The Loaded Slate

We made late lunch/​early dinner reservations (still not sure why, the dining room was empty) before a Sunday Bucks game. The server was friendly, however, she forgot my chili. That said, everyone makes mistake and it was a minor oversight. Now, for the food. We ordered a combo appetizer plate including wings, buffalo chicken wraps, mozzarella sticks, nachos, bacon wrapped jalapeño and fried pickles. The fried pickles were OK, the wings, eh alright. The nachos were a pretty red color but that’s where they fall off — they were sprinkled with a few mushrooms, a few diced tomatoes, a sliver of red onion and some sauce. The mozzarella sticks were not even melted in the middle and the deep fried wanton wrap tasted like the grease they were fried in was OLD and rancid.
The place was sloppy at best. Dirty tables, nasty floor with dead food and to top it off a DOG came into the restaurant from another unit of the building. We would’ve done better at Applebee’s and we NEVER go to chain restaurants. These Milwaukee Foodies recommend you visit one of our other amazing restaurants in the area such as The Brass Alley, Uglys next door… On a positive note: the music was decent and the bar was packed.

I had a coupon to use for 25 dollars worth of food. They honored it with no issue. I stopped in on a Friday, it wasnt packed at all. We ordered all apps. So we ordered a couple orders of jumbo cheese sticks, french fries, chicken wings (BBQ and Plain) and cheese curds. Lastly, we had the chicken quesadilla minus the mushrooms.
Its smaller on the inside then what I imagined. It is big enough to get the job done. We had a fairly large part of (6). We sat down at two separate tables at the entrance. The interior is dark and filled with sports memorabilia. The tables have chalk boards built in. This kept my kids occupied until the food came!
The food was really good. I was surprised. I have one complaint. It was a Friday and I am allergic to seafood, Im sure I tasted the food and it was cooking (fried) in the same grease as the fish. I stopped eating the fries right away. Only the fries tasted like this so I dont know? Besides that I had a great experience.
They have multiple nights of the week when they have specials. I would love to go back to try other specials that they have. Oh yea I tried to go about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday and we were told that they kitchen closed at 5pm on a Sunday… plan ahead, also parking is a royal pain.

Stopped in for the first time for brunch and was pleasantly surprised. Excellent from scratch bloodies. Delicious cheese sprinkled tots, and Wisconsin burger which featured a fried egg. Everything was great, and the staff was very friendly & helpful. I bet this spot would be a super fun place to watch a game.

This is the only place to go for a packer game! Adorable waitresses and bartenders, tasty drinks, and great chicken wings! It’s a party though up front, so for the over 30-​somethings or anyone who doesn’t love crazy loud music, there is a back bar that is the perfect speed for anyone, and they have a separate bartender/​staff back there! Worth checking out!

This place earned every bit of the 2.5 stars people have given it. Rubbery cheese curds, average burgers, slow service. The waitress was friendly and the spicy chicken app was good. But those are the only positives our table of 8 could identify. Six pm on a Saturday, they were out of one of the apps. The waitress also didn’t know what beers they had on tap. Thoroughly unimpressed.

WAS the best place in the world… but some people got to good for the world…

I was excited to make a reservation here for Downtown Dining week after hearing about their Wisco burger that had cheese curds in it. They called me two hours before my reservation to tell me that they ran out of food the night before and had to shut the kitchen down. I was really surprised and pretty disappointed, but I still wanted to try it out.
Came for dinner with my boyfriend on a Friday night and we got the deep fried bacon for an appetizer. It was really delicious and came with Guiness nacho cheese, which I wasn’t a fan of, but my boyfriend loved it.
We both got Wisco burgers for our entrees. His fried egg was really runny and made a huge mess but mine was cooked better. Couldn’t really taste the components that made the burger unique, like the cheese curds, the deep fried bacon, or the fried egg. There was also lettuce, tomato, pickle, and a lot more so I could barely get my mouth around it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I had tater tots as my side because I’m always excited when a bar has that on its menu.
The drinks were reasonably priced and our waitress was nice. Probably would come back for the bar food.

