Ale Asylum Riverhouse

Great beer selection, but inconsistent food. Mine was a disaster, but my friend’s was great. I’d go back for the beer & bar selection but eat elsewhere.

My previous review wasn’t very flattering for this place, however we gave it another shot. I had the fried chicken sandwich and my girlfriend had the steak sandwich. Both sandwiches were absolutely delicious and the side of fresh potato chips was a great compliment to the dish. We loved the food so much we went back a few weeks later and got the same thing again.
Of course you can’t beat Ale Asylum beer, goes great with the meal. Their Milwaukee style old fashioned was also great! We loved that drink so much we picked up ingredients to make our own at home!
Overall a great experience and I hope they stay around, as restaurants have had a hard time in that space previously.

We had a small family gathering as my brother and nephew were visiting from South Carolina. Rather than visit traditional brew pubs in the Downtown/​Third Ward area, I thought this would be a good time to try this dining venue. The food was great, and the portions were crazy large.
My only disappointment was in the availability — or lack of — of some of the broad beer menu offering. I am not a hoppy IPA fan, so opted for the Belgian styles and darker ales. .. but none were available from the menu. I compromised and ended up with a brown and a stout — both just OK.
I’d go back, but wish they had more reasonably priced parking nearby.

Best cheesecurds I have ever had. other than that it was just mediocre to good. nothing else is spectacular or inspiring. But legit i will go just for the curds and forget everything else.

I needed a restaurant that could handle a group of 15 so I contacted the Ale House a week in advance and was told «Sure. No problem». Well, cut to the night of my reservation and the Ale House was not prepared. The lone server who worked our table was overwhelmed and it appeared no other Ale Asylum employee wanted to help her. Drink orders went untaken for long periods of time and when they did arrive, they were usually wrong.
As for the food, nothing stood out. Ale Asylum is just one more Milwaukee restaurant/​bar that believes if you throw some cheese curds on the table, idiot Milwaukee diners will love it. I did have one good beer but when I ordered a 2^nd glass, I was brought something that tasted totally different.
From service to food, Ale Asylum is pretty subpar. I predict they will just be one more restaurant in this location that has seen a string of places come before it.

My first trip in here since it was Molly Cools. Great location with a great river front patio. The interior set up gives some great look outs over the river.
I tweeted my check in and got a friendly reply from restaurant management that day. I liked that they engaged in positive social media, as most places don’t take the chance to engage their customers. This was done in a way that made me want to come back.
Came in for lunch and had a great trip.
Service was fantastic. I was well taken care of and my server knew the menu, had a good personality, and was on top of our needs. I was actually surprised the place wasn’t busier given my experience.
The Food:
The Crab Rangoon Nachos weren’t really nachos, weren’t at all what I expected, but I was glad I had them. They are actually crab rangoon (yeah like at the chinese restaurant) but made well and topped with a vinaigrette and slaw that give the acidity it takes to balance out the fattiness. Num!
My coworker got the 3 cheese Bacon Mac and said it was fantastic. I didn’t try it, but it did look good.
I tried the Spicy Thai Chicken Curry Sandwich. This really came off as something different, but I liked it. A green thai with a little coconut and a bit of heat set to a chicken sandwich was great.
I’ll definitely return.

Read many reviews on here and was most impressed that management replied. Decided I should give it a try.
Round one: Cheese Curds and two pints — Pantheon and Riverhouse Rattler. Cheese curds are some of the best in MKE, the Pantheon is scrumptious and I need to get some growlers of this asap, wife loved the Ratler and said she really tasted the grapefruit.
Round two: Brie Burger, Chicken curry sandwich, and 2 pints. Brie burger was cooked perfect medium and was delicious, wife knew she shouldn’t have ordered the chicken sandwich and was unimpressed. It wasn’t bad but not great she said. Phantasm was a great beer, little hoppy with a crisp finish. Wife had Gold Digger and she loved it. Refreshing she said.
All in all our dinner was marvelous. Good service at the bar and a nice atmosphere overlooking the river. We will be back as there is more on the menu we want to try and the beer alone is well worth a visit. Good times!

We love this place. Great indoor and outdoor eating with a beautiful view of the river. We’ve dined here three times and as always, great food. No complaints whatsoever. Thumbs up to the chef!
They brew their very own beer, which seem to be a thing here in Milwaukee… #BrewCity. The selection isn’t bad. The staff seems pretty friendly and very attentive. I am yet to be disappointed. I will definitely recommend this place.

