Polonez Restaurant

Polonez Restaurant was an absolutely wonderful find! The only Polish food I've had in the past are pierogis, so I was interested in trying something new. Polonez certainly did not disappoint! The experience was fun, interesting, new, and delicious!

For an appetizer, my boyfriend and I sampled 4 types of pierogis: Rueben, potato & cheese, beef & pork, and turkey & cranberry. All of them were great. My favorite was the potato & cheese. The beef & pork was my boyfriend's favorite. We had all the pierogis pan fried rather than steamed but I'm sure they're yummy either way. The pierogis are a bit pricey, but they're decently sized and homemade which make a big difference in their flavor. We also got sour cream on the side.

We tried a cup of the dill pickle soup as well as a cup of the Czarnina Soup. The dill pickle really tasted like a dill pickle in a pleasant way, but it wasn't creamy like I thought it would be. Still very yummy. The Czarnina soup was very enjoyable for my taste. It was fairly sweet but had a thick sweet and sour taste with pieces of duck (I believe) and noodles. I loved the soup!

For our entrees, I had the Breaded Pork Cutlet with Potato Pancakes, Applesauce and Bigos. My boyfriend ordered the Viennese Veal Schnitzel with Potato Pancakes and Potato Salad. My pork cutlet came with a mushroom gravy and it was delicious. The Viennese veal schnitzel was a hit with my boyfriend because it's topped with cheese and a fried egg with a runny yolk which he loved. The sides were less of a hit. The bigos is like sauerkraut sautéed with pieces of polish sausage which is ok but I would've probably preferred traditional sauerkraut on its own. The potato salad wasn't a big hit with my boyfriend either but the rest of the food certainly made up for that.

For dessert, we tried the sweet cheese pierogis which were a bit less sweet than expected but a good way to end our Polish meal! Next time we'll try the crepes!

The service was the icing on the cake because our waitress was so sweet and very attentive.

Overall, this was a great and super fun experience exploring new food that I've never tried before! I recommend giving Polonez a try if you are interested in trying a new type of food, eating delicious food and having a great time!

We stopped for brunch at Polonez this past weekend when we visited Milwaukee for Labor Day. On Sundays, they offer a buffet brunch from 11am to 2pm. We arrived right at 11am and were among the first people in the door. By the time we left around 11:45/12:00, there were several people enjoying brunch.

What did I love about brunch at Polonez? The atmosphere! They had a gentleman playing the accordion. The room was decorated in an old-school, traditional way. The service was excellent! We were welcomed to the restaurant by Aleksandra Burzynski, co-founder and wife of Polonez chef George! It was a lovely place to enjoy a meal.

While I loved the atmosphere and experience that Polonez offers, the food at the Sunday brunch wasn't the best Polish food I've had lately. The dough of the pierogi was a little chewy and the filling too sweet for me (I think it had almond extract in it?!). I was missing a bit more meat in the hunter's stew. I enjoyed the potato pancakes, Polish sausage, and side dishes I tried. Polish food is like all other cuisines - the food varies depending on where in Poland the chef is from or where they learned to cook! Some of the dishes didn't taste exactly like I expected them to or the way that I'm used to, but food overall was good.

The highlight of our visit was the atmosphere and place. But the food was good. I'd go back! It made me happy to be there!!

Hole in the wall. Family-operated. Seems authentic? (But this cuisine is way outside my expertise area.)

Pleasant spot for a date or a group outing, with a couple caveats: they seem to get busy quickly, so make a reservation. Also, service and food prep is super slow. (Am I detecting a pattern here Milwaukee? ;-))

Anyway, overall a decent experience. The Polish beer is inexpensive, which helped. $5 for 17 oz.

Once a year after a Brewer game we find a restaurant to visit. We got to the restaurant a bit before their 5:00 pm opening so we were the first ones thru the door and while eating our meal only one other person came in to eat. This was on a Wednesday early evening.

There is a variety of Polish beer to choose from if you are looking to try something different. One in our party ordered a polish beer to try and said he enjoyed it. I don't drink beer so didn't think to ask more questions.

We all ordered the Polish Plate ($21) that included 1/2 polish sausage link, stuffed cabbage, 4 pierogi of your choice, choice of veggie, potato pancake/sour cream, applesauce or syrup. Also included are dinner rolls and soup or salad.

I gave my order first and for the 4 pierogi choices I picked sweet cheese, potato&cheese, sauerkraut&mushroom and Reuben and chose the dill pickle soup and
Red Cabbage for the veggie and applesauce with my potato pancake. The other three in my party ditto.

We received the dill pickle soup and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as sour as I expected. It had a great flavor and before I left the restaurant I found a recipe online. I guess that says how good it was. I could eat a whole vat!

Our plates came and I would have liked to see the whole polish sausage link as the 1/2 link was almost a Ft long!
I really enjoyed my potato pancake. I don't get many good potato pancakes out in restaurants. This one was thick and tasted homemade. The sausage was good and I enjoyed the variety of the pierogi and tried to save the "dessert" one for last (sweet cheese). The stuffed cabbage was good also. All my faves on one plate.

There are a lot of menu items and they also have a Sunday brunch. We live over an hr away but would love to go back and try some of the other entre's. We will keep this place in mind and make a special trip to go back.

