It's too soon for full reviews of new restaurants, but the time is right for takeout. I'll tell you about the best carryout meals I had all week as I make my way around the Milwaukee area.
Terri Lynn's Soul Food Express
It was Sunday, and Sunday calls for a homey family dinner.
Which meant that I called Terri Lynn's on the northwest side to take advantage of the restaurant's Soul Food Sundays menu. There, that was easy. The hardest part was narrowing down what to order, with six kinds of meats (including turkey leg and fried chicken) and 17 choices for sides listed.
The top of the foam container for the fried catfish ($13 for four pieces) was left cracked open and the container placed inside a paper bag — meaning the fish not only stayed warm, it stayed crisp, too. So often, fried foods are left to steam and soften in takeout containers; I appreciate the restaurants that know how to treat fried food right.
Pork chops were done well, too — smothered and lightly breaded, they were tender beneath the gravy (two center-cut, 6-ounce chops are $12.50).
Each dinner comes with cornbread (not sweet, my favorite kind) and two sides. I couldn't have been happier with black-eyed peas cooked with smoked turkey, cabbage, baked macaroni and cheese, and chicken and rolled dumplings — a real treat.
On the other days the restaurant is open, it has chicken wing and tenders baskets and sandwiches, from burgers to fried fish.
It warmed my heart to read on Terri Lynn's website, "Soul food. Not canned food." Cooking from scratch makes all the difference.
10742 W. Hampton Ave. (414) 464-1111 terrilynns.net
Hours: noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Call in orders ahead by phone (walk-in orders not accepted during the pandemic, and the restaurant is takeout only for now). Pick up orders and pay in the restaurant.
Sweet Basil
Sweet Basil in Franklin calls them family platters, but for my party of two, I call them party platters. It feels like a party, to have a fun assortment of food to sample (many on sticks, no less).
We ordered the Starter Platter ($30), one of a half-dozen platters on the menu of the Lao-Thai restaurant. They might be starters, but we made a meal of them (with leftovers).
Start quickly with the four eggrolls and six rangoon to catch them while they're crisp. The rangoon can be made with crab stick, but I had to go for Sweet Basil's spicy Buffalo chicken, and I'm glad I did.
Then there is chewy, flavorful Lao beef jerky, seasoned with soy and lemongrass, plus four skewers of fried beef meatballs and four skewers of chicken that had been marinated in lemongrass vinaigrette and grilled.
Whew. That's a lot. If you, too, are making a meal of it, the cucumber or green papaya salad, funky with shrimp paste, would make a good vegetable side dish to share.
That platter was perfect for having a bite and chatting and leisurely repeating until we couldn't eat any more and packed up what was left for lunch the next day. It was all delicious, and fun.
6509-B S. 27th St., Franklin, in College Plaza. (414) 301-4126 sweetbasilmke.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Order ahead and reserve a time slot — it's best to call early when seeking a popular dinnertime slot. Order online or by phone. Credit cards preferred but cash accepted.
El Tenampa Mexican Grill & Cantina
When I take my carryout home instead of enjoying it in a park near the restaurant, I try to order items that will hold up to the trip.
Stews are a good choice, so that meant I got to order one of my favorite dishes when checking out El Tenampa in the Granville neighborhood (in the building that housed the Black Kettle for decades): pork in salsa verde ($15.95).
It's such a delicious dish: tender cubes of pork shoulder coated in tangy tomatillo-based sauce, that satisfying meeting of rich and acidic. Served with tortillas, seasoned rice and refried beans or black beans, it would have been enough for two.
Except I wanted to try El Tenampa's pambazo, too. The sandwich ($14.95, with rice and beans) is another favorite of mine, but it stood to lose more by being driven across town, since it's dipped in salsa before serving. Would it disintegrate?
Nope. Rather than dripping with sauce, El Tenampa's version is lightly dipped and griddled until the mild salsa is baked on. The sandwich — which is a handful, and then some — is stuffed with the classic combination of chorizo and potato, and garnished with chopped lettuce, cilantro, onion and sour cream.
So, a new strategy at the table that night: Split the sandwich, sample the stew and enjoy the rest another day. Not only does it travel well, it reheats well, too.
8660 N. 107th St. (414) 206-0790 eltenampwi.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Call ahead to order; pickup and payment are in the restaurant.
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Carol Deptolla has been reviewing restaurants in Milwaukee and Wisconsin since 2008. Like all Journal Sentinel reporters, she buys all meals, accepts no gifts and is independent of all establishments she covers, working only for our readers.
Contact her at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.
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July 28, 2020 at 09:00PM
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The best Milwaukee-area takeout I had all week: Sweet Basil, El Tenampa, Terri Lynn's - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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