Conway's Smokin' Bar & Grill

I like this little place! We stopped in prior to a show at The Rave. It was surprisingly good! I got the smoked brisket and it was SO good! I really wasn't expecting such great BBQ from a little place in Milwaukee, but that was a truly pleasant surprise!My husband got the meatloaf and it was good too.Enjoyed the cheese curds and the onion rings as well.Next time we are in the area, good chance we stop in to this little place. Bartender was really friendly, crackin' jokes and having a good time behind the bar.

Delicious and large servings - don't underestimate a good baked potato with brisket and all the toppings!

So I was staying at the Ambassador for work and this was in the area. I found Conway's on Yelp The chef was wrapping up for the evening but did me a solid and still served me as they were still open. I got the ribs and the wings as I couldn't decide. Honestly the ribs were perfect and the wings crispy yet moist. Cash only so come prepared!

Ambience, they used to do a Wednesday night open jam session where musicians could come in and play with other musicians. Great to watch, drinks were buy 1 get one. Owners were always on scene and were great at providing welcoming service.

Conway's is the the "Cheers" bar of Milwaukee where it feels like home and everyone knows your name! Come enjoy the best Smoked BBQ in MKE and get yourself some brews and strong mixed drinks! Say hello to Devin, the bartender and ask him about Kelly Clarkson's 2021 Christmas album and he will smile! I have been coming here with my husband for years and we are always looking forward to the next time that we can come back. It is the only bar where absolute strangers will talk and laugh together and just enjoy life. A true MKE gem! **Also look up "BIG JOHNSON AND THE THRUSTERS" on Apple Music for some blues/rock jams that you don't want to miss, then hit up Conway's on the 3rd Wednesday of every month for their live jam night!**

Upon walking into Conway's we were a bit confused. The dining area was completely empty with dim lighting. (We went at 4 pm though which is a bit of an odd time for dinner.) There was no background music. No servers. Odd. However, the food was AMAZING.You order at the window. Cash only. The wings are not fried which is a nice switch up. They fall off the bone and you get 7 for $4.75. Ribs also fell off the bone. They're large and meaty and for $14.75 you get beans, jalepeno cornbread, and 6 ribs. The burger and fries were decent too. Mac and Cheese bites were DELICIOUS. Yum yum yum!!! The best dish we tried was the smoked meatloaf sandwhich. It was moist yet crispy & really flavorful. The bun was a basic white bread bun but it was fresh and soft. You've got to try this. We had potato salad as a side and the portion was very large.Come hungry and you'll leave happy.Oh! The chef is great too. :) Very kind and helpful. This is a gem of a bbq joint!

I love dark bars. Any bar you can walk into at 3pm and it seems like it's night out, I'm a fan. Better yet, there's a huge rounded bar in the center, with regulars, bartenders who've worked there for years, cheap drinks, and bar food-- that's as good as it gets. So yeah I'm dropping the 5 star for little dark divey gem. I saw some other reviews of this as more of a restaurant first, but it seemed to me like a bar first, with food options. First thing to note- cash only! Like many places we found in Milwaukee, no cards. The drinks, insanely reasonable drink prices especially if you catch the M-F happy hour (4-7) with $2.50 wells & domestic bottles. There's were other deals on different days, like a ladies night and weekend specials, but I didn't catch them since we were there on a Friday happy hour. The food, a kitchen in the back that's putting out some of the best Americans-greasy-spoon-bar food. We ordered the BBQ meatloaf sammie with potato salad and a grilled cheese with fries. The BBQ meatloaf was like a homemade mcrib but better - a thick slice of meatloaf, covered in bbq sauce. The grilled cheese was just your basic no-frills grilled cheese, but also amazing. No fancy cheese, just yellow American on buttery white bread perfection. The staff were also great. We rolled up with lots and lots of us for a pre-show meetup and the bartenders didn't miss a beat. They were all super nice and hustled to get everyone all their drinks.

To comment on Ron Rs tip I think he missed what this place is because it's not a BBQ joint, it's a dive bar that has smoked foods on the menu. I make smoked food at home but I'm not making Bbq so with that being said I will start my review of the place. First off I had no expectations of the place but I didn't think it was an all out BBQ place so I didn't know what to expect. When I first walked in and looked around and my first thought was wow this is a cool dive bar and I will post pictures. It smells like a old school dive bar and I liked the unique character of the place.The place had a stage and I think the bar tender said Tuesday is open jam night. The blond woman painted the murals she said. I saw about 12 taps of micro brew which was unexpected. There is a pool table, pin ball machine, ATM, juke box, shitty big screen tv and other bar regulars. The wall below the food boards show what's on tap.I had the shock top Belgium white which was too mild for me. The River west all malt Amber lager was a better option for me with a fuller flavor.The cook and the woman bar tender are a couple and were very nice and chatted me up about the business so I can't complain about any service issues.Now on to my food and not thinking I was going to get full blown BBQ place I ordered the smoked ribs that come with beans and jalapeño corn bread. I liked the beans because there's was a sweet Smokey flavor in them and there is smoked meat mixed in while they were tight and not watery. I usually toss the corn bread but not today because I got hooked with every bite. It was on the edge of dry but not like the ones you can't choke down with out a drink that I throw away. The corn bread left me with no real jalapeño flavor but what I liked was the rich buttery flavor with maybe a tiny tiny heat finish.They don't call the ribs BBQ and I would not call the ribs BBQ. The ribs were spare ribs so they are meaty. What we have here is smoked ribs that are finished off on the grill so the sweet glaze will stick, see my pictures. The sweet charred glaze was mild enough as to complement the smoke flavor of the ribs which I liked and not BBQ in any way. To my surprise from a dive bar the ribs were very moist, tender and juicy which come clean off the bone and they leave the tips on. I have had lots of ribs in my life that were dry and hard so to find moist tender ribs from a dive bar is very cool.Overall with no misconceptions of this being a BBQ joint I enjoyed the beer and food so I will be back for the moist charred ribs again. This dive bar really impressed me and the food which will not be found anywhere else so I find it to be a hidden gem.

Definitely dive bar. Decent tap selection; better than I would have expected for a dive bar. Food menu looked good. You walk up to a window to order and pay at the window. Chef brings the food to you at the bar. Hubby and I shared the John Poppers that were pretty dang good. I ordered the Meatloaf sandwich with fries. It was pretty good. Meatloaf was smoked and was nice and crispy; maybe a bit too smoky, especially by the end. Hubby ordered the fried chicken. He said it was good.Food and beverage is cash only, but they do have an ATM there.Biggest complaint was that it smelled of cigarette smoke in the place. You can definitely tell they used to smoke in there, a lot. It really smelled like they actually just finished smoking right before we got in there. I would maybe go again if in the area, but I would not go out of my way to go back.

Great food. If ur looking for an old school dive bar this is the place to go. Great bar tender. Service was on point. All cash for food and bar! Loved it