Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria — Restaurant in Milwaukee

Visited 04/06/19 with a party of 5 guests total for 7pm dinner with out table reservations. I went in knowing that this is definitely not a traditional Mexican restaurant and the chefs definitely do a great job creating their own twist on classics as well as introducing new flavors to the mix (mostly Asian inspired- poke nachos, bao bun taco etc.) I arrived 6:45pm to check in and put our names on the list. Upon arriving the hostess was very friendly and greeted me as I walked in and informed me wait was about 1hr-1hr 15 mins. We grabbed drinks at the bar while waiting for our table. They have a vast tequila selection (only tequilaria in MKE) the bartenders were promot, knowledgeable and the drinks were delicious. I drank the pomegranate blueberry cocktail which was delicious. You could definitely taste the tequila but it was not overwhelming and not syrup tasting either. They use fresh pomegranate juice and fresh blackberries. I also tried tastes of the Paloma with chili rim (it doesn’t come with it but they will do it for you) and Jalisco mule which were both great as well. We closed out our tab at the bar and we’re seated by 7:45pm. As we were seated our server was very hospitable and explained the menu very well. The server brought out appetizers out very quickly. We started out with the queso fundido and fried brussel sprouts which were fantastic. The house made chips and seasoning were great on their own! I decided on the handhelds portion of the menu for dinner which are the tacos. Everyone’ food order came out correct, hot and all at the same time! They serve their tacos family style so you have to remember what you ordered as to make sure you don’t grab a taco from someone else at your table. 1 person in our party ordered no onions on her tacos so we had to check so one of us didn’t eat it! Of the many appetizing sounding tacos on the menu I decided with the mezcal steak, crispy mushroom and steamed bao bun (bun was in the shape of a taco as opposed to the traditional bao bun). The mezcal steak was familiar to traditional steak tacos (steak, cilantro, onion corn tortilla). The crispy mushroom was a pleasant surprise with the crisp of the lightly breaded beefy tasting mushroom and creaminess of the black beans and zest of the salsa. My favorite was their creative take the bao bun. The bun was in the shape of a taco and the filling (which changes every so often) was that of a shrimp fritter with scallions and sauce. The fritter was crip and not heavy or greasy. What I loved about their tacos was that they only used 1 tortilla for each taco. Anyone who’s had their share of tacos knows that some places use 2 tortillas if the quality of tortilla is poor or to purposely unbalance the filling to tortilla ratio to fill you up on tortillas. When it came time to pay our server was able to split our bill without a problem. Overall, I had a great experience dining at Blue Bat as well as the others in my party and we look forward to...

Google maps recommended this place for fish for Sunday lunch, we didn't see anything on the lunch menu as far as seafood except for a fancy shrimp bowl. we didn't have reservations nor thought we needed them so we were sat at a booth / table at the bar. the bartender was our waiter, sorry forgot his name, tall guy. gave us a few minutes to look at everything on the menu, I had to translate a bit for my friend so it took us a few minutes. we ordered food first then changed our minds about drinks, so we got a house Margarita and a Sprecher. I like how we were given water in actual glasses and not plastic. we're not going to knock them over and they don't feel cheap. it really felt like I was in a very upscale place, glad I had sort of dressed for the occasion. we were impressed by the amazing number of rare tequilas they had both on the list and how they were displayed against the windows on shelves 11(?)ft high. when the food came out it was absolutely the most amazing presentation I had seen in a long time. it tasted pretty good too. I don't eat any seafood except fish so I didn't taste my partner's dish but she said it was amazing. We sat and talked for a while and asked for the bill and the bartender apologized that the meal "took so long to arrive"...what?... it was rather confusing because it didn't even feel like 5 minutes. I don't think we waited long at all. the bill wasn't even $50 with tax and I'm sorry if you're reading this I just noticed on my receipt I wanted to tip you $15 and not $5. I'll take care of you next time which will be very soon because I love this place now. I just wish Milwaukee didn't screw up all the parking with that electric street car... we were able to find parking quickly a block away even though our first spot...

We ordered for curbside. They do have an outdoor patio right on the river which is nice.

The Good: Order was ready at the quoted time. Ample curbside parking space which is rare downtown! Food was great, we really enjoyed the bag o’chips with the two salsas and guacamole. Very well seasoned and good packaging. You could eat the chips plain, they were that tasty. The teriyaki salmon bowl was flavorful, we would go back just for that. I also appreciated that they didn’t go heavy on the sesame seeds when garnishing the salmon. Many places tend to do that and it can be too much. We tried a variety of tacos and our favorites were the FGT and the Cajun shrimp. We also ordered the Baja fish taco and the Barbacoa Mushroom. We loved the execution of the tacos, they put the veggies on the bottom of the proteins inside the taco instead of on top and it really made for a good taco eating experience where you didn’t have toppings falling out everywhere as you bit into the tacos.

Candor with care: Service - The customer service received on the phone and during curbside was nice but could use some improvement, it felt awkward but we figured maybe she was new!

They only gave us 1 napkin. Next time we will ask for extra (tacos can get messy).

The salmon bowl/tacos came in a plastic container, some may care and others may not but, with many places now offering eco-friendly packaging, it’s worth noting in case someone does mind. Not a dealbreaker for us. UPDATE: The restaurant has clarified that these are BPA free and recyclable!

Overall, great food and location. Menu has something for everyone including gluten free and vegan options. We will...