Comet Café Provides Nothing But Excellence on East Side of Milwaukee

As being a personal favorite and a Milwaukee staple, the oh-so loving Comet Café is located on the lower east side tucked right on the corner of Farwell and Irving in which they have been in business for 22 years. They pride themselves on “slow food” meaning they specialize in comfort food that is local and yet traditional style, like a home-cooked meal. It’s also known as one of the more popular vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurants in Milwaukee. The restaurant has gone through multiple owners over the years, but as of 2015, Leslie Montemurro and Scott Johnson split off from co-owners Valerie and Adam Lucks to declare full ownership. With that transaction, the Lucks took on full ownership of Palomino and Honeypie Café, both in Bayview. Prior to the transaction, Adam Luck, was the executive chief, since then Jameson Tramm has taken over that role, continuing the same style Comet has always had.

Comet doesn’t come off as anything special from the outside. It looks like your typical hip east side restaurant, but once you go inside and start to mingle with the staff you begin to realize what a gem it really is. Two things that make Comet a true gem of Milwaukee are the complex yet simple menu and the hours. Like I previously said, they are known for being one of the go-to vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurants in the area. They offer a vegan gyro which is to die for and incredible vegan deep fried ribs as an appetizer and many more options. The second thing is that they are open till 2 a.m. every night, and serve food till midnight. They do this because they want to cater to service workers within the Milwaukee area and appeal to bar goers. Since they are in the service industry themselves, they understand the long hours of a service worker, and getting a good meal after 9 p.m. can be hard to find.

It’s hard to beat a place like Comet where you can enjoy a night with friends after a long day at work. Comet without a doubt lives up to all the hype Milwaukee residents give it. There is no better place to spend a nice summer night after work other than at Comet Café. Two fellow co-workers and I came in after a slow seven-hour shift, and we knew we wanted something quality to make our day just a little better at the end. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I’ve been to Comet (somewhere easily around 50-75 times in the past 6 years), and I’ve had everything at least once on the menu as it’s updated over the years. There is nothing truly wrong to order here because you know it’s going to be quality regardless of the origins.

Going during the week and on the later end of dinner, we knew we wouldn’t have much trouble getting a table. Comet is a small place, but they utilize the space so well, with tables, booths, and double sided bar seating. As we walked in we are greeted with a laid-back vibe, easy-going music and low-lit lighting among the tables and bar. We only had to wait for a mere 5 minutes for them to set us up with a nice table outside on the sidewalk facing Farwell.

As always, we are greeted by hip yet personable waitress whom we have encountered countless of times here. The servers are all within 20-35 years of age, and they all have been a part of Comet for years, making it easy to be personable with the staff like ourselves. She knew that we’ve been here before, and we were going to be a simple table to serve. As a group, we decided on starting off with three Hamms which are only dollar each ($1 off can beer on Mondays) and ordered a plate of vegan ribs. Our waitress brings out the beers fairly quickly, giving us just the right amount of time to decide what we want. I decide on the cheesy tomato, a favorite of mine, while one of my friends orders the vegan Reuben, and the other the vegan gyro.

Only after a few minutes of ordering our main courses, the vegan ribs arrive. Before I go into these, I should let everyone know that I’ve been coming to Comet for the past 6 years during which the menu has changed multiple times and ownership has changed, but the taste has stayed the same. The ribs tasted just like the first time I had them, crispy, with just the right amount of chew, and filling. The beer batter is always just crisp enough for my liking while the buffalo sauce is the right amount of spice where I keep wanting to dunk for more. We were each able to have three ribs each which held us over until our meal.

It was getting just past sunset, so the candle at the table was setting a nice ambiance for the evening as dishes arrived. My dish, with the cheesy tomato, is something simple, yet so tasteful and exquisite. The ingredients only consist of bread, herbs, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, and mayo. The broiled Italian roll it’s on is cut in half and can barely contain the contents. They overload the both sides of the bread with mayo which to me is perfect, as the bread is then able to soak up the mayo to perfection so that the veggies are covered in it. The fresh veggies are cool and crisp which clashes with the hot mozzarella and provolone to create a warm bite in your mouth. The vegan Reuben is always a consistent item on the menu for me as well. Funny enough, I’m nor a vegetarian or a vegan, but most of my friends are, which makes me order something typical without meat or labeled veggie out of habit. It’s hard to even spot the differences between a regular Reuben and their vegan. That’s how well they do it. The seitan substitute for the meat mimics the corned beef so well. The seitan is moist just like corned beef would be on the sandwich, and the thousand island sauce is essentially identical.  It’s creamy and sweet, but vegan! And lastly, the vegan gyro. This has been a newer dish for me in recent years. It has come on and off the menu, and as of recently came back on for the lovers of it. It comes out with an odd yellowish/brown color, not something a gyro typically looks like. But like the Reuben, the seitan is able to copy lamb like nothing else, and you can barely tell the difference in taste. It’s a little chewier than lamb and falls apart a little easier, but as a whole, it gets the taste almost to a copy of the real thing.  The fresh toppings of tomato, onion, and lettuce complemented with cucumber-dill sauce, bring this whole dish together. We have cleaned our plates dry, and our waitress was there immediately to take away them away and ask our meal was.

Without hesitation, we all say how fantastic our meal was with a beaming smile and stomachs full. Our waitress went ahead and split our checks without asking, which is always an extremely nice gesture. I find it to as always be a pain at the end of our meal to timidly ask our server to split our check x amount of ways. For only $16 (with tip) I was able to get an incredible meal, hospitable service, and a relaxing environment at the end of the day.  It’s hard for me not to keep coming back every other, if not every week to Comet. I’m able to come with my vegetarian friends so they can have a nice meal other than a boring salad, and I can indulge in something with or without meat and expect something stellar every time. It’s also one of the closest restaurants in our neighborhood, allowing us to walk at any time of the time and arrive within five minutes. And lastly, we know on any given day that the large, experienced and personable staff will be there.

Make sure to visit for yourself either for a relaxing night like myself, or attend for their out-of-this-world brunch. They are located 1947 N Farwell Ave, opening at 10 a.m. during the week, and 9 am on weekends. Unfortunately, reservations are not taken, so make sure to arrive early and hungry!

Comet Café

1947 N Farwell Ave

Milwaukee, WI,53207

414-273-7677