I had a lunch meeting with one of my Milwaukee area dealers and his wife recently. He was working at a house in the south Milwaukee area and he suggested we meet up at The Chancery off of I-894 at 27th St. (see map).
The Chancery is a family oriented sports bar that has seven locations in the greater Milwaukee area. Each location has their own specific decor and theme.
The Chancery is owned by Joseph DeRosa, who opened the original Chancery in Racine, WI in 1972. One by one, Joe opened more Chancery restaurants around the Milwaukee area and eventually started the DeRosa Corporation to oversee The Chancery restaurants, as well as a number of other restaurants. DeRosa's corporation also owns Eddie Martini's, an upscale steakhouse; Sticks and Stones, a fine dining restaurant; and Jose's Blue Sombrero, a Mexican restaurant on the site of the original Chancery in Racine.
From 1988 to 1997, DeRosa also owned the historic Smith Bros. Fish Shanty in Port Washington, WI. (See my review of the Fish Shanty here.) It's one of my very favorite seafood restaurants.
As I mentioned, each Chancery has its own unique decor. The one on S. 27th in Milwaukee has kind of a ocean side fish shack motif. In fact, the menu has a number of shrimp, seafood and Cajun items to choose from. But the menu also has a number of burgers, sandwiches, and salads to choose from, as well as main entrees such as steaks and pasta.
As I waited in the lobby of The Chancery for my dealer and his wife to show up, I couldn't help but notice a letter from a law firm in Atlanta who was representing the singer Jimmy Buffett. Evidentially, the Chancery used to have an item on their menu called "Cheeseburger in Paradise", obviously named after Buffett's famous song. It was a "cease and desist" letter telling them they had to change the name of the burger because Buffett owned all rights to the name "Cheeseburger in Paradise". Since it was conspicuously hung in the lobby area, you could tell that Joe DeRosa was happy to get a letter like that.
And there was no "Cheeseburger in Paradise" on the menu.
I also noticed they have a chart against the wall for children under 12 to stand next to to see how much they would pay in pennies to eat on given weeknights. If a kid is 41 inches tall, they pay 41 cents. 51 inches, they pay 51 cents. Etc., etc.
And I looked around the spacious bar area at The Chancery as I waited. They had a large selection of beers on tap behind the semi-circular bar. And they also had a lot of televisions throughout the bar area, as well.
My guests showed up and we ended up going up some steps into the dining room, across a balcony area, then down some steps to a side room where we sat in a circular booth. The tables were spacious and the seating was roomy.
Although I dearly wanted a beer, it was a business lunch, so I just went with water - although they did have a pretty good selection of beers to choose from. After going over some business things for about 45 minutes, we decided we'd better order some lunch.
My dealer got a grilled chicken sandwich, his wife got a seafood quesadilla and I got the reuben with a side of their onion straws. When the waitress brought the food about 20 minutes later, it was evident The Chancery was famous for their big portions. My reuben was piled high with corned beef and sauerkraut; my dealer's chicken breast looked like it was about 12 oz. in size; and his wife's quesadilla was huge. There was no way we could finish our lunches.
My sandwich was very good. The corned beef was tender and flavorful. And I really liked the onion straws. They were light and flavorful, as well.
The Chancery was a good deal - with tip the bill for the three of us came to just a little over $30 bucks. There was too much food, however. I didn't take my leftovers with me since I was traveling. But as a place to get a good sandwich that seems to be kid friendly, it's a good value.
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