Anchorage Restaurant

Don't let the name fool you, this is just a regular hotel restaurant that wants t make you think it's a real restaurant. The menu looks ok, but they are out of half of it when asked. The breakfast is handled by just one person who is sometimes nowhere to be found for up to 20 minutes. And they make you order and wait for breakfast instead of a regular hotel buffet. The food is like what you'd expect from a three-star hotel breakfast though.

The service is great! It's a roll of the nice if they will have any food or not. They also have ZERO backup plan if a person can't make their shift. One cook, one bartender. Cook gets sick, NO food. Bartender gets sick, restaurant doesn't open.

The food's not very good, but at least its slow.I get it. Hotel restaurants are going to be more expensive for what you get than stand-alone locations. I'm paying for the convenience of not leaving the building, which is what I didn't want to do after a bad day. But $50 for two appetizers, two side salads, and two beers is not great when the food looked and tasted like it did. There are few worse options in my grocer's frozen food section. It also took just short of an hour to reheat our orders and bring them out. The mozzarella sticks were barely warmed over, didn't seem fried as there was no texture to the breading and paired poorly with what I'm certain was cocktail sauce instead of marinara. The salads were fine except for the bits of wilted greenery in them that had me questioning the freshness of any of the produce. The poutine waffle fries were just sad. I ended up leaving more than half of them on the plate and I hadn't eaten since breakfast. The breakfast I had was also here as I'd paid ahead of time through the hotel. It isn't bad. The hot options are decent; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, and some very good home fries. Don't expect much for vegan or vegetarian options. The toaster is useless. They also need a better way to manage their voucher system since there is no single entry point and anyone can wander over to the buffet, mistakenly thinking that it is complimentary since there's no signage saying anything to the contrary. Vouchers (tiny squares of paper) are taken at the whim of someone who may or may not remember that they have done so. This meal was going to gain Anchorage an extra star, but the dirty water separating the plates on the last day meant I couldn't do that. If you're staying at this Holiday Inn, there's not a ton of options within a mile of the hotel. Breakfast is fine here for the most part. Don't have other meals here.

I have a mixed review on this one. My first experience was at the "free food happy hour" the evening I checked in to the Hilton Hotel. The wings were not bad, but they were not great either. What they were is super salty! There was a nice assortment of cheeses (after all, this is Wisconsin) and a cute veggie "shot" which consisted of Ranch dressing in a shooter with carrot and celery sticks and a pick with assorted olives.The Bloody Mary was nothing short of amazing and I'll post a picture. It was HUGE, and aside from the usual tomato/vodka mix it also contained Jumbo shrimp, celery, carrot, olives, pearl onions, whole red pepper, beef stick, pickle spear, and really good cheese strings. $10 but almost a meal in a glass and I can recommend you have Jill make you one. Jill is hardworking, overworked, pleasant, and frazzled. I had colleagues join me later in the evening and she put their drinks on my tab. When they asked for individual tabs, she still charged me for 5 beers and the Bloody Mary. (I had 1 beer). We did eventually get it sorted out but I chalked it up to her being so hurried and harried. The next experience I had was again in the bar. The following night my colleagues and I stopped in for a late dinner and some drinks. The bar was 2/3 full and it took a long time for Jill to get to our table. 20 min later we still didn't have our drink orders and she had not returned to take our meal orders. I ended up leaving and ordered room service. The Red Snapper soup must be hit or miss. Another Yelper said they could hardly find fish in theirs... Mine was a lovely thick stew-like soup which was more fish and vegetables than broth. I would order it again as it had a good tomato basil flavor.The Angry Chicken Pasta I was less impressed with. It stated it was "Cajun Chicken Strips with sautéed onion, mushrooms, red & green peppers, tossed with linguini in creamy Cajun sauce". What it ended up being was some chicken breast on a pile of angel hair, one mushroom slice, one slice of red pepper, one slice of green pepper, and a red (not creamy) spicy and VERY SALTY broth in the bottom of the bowl. The key reason I'm only giving 2 stars, is that the food, drinks and service are hit or miss but the prices are OUTRAGEOUS for such mediocre fare. Eat here if you must for convenience, but I am sure you can so better elsewhere not far from the hotel.

I am surprised by the reviews I have been reading after I just had one of the most delicious meals and experiences here, last weekend. I don't think it's fair to blame a seafood allergy on a restaurant, nor is it fair to give a bad review because it doesn't serve some of your old favorites. All I can say is that I had my first experience her last weekend. It was amazing. Our waitress, Kelly, was top notch! She had us laughing and was on top of drinks and plates all night. We were a rowdy group and she joined right in! The food was phenomenal! From the cocktails to the main course, I loved every bite. I got the Princess Salmon, with fingerling potatoes and the tomato artichoke soup...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I loved it, and not one person in our party had a bad thing to say. In fact, We all will be back for more!The prices were what you would expect at a fine seafood establishment, so I can't say that it was expensive. You most certainly get what you pay for here. Perfect portions, presentation and service. A must try in the Milwaukee/Bayshore area!