Saturday afternoon, barely beat end of lunch service, visit during Downtown Dining Week provided another out-​there and out-​standing soup. Thai Spiced Watermelon: spice, creamy, flavorful, spice, paired excellently with one of the experimental IPA beers. Normal menu mentions it’s a gazpacho, so if stopping this week don’t be surprised as not mentioned on DDW.
Veggie burger offered was another winner. Had one better one this year somewhere, yet this was one was nice and thick, nothing to complain about. I did squeeze some of the accompanying charred lemon on it, and that with the garlic aioli destroyed the Miller bakery non-​pretzel bun underneath. Made a major mess; please use Miller pretzel buns, please.
Ended with panna cotta, with honey softened berries and granola, which reminded me of how dumb flan is as a desert. It could have been served to me on my recent Italy trip. Yum!
The dairy surprise that hit me later though was not that cream based desert, it was the chips that came with veggie burger. Extremely munchable, but I’m fairly sure they’re using a whey based flavor coating comparable to what Five-​Guys and Fuddrucker’s use on their seasoned fries. Dang it.
Service provided by the young long term students was subpar compared to the busier times I’ve visited b-​4. Granted, I arrived basically between services, yet the hand-​off sucked and my original pair stayed around to really slow down the new pair. So note that just because a game isn’t taken place doesn’t mean that customers’ dogs haven’t been waiting hours for customers to come home.
Beer (6/​/​6/​15) included many taps of an AA IPA experiment. Lucky me! I will visit here likely many more times. Especially when Satisfaction Jackson arrives.

We rolled in around 9pm on a Friday for a quick bite and drink between graduation celebrations.
I guess I wasn’t sure what to expect ambiance-​wise from Ale Asylum’s Riverhouse. Joanna T summed it up nicely on the vibe tip for me, so I’ll cop her verbiage.
«The bar area is large and comfortable but feels a bit „corporate“ to me.»
Spot on!
So the vibe isn’t what I’m used to, but no matter! I’m on Third St., and I’m not really used to that either, and I’m all for better living through adaptation. We bellied up to the bar and took some time checking out the offerings.
The rock an impressive, extensive list of Ale Asylum beers on tap — no doi! — and a few guest taps along with an okay wine list and a cocktail menu, too. (… which I didn’t really peruse all that much, so I won’t speak to it.)
Since we were just swinging through for a drink and a few quick apps, we opted for the beer-​battered cheese curds & hummus w/​pita, zucchini, carrots + celery. Of note: I’ve never tasted beer batter so beer-​flavored in my life! Fo’ real.
Our menu choices, however boring in nature, were solid and respectable enough, and our bartenders were quick, courteous and efficient. (Lots of polo’d bar bros hangin’ so they were busy!)
My verdict: A solid option for bites and drinks when on Third!

Had my first visit tonight. While I had a couple of issues with the food I ordered, I had a sample of dishes some friends had which caused me to give this review 4 stars instead of 3.
We received good service from our server, Storm, so that also helps the 4 stars.
I started with a special of the night, Louisiana Style Gumbo ($ 6). It looked good and had some of the components, such as crawfish tails, but I felt other key ingredients were missing, such as seasoning and the kick that «Louisiana style» dishes often have.
My entrée selection was the Short Rib Grilled Cheese ($ 13), served with house made potato chips. The chips were cut thicker than most house made chips, which didn’t bother me. They were also well-​seasoned. What did bother me was the texture of stale potato chips that they had, I’m told because they were cut too thick. Whatever the reason, I didn’t care for the texture of the chips.
The sandwich itself saved this dish, and my entire dinner for that matter. The short rib was well-​seasoned and very tender. There were also generous amounts of it between layers of two types of cheese. The bread was perfectly toasted, and the flavors of the ingredients complemented each other really well. For $ 13, I’d like the option of fries over chips.
One person in our group ordered the Pulled Pork sandwich and loved it. Although, he felt the same about the chips that came with his sandwich.
Another person in our group ordered the cheese curds ($ 8). I had one of them and liked it very much. It wasn’t greasy. The batter held on well and was well-​seasoned for great flavor. The cheese was solid as expected.
Another person ordered the Lomo Saltado Steak Loaded Fries ($ 16). Lomo Saltado is a Peruvian style hanger steak. It was cooked medium rare as the description stated. The steak was, again, well-​seasoned and also tender. The sauteed peppers, seasoned fries, and non-​battered cheddar cheese curds rounded out this platter.
So, other than the gumbo and chips, I thought the food was pretty good. I’d like to go back some day to try their take on Chicken Pot Pie, the Pulled Pork Nachos, or the Tandoori Chicken Skewers that another in our group enjoyed.
However, the chef who created this menu has left so who knows how long the menu will remain the same.

