Working for a day with one of our national distributors during a recent visit to Milwaukee, I invited the branch manager out to lunch. He said, "Where do you want to go?" I told him some place local, no national chain and who had a good sandwich. He said, "Come with me," and he promptly drove me to Slim McGinn's West (see map).
Slim McGinn's West is the third location for the original Slim McGinn's that was established in the Walker's Point area of Milwaukee, south of downtown (see map). But most of the locals call the place just plain ol' "Slim's". The second Slim McGinn's, known as "McGinn's" is located on West Bluemound near the Miller Park area (see map).
And, yes, there really is a Slim McGinn. R.J. "Slim" McGinn (right) worked at a number of restaurants and bars in the Milwaukee before opening up his own bar/restaurant in 1995. The original "Slim's" is housed in a building that has been a bar of one type or another for over 100 years.
Earlier this year, Slim McGinn's opened up the Slim's West location in what was the old Meadow Inn in Brookfield. It carries on the tradition of the Slim McGinn's in the area with good food, great beer and lots of televisions to watch sports.
We got into Slim McGinn's West around 2 p.m. and there was just a handful of people in the place. We sat at a table near the bar and carried on a conversation about the audio business. Our waitress showed up with a couple menus and we were so engrossed in conversation that we didn't get around to ordering for another 20 minutes or so. I could kind of tell that she was getting a little annoyed when she came back on her fourth time and we hadn't even looked at the menus yet. I finally said that we needed to order something or we may get tossed out of the place.
Slim's menu is something a little more broad than most Irish bar fare. In addition to sandwiches and burgers, they also offer steaks, meatloaf, Shepherd's Pie and ribs. They also have some eclectic add-ons to their burgers and chicken sandwiches such as an Irish whiskey peppercorn sauce and a spinach and artichoke Florentine topping.
The waitress came back and we said we were ready to order. My guest asked if they had the Reuben salad that day. The waitress said, "Yes, we do!"
He asked me, "Do you like Reubens?"
I replied, "I was probably going to get the Reuben."
He said, "You'll love the Reuben salad they make here. It's unbelievably delicious!
So, I ordered the Reuben and I got one choice for a side and I took the Reuben salad. I was intrigued by what a Reuben salad could be.
My guest ordered the Irish beef sandwich - shredded beef along with carrots, potatoes and onion, then topped with a Guinness gravy over an open faced Kaiser roll. And he got the Reuben salad as his side, as well.
The Reuben salad they make is cole slaw with bits of corned beef and swiss cheese mixed in with a side of Slim's homemade Thousand Island dressing. When it came to the table with the sandwiches, I sort of looked at it, then gave it a try. It was great. Like my guest said, it was unbelievably delicious.
And my sandwich was very good, as well. It featured large pieces of corned beef that were very tender and juicy. It was a good sized sandwich, so the Reuben salad was a perfect compliment to the meal.
My guest's sandwich looked absolutely fabulous. It had large chunks of shredded beef with pieces of potatoes, carrots and onions in a great looking gravy topping. I think I should have gotten that. And now that I know they have something like that I'll get it on my next visit.
I've probably driven by the original Slim's dozens of times during my visits to Milwaukee, but I'm going to make a point to go there sometime in the future. But the one out in Brookfield was very good and had a lot of character to the place, even though it had only been open for about four months. I'm glad I was turned on to Slim's and it won't be my last visit.
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