Layman Brewing

Was there a few weeks ago with friends. Awesome place, great service, food, and yes the beer! So inviting of a place, and the bartenders and owners are exceptional!Louise

For my 1,000th review, I want to shine a spotlight on Layman Brewing!They are near my house, and I hadn't had a chance to visit. I thought "this is just another of MANY nano- and micro- breweries in Milwaukee. That may be, but I'm a food guy, and this place has a rep for great food, specifically their fries and burgers, and one day I found myself hungry and in my neighborhood at the same time, so I stopped in. I immediately got a "quaint neighborhood corner bar" vibe from it, but not my current neighborhood, the neighborhood I grew up in, Riverwest, and I consider that a good thing because the people make up a neighborhood, and I have very fond memories of the people I interacted with in the Riverwest taverns and other small businesses. The owners were on site, one was providing guests with a tour of the nano brewhouse, and the other was behind the bar, helping the bartender serve the slow wave of customers walking in the door. This place got busy shortly after I walked in, and I was happy to see it!Since it was my first time, I was offered a "pie shot," made by one of the owners, and that month's flavor was Key Lime. I said yes, of course, and it was delicious! Bonus, the bartender did one with me, and he gave me a cool Layman Brewing sticker, too! I looked at the menu and ordered a Double Smashburger, since that was highly recommended, as well as their hand-cut fries ("the best fries in West Allis" per their marquee outside), and their onion rings, which I've also heard great things about. When I saw Poutine on the menu, I texted a couple of friends, who lived nearby and asked them to join me, since one of them is from Canada and the two are serious about poutine.My burger was perfect! It was perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked and perfectly juicy on a perfect bun with perfect toppings. I have zero suggestions for improvement. Bravo! The fresh-cut fries, were also near perfect, if not perfect. The best in West Allis? I won't argue that, but a side-by-side may be in order with my other two favorites, 4th Base (ok, this one is Milwaukee/West Milwaukee, but very close to Layman Brewing) and Camino's West Allis location. The onion rings are definitely the best I've had in West Allis, and in the conversation for best I've had - period. You: "Bold statement, Rick." Me: "I know. lemme tell ya why." The breading is nicely seasoned and lightly applied, so you aren't biting into a chunk of breading and not tasting onion. Also, you ever bite into an onion ring and it falls apart, or the whole onion slides out with you bite, leaving a hollow breaded or battered ring, but no onion? Of course you have, but I did not have that experience at Layman brewing. After my bite. the rest of the ring stayed intact, onion and all. It was like magic!The Poutine was good, too. Not the best I've had, but one of the best and bonus points because they use fresh-cut fries and not some frozen science projects that other places use. A delicious mushroom gravy and fried cheese curds add layers of flavor and texture. You: "Rick shouldn't poutine be made with fresh cheese curds?" Me: "Usually, and they might offer that option in the future, but these fried curds are great, so if it ain't broke...." Seriously, the cheese curds have good seasoning and breading to cheese ratio, although I believe these curds are sourced as is, but with everything else made in house, I'm not mad about it. You want to know about the beer at a brewery? Fine, I ordered the Belgian Blonde, and it hit the notes I expected. I also tasted my friends' (yes, they showed up to help me eat the poutine) beers, and they were also good and delivered on expected tasting notes that I remember from my days when I was a beer snob before I became a bourbon snob.What I'm trying to say is that Layman Brewing lived up to the hype, exceeded my expectations, and will be seeing my face in the place again soon. Your faces should also be in the place soon. Make note of their hours: Wed-Fri 4:00-9:00, and Saturday 1:00-9:00. They also serve brunch the 2nd Sunday of the month.

This was a great hole-in-the-wall find! The people were really nice, great atmosphere, super friendly bartender (Ian), and the food was fantastic. We will be back!

10/10!!! I am still dreaming about those cauliflower wings... You walk in here and instantly feel at home. The bar is nearly full, mostly with regulars that the bartender and owner know by name. The bartender gives you a few beer samples to help you narrow down your selection (yes, they brew their own beer! And it's fabulous. I had a hefeweizen and my husband had an amber). And we even got a free shot of their delicious homemade apple pie whiskey, since we mentioned it was our first time coming but we had been wanting to stop by for a while. Not only are staff welcoming, but the regulars don't make you feel like an outsider- we struck up a conversation with people sitting on either side of us at the bar and felt like we had known them for years. I wanted a more vegetable-forward meal and I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of vegetable options on this menu! Green beans, cauliflower , mushrooms.. Yes, many are fried, but you can ask for them not fried, and there are salad options, and even a lentil burger that sounded delightful. My husband ordered fish fry, and usually I'm not a huge fan, but I could not stop eating this fish fry. I daresay it's my new favorite in Milwaukee. The coleslaw was good, my only note is that it was really heavy on the onion, but some people like that! I liked that it was clearly homemade. Fries were excellent, as well. A few other fyis: once per year (they said middle/end of October) they do a fish boil! Keep an eye out for that. Also, we were told they are known for their burgers but didn't try them, will have to come back for that next time!Don't keep driving by, pop in, have a beer, come for the fish fry, stay for the corner bar atmosphere.

Layman Brewing is a couple minutes from where I work and I just found out about them, so that means I had to try the Friday fish fry to see if they're a good, close by option. I ordered the four piece beer battered cod with homemade chips, cheese curds, and the apple pie rangoon for dessert.The cheese curds are the cornmeal breaded kind that I hate. They weren't crispy and the bottom of the container was a little greasy. Yuck.The homemade chips were ok. Maybe a tad too salty and some of them weren't completely crispy cause they stuck together while being fried. Two of the four pieces of cod had no beer flavor in the batter that I could taste while the other two only had a mild beer flavor. The pieces were as long as cod at most other restaurants, but they were skinnier than most others. Unless they add more discernible beer flavor to the batter, I wouldn't get their fish fry again.The apple pie rangoon were good. There's a heavy amount of cinnamon sugar coating, which wasn't necessarily a problem. If I come back for something else I might get these again, but I'd likely try the raspberry cheesecake chimichangas first.

Always a delicious and welcoming stop here. The thoughtful care they take with their food and drinks is outstanding.

I stopped here to have the smash burger and house made frys after a recommendation from the bartender. The place is a brewery and dive like but fine for me. I ordered the healthy one smash burger single which is lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and Mayo. The owner was nice and gave out homemade pie shots which was delicious.The smash Burger beef has good flavor on a fresh/soft bun. The toppings were fresh and cold vs the hot beef which I liked. The house made frys were hot cooked to order, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside seasoned nicely.Overall I liked the burger and frys but I'm not a smash burger guy because I like rare burgers but it was all good.

Tried this quirky Stallis bar/restaurant/brewery for a Friday night Fish fry, Yummm, Yummm! Great batter, fries and homade beer! Super friendly service, chill, atmosphere, highly recommended.

Emphatically yes I recommend this business. If I lived closer I would want to keep it all to myself but since we're not I will share. In short, when you're there, you're family. There is a young, energetic and wildly creative vibe there. The decor is shabby chic. The food is delightful, tasty and simple. The beer is the star of the show. They love giving you a tour of the brewery area...if they don't offer you should still ask. You will learn so much about the science and art of creating delicious beer.

Food is amazing. Bartenders are cool. Ian is great at pouring beers. I recommend the chicken tenders and the smash burger. A+++ No notesKyle is alright