Descriptive phrase: classier brewpub.
Ale Asylum Riverhouse is a great new addition to the 3^rd Street and Milwaukee dining scene; their beer was always one of my favorite in Madison (it’s still brewed there and trucked in), and their new space is quite pretty. Their food was good, but their service is still severely lacking.
Six of us took a rare warm spring morning to sit on their patio overlooking the river. It’s a truly great asset for their business. Our server gave us all brunch menus, but half of us wanted lunch. She said we’d have to wait 25 minutes until the lunch menu switched over, so we ordered drinks to pass the time.
To say I got a lot of grief for ordering a beer-​mosa is an understatement. The waitress was snotty about it and when I jokingly said «Well now the bartender will probably spit in it» she gave me a glare that made me think it wasn’t too far-​fetched.
When 25 minutes was up, she gave us lunch menus too. However, when half of us tried to still order brunch she said that she could no longer serve that since it was lunch time. Come on, you knew half of us were planning on brunch; had we known we couldn’t order it at the same time as lunch (1 minute later) we would’ve ordered ahead of time!
When it did come out, my Surfer Burger ($ 14) was actually pretty darn good. I’d recommend it if I ever came back. However, I’d certainly pass on the Anti-​Mozzarella Sticks ($ 9) next time. To be honest, I’ll probably only ever return for their beer. I really was turned off by the poor wait service.

This place was AWESOME… to start with, we visited on a Sunday night and the place was initially empty with only two other couples. Nathan came over and explained the menu and the beer options. I love going to a place, where the servers KNOW their beers… He knew everything about every beer… the guy was a beer GURU…
We started with some cheese curds and deviled eggs… my wife hates deviled eggs, and she could not stop eating them… they were freaking awesome. Perfect blend of spice, flavor, and creaminess. We got it without the meat, but they were still phenomenal. The Cheese curds were probably the best I have ever had in the state of Wisconsin. Fresh, chewy, and the crust was incredible.
For dinner I had the Thai chicken with the peanut sauce and fresh chips… again, very well done. The chicken was perfectly cooked, the peanut sauce had a nice flavor to it, and the bread was soft and fresh.
My wife had the garden burger, and for the first time she finished the whole thing. It was loosely packed beans and other veggies all perfectly seasoned on a fresh bun with a side of chips… we were in heaven.
For dessert we tried apple crisp… but instead of only apples it had some type of cherries that took the dish to a whole different level… I have made apple crisp at home… but this was the kind that you write home about… phenomenal and it was the perfect amount to share between two people.
Overall it is a great experience to go to a restaurant where the servers truly love their job and are passionate about the food they serve. We were there for about 2 hrs, and Nathan was getting pulled in 20 directions with some demanding tables, but I never felt like we weren’t getting top notch service. He constantly checked with us, suggested beer pairings, and was overall just a pleasure to be around. When you combine that with the exceptional food and beer, we had a wonderful night and would HIGHLY rec’d to anyone in the Milwaukee area.

Awesome food, and excellent service!
My family and I ventured out to try this place to grab a bite before heading to the Admirals game — excellent spot to park once, dine, and walk over to the Bradley Center.
We ordered the tandoori skewers for an appetizer which comes with 4 skewers and a super delicious spicy mango dipping sauce which I ended up keeping and putting on my entrée it was sooo good. I ordered the special — bake cajun cod and it was perfectly spiced and super filling since it came with 4 pieces of cod. Additionally, our waitress Connie was very accommodating to my gluten free request and let me substitute vegetables for my fries. Even if you’re a big fries fan — trust me, the veggies are awesome! The rest of our table ordered the asylum burger, the salmon sandwich and the salmon salad all of which everyone was really happy with. Tip: When you order the salmon salad you can get the salmon cooked however you like even though it has it listed differently on the menu — my mom had hers fully cooked and it was delicious!
A lovely evening out and a place I hope to come back to when I’m downtown again!