We came here for Downtown Dinning 2015. The menu had some potential food adventures but most of them fell short. Our favorites are: Mom– the bacon on her burger, sister– cheese curds (ordered off the reg menu at full price), me– my drink. The atmosphere is nice, definitely a bar not a restaurant which can account for the food disapoinments. The service was great, very friendly and enthusiastic.
Now back to the food: the amount of the appetizers were limited (one huge and tough jalapeño popper that was ok or a single crab ragoon. Now the size could be due to DTD. The entrées were good. I had the bbq pulled pork sandwich. I usually do not like cold slaw on a bbq sandwich but theirs was ok. I did like the haystack fried onions topping the sandwich but thought there would be more than I had. The bottom half of the bun was so soggy I could not hold the sandwich in my hand and had to eat it with a knife and fork, after removing the bottom half of the bun. Mom’s loaded burger was good and sister’s fish tacos made with Mali Mali fell short because they tasted more like tuna tacos than anything. The dessert was a fried pb&j sandwich with ice cream. It had potential to be mind blowing but was more like a shoulder shrug. It was very salty and I could not detect any J (jelly) in the sandwich. The deep fried bread was good and it having chocolate sause and ice cream helped the dessert overall but could not save it. Mom’s dessert was the smallest piece of cheesecake I’ve ever seen and sister had 2 mini «cream puffs» that were still frozen and inedible.
Overall The Loaded Slate was a disappointment for Downtown Dinning week because I think it reached too high and was not ready for it. I heard a rumor that they had ran out of their DTD menu items earlier this week and had to cancel reservations until they received their delivery. I think I would have enjoyed my food more if it had not been DTD and I just had wanted a good burger and drink in a cool place.
There were some nice things that justify it getting 2 stars instead of 0: good service, nice decore, good background music, good burgers and drinks, and location. One last thing, as I was walking out, I noticed that the female servers that I saw all wore short shorts. I don’t know if this was their uniform. But it didn’t sit well with me.

I got what I deserved for disregarding the low Unilocal rating when I decided to come here for happy hour the other day.
First of all, «half-​price apps» is misleading. It sounds like a fine deal, but the apps available for half-​price also come in smaller portions. I’m no math wiz, but if I’m paying half and then getting about half, that is not a savings. That’s just paying less and getting less. That’s directly proportional.
But that’s the least of this place’s worries. I’m primarily traumatized by the food. We ordered what I believe was called Third Street Nachos and they were the most bizarre interpretation of a basic bar food that I’ve ever seen: A pile of stale tortilla chips topped with raw sliced mushrooms, cold and uncooked chopped onion and red pepper, a few chunks of lukewarm chicken, a blob of nacho cheese and what appeared to be a sour cream drizzle. The mushrooms were downright jarring. I say that as someone who likes mushrooms, but just… not on top of nachos, you know?
The two other apps we ordered — sliders and buffalo chicken rolls — were not memorable or particularly warm, but at least they were inoffensive compared to the shroom nachos.
Beer prices were steeper than I expected for a happy hour deal, but maybe that’s just nature of being out on Old World Third.
The Loaded Slate may be a fine bar, if you’re looking for a place to grab a drink and you happen to be in this part of town. I can’t speak to that, as it was a Tuesday night and we were two of four people in the entire place. But I would encourage you to explore other options if you’re looking for a bite on Old World Third. Unless shroom nachos sound like your thing.

This place is a JOKE… so me and my girlfriend stopped in because she heard about their «Waffle nacho Fries», so she ordered them. Me myself, I ordered a Turkey club for $ 9.00 and added bacon for $ 2.00…her (my girlfriend) Nachos were $ 9.00…upon receiving our food we noticed that the «Waffle Nacho fries» had no Waffle fries… we were told that the regular fries that were in the nachos were called «Pub Waffle fries»…lmao…my Club sandwich was horrible, the bacon was undercooked and rubbery. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. .it took everything in my power to leave a $ 7 tip.

Love coming here. Easily the best bar in Milwaukee! They don’t treat you like a customer, but like a guest in their home.
I was here this past Sunday night and the two guys working were upbeat and having a great time while work, but the Badgers won so wouldn’t be having fun.
Easily the best bar with food on 3^rd street. Keep up the great work & cant wait to see you guys soon!

DINER BEWARE!!! Horrible experience! 1^st and last time I will ever go to this resturant. Went to the Loaded Slate for a Bloody Mary and lunch on 3÷8÷2015. Something that was served to me was MOLDY! Which I am allergic to. Within 10 min of eating/​drinking my meal I started having a SEVERE allergic reaction. I ended up in urgent care where i was treated then transferred by ambulance to the ER, where I had to spend 4 – 5 hrs in their care. According to the owner/​manager though, I’m lying because it’s not possible for them to serve MOLDY food! REALLY!?! I have the medical bills to prove otherwise! After some research, I found they have had problems twice in the past with MOLD in their icemaker and around their soda gun. NASTY! !
CLEAN AND SANITIZE YOUR RESTURANT AND CHECK YOUR EXP. DATES!

