birthday party (it wasn't a surprise party) at the Safe House and that worked out perfectly because there was a party room and then when people were finished eating they could walk around and look at stuff. We also liked that they served the food buffet-style. We're looking for another restaurant like that, where there would be something for people to do after they eat (and preferably a bar too ). Anyone have any suggestions?

[heyheyheyhey]

you might want to give rock bottom brewery a call. There bar area is defintely larger than the safe house too, so when you are done eating there will be lots of room to hang out.

[trizkutt]

There's a ton different kinds of restaurants in downtown Milwaukee. You need to define what your looking for, so we can better help you find what you need.

Some well-known "special occasion" restaurants:

1. Sanford: One of the the best in Milwaukee. Named one of the 50 best restaurants in North America by Gourmet Magazine. Continental. Very expensive (at least $50/person).

2. Lake Park Bistro. Great park location on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. French countryside motif and cuisine. Run by famed restaurateur Frank Bartolotta. $40-50/person.

many more upscale/special occasion restaurants, but if you want something more "fun..."

-In my opinion, the safehouse is a great, fun very unique place in a back alley in downtown Milwaukee. It's camp, cheesy and even mysterious if you let your imagination go.

Other cool places downtown???

Cubanitas (Cuban food, kinda trendy and young crowd though) is a very exciting and well-known place downtown. Water Street Brewery in the 3rd ward is a great warehouse-style establishment. There are so many options, its hard to pick one so I think if you narrowed it down we could do a better job.

[Milwaukee Ronnie]

Milwaukee Ale House is good brewpub that serves pub style food and handcrafted beers. They have seperate rooms for parties. I have attended parties there and they have been good.

My personal favorite place in Downtown Milwaukee is African Hut. It's a West African restaurant, owned and operated by a Nigerian couple. I was part of a large group there one time and it was a blast. The owner provided an entertaining and engaging talk on Africa and African cuisine, complete with family servings of their signature dishes. The food is amazing.

You could always go hibachi for a fun party. There's a hibachi place Downtown called Benihana. Good place.

One of the trendy new places to open recently is a South American steak place called Sabor. I have not been there, but apparently it's a "demonstration" style dining experience where the servers come to your table with huge slabs of Argenitine beef and slice it right there for you at the table. Sounds like a hoot.

If you're into a louder, more boisterous atmosphere, then Lakefront Brewery on a Friday night is the place to go. Their fish fry is highly recommended.

[Twoaday]

Well if you want a fun place that isn't too expensive I'd suggest County Claire. Irish Pub with good food, often has a live band and always an interesting crowd.

[ahava]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. We're going to drive up to Milwaukee this weekend and check out all of these places to see which we like best. Thanks again!

[Eliza01]

Hi - if it's going to be a surprise party, check out the revolving booth in the Newsroom area of the Safe House. It's their banquet room and they have the permanent collection of the celebrity autographs collected by the Milwaukee Press Club. You've never seen anything like it - people who have spoken to the press in Milwaukee going back to 1885. Teddy Roosevelt, Louis Armstrong, Jacques Cousteau, Cary Grant . . .

You can come into The Newsroom for years and never know it's connected to The Safe House. Anyway, they have this revolving booth and you can lead the unsuspecting person in, seat him/her in the booth and spin it around into the Safe House where all the guests are waiting. It's cool.

I think I saw some photos of the autographs on their web site. I got lost in espionage there for hours - The Official Safe House Home Page. Check it out and have a great birthday.

Liza