An interesting dichotomy of restaurant and brew pub. I don’t think it’s either. The food is like a brew pub and the beer isn’t made there.
The ambience is beautiful. Well designed and has interesting tiered layout with view of the river. Looks like a great restaurant. The noise level is obnoxious, though. I had a hard time listening to my wife talk because it was so incredibly loud. It’s like every sound was echoing off the glass and walls. The table next to us along the front windows sounded like the ladies were talking and laughing at our table.
I think I made the mistake of thinking of this place as a restaurant. It’s more like a brew pub. The cheese curds were over battered and over cooked and were not to Wisconsin standards for cheese. Seemed more like they came from a prepackaged freezer bag.
In fact all the food we had (Scallop risotto and Baha Tacos) seemed like they were frozen foods from the grocery store. The fish were over breaded and over deep fried like the curds were – hardly any fish in them and terribly crunchy. The worse part of the Baha Tacos was the red onions. They were in everything – in the slaw, mango salsa, and cole slaw side. If you dislike red onions you better take note. My wife could hardly eat the dinner because she hates red onions and they were in abundance all over everything.
We told the waitress that they should give a heads up about the over abundance of red onions since people either love them or hate them. Since my wife barely ate any of it, the waitress kindly offered to replace her order, but we had already sat too long and didn’t want to stay there longer due to the excessive noise level.
My wife says she doesn’t want to go back. This illustrates why the waitress should have just removed or discounted her meal from the check and delivered it with this message: «I’m sorry the red onions ruined your meal and your appetite, and I’m sorry I didn’t give you a heads up about them. We want to make sure you come back to give us another try so I discounted your meal and I invite you to give us another try.» That would definitely had us coming back. Instead we will likely go explore other great Milwaukee local spots.
Probably won’t be back because my experience wasn’t great, but if your up for good beer and bar food, this place is a fine place. Just don’t go expecting it to be a dinner place. It’s a bar that serves food.

Ale Asylum, you must have been awesome to spend 8 hours of my Saturday at while visiting college friends. It was perfect– we had a large group of 10, including at least 10 others that rotated in and out throughout the night. We chose a high top table area and pushed a few together.
Although we had a few waiters and staff help keep our drinks filled and food flowing, my shoutout in this review goes to Connie. Give this girl a raise!!! I have never met anyone so attentive and caring to their guests. And she did it for 8 hours! We can be quite the needy group too. Everyone absolutely loved her. We were there for so long she even charged up my iPhone. Amazing! She noticed I wasn’t in love with one of my drink choices and switched it out right away. (It’s the one with the juniper berries, don’t order it, all of the rest are great!). With so many people, it could have gotten hairy splitting checks and cashing people out at different times. Connie was a pro and was able to manage it all with ease. Bravo Connie– everyone knew you by name and loved you!
The food left a bit to be desired, that is the only reason why I didn’t give this place 5 stars. The ideas and descriptions were great, but the actual food left a bit to be desired. The cheese and meat plate was a little disappointing and could have had more options and amounts for the cost. The homemade root chips are really good though! I would recommend the pulled pork grilled cheese. Perfect for soaking up 8 hours of imbibing!

Great beer, great food, great location!
My wife and I stopped in on a Monday night for dinner. The place was not very busy so we were seated right away. We ordered drinks right away. My wife got the scotch sunrise and I ordered the beer sampler. My wife’s drink was great, I loved the beer sampler and the choices of beer will suit any beer drinker’s taste.
We ordered the crab rangoon nachos, which are a must! They are on a fragile wonton chip, so the best way to eat is to dive right in with reckless abandon. For our entrées my wife got the chicken pot pie and I got the surfer burger. Both of us would order the same thing again! The food is phenomenal!
The staff was very friendly and helpful, with good recommendations on the beer selections. There are also menu options for most diets. We sat by the windows facing the river which provided a great view, but they do have an outdoor porch that was closed due to colder weather — it would be so much fun to come back in the summer to sit outside!
Both my wife and I would recommend this place to anyone. We’re already reaching out to family members to make the trip to downtown and we haven’t even left our table!