Here’s a quick rundown after two recent visits by a couple out-​of-​towners…
Friendly bartenders and staff.
Consistently decent, modern music selection.
A few flat screens running sports (moreless)
Okay for kids, until the darkness sets in…
Monday thru Friday Happy Hour, 4pm-​7pm ($ 3 apps, drink specials)
Geared towards the younger crowds (I’m 30 and felt aged).
Decent local, bottled craft beer selection (New Glarus, MKE, etc.), with a handful of domestic tappers and an original Bloody Mary menu (pretty tasty stuff!)
Burgers are greasy as hell.
Reuben rolls are even greasier than hell.
Jumbo Cheese Jalapeño Tots are NOT jumbo (and surprise, their greasy).
Bottom line… friendly staff, solid background tunes, decent beer selection with daily specials, good Bloody Mary’s, plenty of food on the menu to choose from, but the grub is far from refined and in need of serious execution management. It’s a swell place to stop if milking a hangover, grab a beer, an app or two, and debate where to score dinner or which distillery/​brewery to check out. It’s close enough to the Aloft Hotel, which was a plus. Not sure if we would’ve checked it out otherwise.

Good specials, surprisingly good burgers, good place to stop by if you’re in the area and you want a cheap bite to eat or cheap drinks. The crowd varies from time to time. On my last visit for a bite and a beverage, the crowd was younger, probably college-​aged and were a bit obnoxious but hey, we’ve all been there before!

Place sucks tried just talking with girl behind bar and was basically told to leave and they were trying to ban me for a while now horrible bar stay away

Just discovered this place on our last trip through Milwaukee on the way to GB. A nice waitress informed us of the $ 20 special, two pitchers and a dozen wings. We said, yeah, bring it on. What a fun place. Next time, we’ll be trying the bloody mary/​meal. Great service and crowd.

Stopped in her twice this past month.
Came in one time after a brewer game on a Friday night for a drink.
Place was hoping and very busy. Fun vibe. Mega size Jenga was fun.
Came back on a weekday for Bloody Mary’s
One word: FANTASTIC!
Can’t wait to go back.

Came here for brunch. The Bloodys are fun to look at, with all the food piled onto it was about par. The drink itself was passable, but nothing to write home about.
We all ordered various breakfast items… and every single plate was disappointing. Some of the food was burned crispy, other bits were so institutional, they were barely edible. Our server was apathetic, and didn’t even try to correct the food problems.
There are too many better bars/​restaurants within a block of this place. Skip it.

It’s an interesting concept. All the slate and chalk writings.
A very young crowd resides here.
My bloody mary was so salty that I simply could not choke it down — good thing is our young little tank-​topped in winter server was so sweet and kind enough to get me another drink instead and not charge me after trying to fix the first bloody mary. She really was a doll.
It’s a cool place and all. But doesn’t resonate as well with me as maybe it would some others.

The Loaded Slate’s menu states «Walk in a stranger; leave as a friend.»
I must have caught them on an off night (the first Thursday of Summerfest); as my experience was nothing of the ‘friendly’ sort. I stopped in with two friends to check out TLS and by midway through the meal, determined I would not return. A brief summary:
1. Our server wasn’t exactly welcoming or friendly. If you want people to spend money in your establishment, even faking like you care would go a long way. She seemed more interested in the music selection (TODAY’S HOT POP HITS VOL. 74). I get the feeling this place pops off on a Friday or Saturday night, but I’m not sure TLS knows what the theme would be. Are they a dance club? A sports bar? A bar with a chalkboard theme? Pick one. That’s not the fault of the wait staff, just a note for improvement.
2. Taco Bangers = grease party. These should be served with a side of Tums. Interestingly enough, I couldn’t find these on the official menu; they were recommended by our server.
3. Burger selection: solid options (7) including black and blue, triple pepper, and a patty melt. The accompanying chips were a bit overcooked and I’m not sure a $ 2 charge for previously frozen fries or tots is necessary.
4. Beer: $ 1 PBR cans on Thursday is no joke.
Despite those dollar PBRs, this — like many of the establishments on OW3rd — is just not my type of place. I’d like to be able to hear the conversation while not having to yell over club music on a dead Thursday evening. TLS seemingly markets their business to anyone and everyone — Brewers/​sports fans, weekend old world third street club-​goers, businesses (catering), birthday/​bachelor/​bachelorette parties, families (?!?) — without a clear plan of attack. In the end, it’s trying to be a pub that thinks it is a club yet wants to be a sports bar while attempting to cater to everyone.
There are so many other places who do this type of food much better and have great service to boot. Sorry, but I’d rather be a stranger than a regular here.