Is Flannery’s A Flop? [REVIEW]

On a rare sunny spring Saturday in Milwaukee, on a quest to find the best cheese curds in the city, I set off on a mission. Parking a few blocks away, my boyfriend Alex and I took our time walking to Flannery’s in Cathedral Square in Milwaukee. Flannery’s has been serving beer and food since 1997. Since its opening, it has grown from just serving beer and appetizers to the full restaurant service they are today.

They pride themselves on serving top-quality homemade meals while still being at reasonable prices. Within their location they are one of the only restaurants by Cathedral Square, with most of their surrounding neighbors being bars with only cocktails. However, they are not the only Irish pub in the city with competition coming from all over the city. Yet Flanner’s falls short of its competitors.

Upon arrival to Flannery’s, I noticed they, like many other bars in the Milwaukee area, have a shuttle to Brewers games. For a bar in Milwaukee, this is something very typical and nothing I would normally take note of, until I noticed that they also on game days have 5 tall boy Miller Lights for $15. Catch me riding their shuttle on games days, hello.

After waiting a few minutes at the host station, which was simply a barrel with their seating chart laid on it, we were seated at a high top in their dining section which seemed to be a spill over from the bar area. We were given our menus right as we sat down while we waited for our waiter to arrive.

From what we have read elsewhere, their cheese curds were ones to get. For two people who are curating a “Best Of” cheese curd list we were excited to give them a try. With cheese curds for our appetizer we set our sights on our main course. Alex and I are both picky eaters and, more times than not, we will order a wrap when out to eat. After looking at the menu, I ordered the Chicken Caesar Wrap with Alex ordering the Buffalo Chicken Wrap with no tomatoes.

Our waitress dropped off our drinks and took our order. Instead of writing our order down she kept a mental list of our order and our specifications. Not a quality I look highly upon in a server. The orders were placed, our menus were taken, and we were left to wait patiently for our food. In the meantime, on one of their four television sets  in the dining area we watched the Magic and the Raptors play their first game of their playoff series. Alex watched diligently as the game neared the final minutes in which I was warned I would be ignored until the close game ended. Not minding the peace of the dining room and the overall bustle of a bar I enjoyed people watching and sipping on my Spotted Cow.

Right as the Magic scored their first win in the playoffs, our cheese curds arrived. We were both stopped dead in our tracks as we stared at the perfectly uniformed cheese curds placed in front of us. The cheese curds were placed carefully in a wire basket with garnish on the plate. Hesitantly, we inspected the square cheese curds confused on their shape and took a chance based on other reviews. With the first bite under our belt, we were underwhelmed. The cheese melted in our mouths, as most cheese curds do, however the breading was not one of a typical cheese curd. When picturing a cheese curd I image beer battered breading that falls apart in your mouth, far from the curds that were placed in front of me. The cheese curds are priced at $10.50 which is vastly overpriced for the amount you are given. Placed within the wire basket were eight cheese curds and for that price they should have blown me away. Yet they didn’t.

After our second curd, as always, we both took a moment to decide on our rating. We counted to three and both said our rating. Alex gave their curds an 8 while I gave them a 7.5, which I considered generous. Meeting in the middle overall, they were ranked a 7.85.  Based on our other curd encounters, they placed 5th on our list falling short of Jack’s American Pub but ahead of Mo’s Irish Pub.

A few moments later our wraps arrived, and we abandoned the cheese curds, an action we rarely do as most curds end up finished, excited for another classic dish. I dove right into mine as happy as can be. Before even taking a bite into his, Alex spotted tomatoes in his wrap, an ingredient he specifically asked to be taken out. Disappointed again, he began dissecting his wrap to ensure all intruders were taken out. Sadly, this could have been avoided if our waitress had written down our order to ensure that both wraps were delivered how they were ordered. With my wrap having no problems, I happily munched on my side of fries, dipping them in ranch.

After the Magic secured their win, our unsatisfying curds, open heart surgery on a wrap and a half finished Spotted Cow our bill came to the table. From sit down to the bill, it took no longer than 25 minutes for our Flannery’s experience to be done. Our bill came out to $42 before tip. Once again I was left shocked by what I was seeing in front of me. $42 for some cheese curds, two wraps and a Spotted Cow.

We paid and left unsatisfied with our overall experience at Flannery’s. The service was fast and our waitress was friendly, the dining room was busy but not too loud, however the quality of our food lacked for what the price was. I can see myself going back for some casual drinks with friends before a Brewers game or just a casual night out. However, I will not go back for the overpriced food.