Ale Asylum is a really nice addition to the 3^rd Street mix. Apparently, they haven’t changed too much with the interior except for things like paint. The bar area is large and comfortable but feels a biit «corporate» to me.
In addition to their own beer (8 – 10 varieties) they’ve got a few guest taps, a decent wine list and a nice cocktail menu. I went with their version of the dark & stormy and thought it was well made and not terribly priced at $ 7. On the beer front, you’d better like ales as that’s pretty much what’s on tap — I mean, it is called Ale Asylum after all.
I really liked their menu — it’s a good mix of smaller dishes/​snacks, some really interesting salads and a few entrees. I went with the «7 Layer Deviled Eggs» because they sounded interesting and I love deviled eggs. It’s a good sized portion (6 egg halves) with each one topped with a pickled onion and a piece of crispy prosciutto. I would definitely order these again — they were just different enough & really tasty. I also had some of their cheese curds (small portion for the price) and a chicken flauta. The last one was a daily special and really tasty. The Mister had salmon which arrived on its own mini cedar plank — he said it was really good.
It’s not all heavy bar food here — one person in our group ordered a hunters salad which had sweet potatoes, pulled pork, poblanos and kale. It looked delicious! There’s also a «power salad» of kale, watercress, beets and more which looked really good.
Service was great — we sat at the bar and the staff was really on top of checking on us. The manager also stopped by to make sure we were happy and recognized the people we were with from a previous visit. To me, Ale Asylum has a similar feel to Rock Bottom or the Ale House, but with a huge step up in quality. I’d go back.

We went in for the soft opening and really had a good experience. It went surprisingly smoothly.
We recently visited Ale Asylum’s brewery in Madison, so we knew we’d like the beers and while I stuck with the hefeweizen, Andy H had a few different types. He’s a fan of the maltiness of their brews.
We had fried green tomatoes ($ 6) and wonton nachos ($ 13) to start. The tomatoes were well cooked and breaded and I’m always a fan of a less expensive app option. There was a lot on the menu I wanted to try, but at some of the app prices, I can’t imagine ordering multiple plates every time I go in.
The nachos were tasty and unusual — fried «chips» of wonton topped with a crab rangoon style sauce and then sauteed veggies. The only negative was the rangoon spread was cold while everything else was hot — it lead the hubby to think the dish had been brought out cold. It was a not altogether pleasant melding of temps and it’s probably something they could rethink.
I had the chicken pot pie, which came with two large triangles of puff pastry propped on top of it. I was a fan of this style, as it keeps the pastry from getting too soggy. The pot pie itself was good but not great. The pieces are a bit small and the flavors ended up getting a little muddled.
Husband had a special, which was diver scallops in a beer beurre blanc ($ 19). They. Were. Delicious. The beurre blanc beer sauce was rich and creamy, the diver scallops had that rich buttery flavor and everything was just warm and comforty and I want that dish again and again.
We each had dessert (yay soft open prices!) and they were fine if unremarkable. The brownie comes with an orange basil gastrique and a small scoop of Purple Door Vanilla ice cream. The caramel apple bread pudding was topped with a small scoop of Purple Door salted caramel ice cream and the ice cream was BY FAR the best part of the dish, which isn’t exactly the best praise for the restaurant. The bread pudding needs some oomph — it has slivered almonds in it, which weren’t mentioned in the description, so watch for those.
Overall, we had a great dinner — the service was the perfect mix of attentive but not too pushy. The food was quick and delicious. The beer is always good. It’s a great location, so here’s hoping they can make a go of it.

Opening day!
We easily found a seat at the bar– a HUGE plus for us! The bartender (Brett) greeted us and gave us the menu. He offered samples of anything they had on tap. I chose the Gold Digger– a light, easy drinking lager. Not overly hoppy, but enough flavor to keep me interested.
The menu apparently offers daily specials, which included fried green tomatoes and a 12 hr smoked pulled pork today. The regular menu is a very diverse offering including Mac n Cheese, chicken wings, and of course a few burgers. The menu sports claims of local supplier support including the Cheese Mart and The Spice House.
We shared the fried green tomatoes (6 $), the River Valley Ranch Mushroom Gratin (8 $) and the Three Time Award Winning Chili (7 $) The Gratin was easily my favorite. It was packed full of «Mushroom Mike» mushrooms, bathed in a rich creamy sauce. The dish came with a few crostinis– but not near enough! They should either lower the portion size, or increase the amount of crostinis! The fried tomatoes came with marinara, good enough but not like they do it down south. The chili had an avocado relish, with a cinnamon type spice. Between the two, I’m not a fan. But whatevs, it won three awards, so someone likes it!
The service was good and prompt. The employees were friendly. The beer selection is great! Thanks for coming to Westown Ale Asylum!