Sad. When I was a kid this was the place for seafood. We went for Happy Hour. The restaurant is very modern; pretty. This staff was very attentive but the appetizers were substandard. The cheese curds were empty shells and the flat breads were like soggy pizzas.

I don't come here often enough because when I do I have outstanding service and delicious food. Had the filet mignon today with the Anchorage salad, baked potato, asparagus, and mushrooms. So good.

I know I'm going to get flayed for this, and I don't mind because I have never been one to judge my dining experiences based on what others have said. And without reservation or hesitation, I can say honestly and unequivocally that The Anchorage was one of the best, if not the best, dining experiences that I've had in the past decade. There. "Wow, really?" you may be thinking to yourself. Absolutely. Better than Signature Room. Better than both of the Wildfire's I've been to. Better than Ruth's Chris. Better than Chicago Chop House. Yep. Of course I can't compare this experience to something like Alinea in Chicago because I haven't been to a place like that, but for the type of restaurant that The Anchorage is, I find it very hard to beat. A few points I want to make:Location: 3 out of 5Shares a space with the Hilton Milwaukee River Location. See my review for the hotel for details about the actual hotel.Service: 5 out of 5Oooh, not going to lie - this place started off on a very precarious precipice with me as my gf and I had to wait maybe 5 full minutes before someone realized that we were actually in the restaurant. And it was actually another customer that alerted one of the servers that we were there. After that, things were flawless. Our server was a young man named Niko, and he was superb. Attentive and earnest, and knowledgeable enough about the menu. Honestly, he was just a very friendly person, and what he made up in professional experience, he made up with a very easy-going character and a charming charisma. The only "minus" I would award to him would be his inexperience in describing the beers they had on draft. It was between an Amber and a Cow Bell, both brewed by Sprecher(?) in Milwaukee. Aside from this very minor flub, Niko was great.Decor: 4 out of 5Nothing really to complain about here. If you've ever been to a Philip's Seafood House (predominantly East Coast), think of the type of tables that they have in there, and you're close to what they have at Anchorage. The restaurant was dimly lit at night, but I could still easily read the menu. A singular fish tank graces an entry ramp, and the bar area is casual. I believe that this is where they would serve their brunch buffet.Quality of food: 5 out of 5."Oh man," some of you are thinking, "is this a joke?" Absolutely not. These were the items that my girlfriend and I had for the evening: Oysters on the halfshell, Caesar salad (me), Mixed green salad (her), surf and turf (her), NY strip (me), and espress creme brulee (shared). I'm not going to lie - the oysters they had here were one of the cleanest and freshest that I've tasted. As a side note, always, ALWAYS eat one without any condiments to make sure that nothing is being covered up. The complementary (and also complimentary) hot sauce, horseradish, and lemon were ample, as were the crackers. Salads were probably the least stellar of the evening. Not great, not bad. Panera could probably make a salad that's on par with what we had, but then again, we weren't there for the salad.Her surf and turf was a combination of a 6 oz filet mignon and an Australian lobster tail. She asked for medium, and got a medium (excellent start). Since I prefer my meat a little rarer, I skipped my gf's offer to taste her steak, and opted instead to have a bit of the lobster tail. There IS a difference between what we had there and what you can buy at the store. For one, the lobster tail was broiled, and not overdone, and I dunno - everything from the texture to the taste was just more subtle and sweeter than what we usually get, say, at a grocery store from the live tanks. The drawn butter caddy was a nice touch (see my picture).New York Strip, ahh...is there a better overall cut of beef? In my mind, no. You know why I order steak in restaurants? Because I can't cook them correctly at home. Oh, I can come close, and even make steaks taste good on an outdoor grill. But the fact of the matter is - for whatever reason, be it heat output, time, technique, seasoning, etc. I just can't make a steak as well as the reputable steakhouses can. Notice I said reputable, and not something like...Ponderosa. Ahhh...yes, my medium rare steak came back, saignant - as it should have. Pepper crusted? By all means. Mushroom sauce? Absolutely. I could have enjoyed my entree without the steamed carrots and asparagus or the baked potato, but yes, I even ate those. Oh, sorry to digress, but they offer free breadsticks at Anchorage. They're ok, probably on par with Olive Garden. Eat them if you're hungry or if you have kids. Skip them if you know what's good. ;)And for dessert: espress creme brulee. Geez, I'd like to remember more about it, but it was gone so quickly. In all honesty though, it was delicious, sweet, and I probably could have eaten another 3 of them by myself.Overall: 5 out of 5When Yelp lets me update this, I'll add a few more points.

Happy hour prices are right on time..the foos is great and the atmosphere is amazing. The staff is supwr friendly and no hard to hold a conversation with...half prices apps, wine and rail drinks!

This was one of the tastiest meals I have had at a restaurant in years. I know it's hard to get staff these days and the server was working so hard trying to take care of a lot of people but whatever they have going on in the kitchen is amazing! Every single person in the restaurant was delighted with their meal. Normally, hotel food is uninspired and tolerable. I will stay at this hotel again just to eat here.