A legendary Polish restaurant in Milwaukee. We tried as much of everything as possible. Loved the Polish plate with stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, Polish sausage and one of each of the six pirogi varieties available; Turkey & Cranberry Reduction, Reuben, Meat (Pork & Beef), Potato & Cheese, Sauerkraut & Mushroom, and Sweet Cheese. Since it was Friday, we also had the fish fry. It was probably the sixth time we had had fish fry this week in Wisconsin and it was one of our top three favorites. We also enjoyed the dill pickle and the czarnina (duck) soups. We also tried the cucumber salad and bigos stew of sauerkraut, pork, beef, & sausage. I'm still amused that this meaty stew called bigos was considered a side vegetable. We loved everything especially the juicy fish fry and cabbage roll.

We met up with the son in his new hometown and he found this place on a list of quality family run places in Milwaukee.  It's also apparently one of the few (only two I saw somewhere?) Polish restaurants in Milwaukee despite the fact that there is a large Polish population up here.  We had a mixed result on our 3 dinners, but I'm going with 4 stars because I personally really enjoyed my dinner which was their delightful pork shank entree with side of potato dumplings ($16.75).  I also Yelp rated the overall dinner on the higher side due to the great value here on the food and beer.  Son had their Polish sampler ($20.75, and the usual stuff - sausage, pierogis, stuffed cabbage, and potato pancake) but he thought it was all mediocre, especially the pierogis with overly thick dumpling skins.  Wife had their stuffed cabbage with potato pancakes ($13.50) which was in ok range to her.  The service wasn't that great (young HS age server forgot our rolls) and the food was pretty slow coming out.  So, this could have been maybe a 3 star experience depending on who you're asking.  But...  I also had a wonderful 9.5% ABV Zywiec porter which was in a large and atypical 500 ml bottle (16.9 oz!).  It was just $5 - the best regular priced beer value I've had in a long while and it was delightful with my tender and tasty pork shank.  Besides two sides, all of the dinners also included a soup or salad and I tried their czarnina soup (duck blood soup) just for grins.  I really didn't like it and in unusual fashion didn't even finish it (son liked his though, but he admitted to being starved at the time of consumption).  It was both too sweet and too salty for me, but I'm glad I tried this Polish specialty as a novelty.  I was very happy with the pork shank which was tasty, tender, meaty, and fatty just like I expected. 

Like seemingly many older restaurants in Milwaukee, this one just quaintly pops up right in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  It is older and a bit dated, but homey.  Their bar looks pretty cozy, but the dining room is sort of well-lit basement like.  Overall, an interesting outing which provided some experience on another little piece of old school Milwaukee.

Polonez was recommended to us by an MKE Polish person. It did not disappoint! Old style building and the highlight was the accordion player. He was great! You can dance there as well. The food was outstanding, one of the best meals I've had in a while. I recommend the Polish plate, my guy had the beef roulade. Go there!

I absolutely love authentic ethnic cuisine. This place is absolutely that. You will not find a more genuine Polish food experience. From the decor of the interior, to the live accordion music, to the unwillingness to Americanize their traditional recipes, I love it. I will be back for sure. From the photos you can see what I ordered. If you can't tell, the entree was a pork cutlet with potato pancakes. I did sample some perogies my companion ordered. Amazing. Not pictured was the appetizer called "cold War eggs". To summarize, think of a deviled egg, but add lox and caviar. Very good. This was my first borscht experience. Having not been a fan of beets or cabbage in the past, I was really surprised how much I liked it. It pays to try new things people. Same with the bigos. This place is great. A true hidden gem that I'm so glad is surviving this ridiculous pandemic. Give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Not familiar with Polish food? Try the Polish Sampler -- it offers a little bit of everything. (And yes, the pierogis here really ARE as good as you hope they are.)

The Burzynskis (the owners) are both consistently friendly and engaging, and always eager to answer any questions you might have. (In other words, don't go in expecting high falutin', untouchable types for owners. No, here they WANT TO engage with their customers one on one. Very, very nice.)

And, yes, the furnishings and accessories ARE laughably dated, but, well, HEY -- are you really here to look at the freakin' chairs and LIGHT FIXTURES? No, of course not. You're here to enjoy hearty, Eastern European peasant fare, honey lamb.

We went for the Sunday buffet and filled up on naleśniki (Polish blintzes stuffed with cheese), Mizeria (Polish-style cucumber salad with sour cream), freshly made pierogis (fried dumplings), Bigos (Hunter's Stew) and what Czech-Americans here in central Oklahoma call bramborák. (Poles call them Placki ziemniaczane. Whatever you call them, they are delicate, filling, and singularly delicious potato pancakes.)

Be sure to at least sample the fried sauerkraut, and also the golabki (Polish-style stuffed cabbage rolls).

I know some people just hate all buffets across the board, yes, but I for one like them when they're well orchestrated. (And for sixteen bucks? C'mon -- you KNOW you're getting your dollar's full worth. At least admit it already.)

I saw Czarnina (duck's blood soup) on the à la carte menu here at Polonez, but my husband wrinkled up his face when I informed him of this fact, and then told me that HE sure as hell wouldn't try it. (I don't know why -- the stuff is delicious, and tastes nothing like what most U.S. Anglos think that it's going to taste. I grew up with Czech-Americans who ate this delectable, tangy soup -- made from goose blood here most often -- every Christmas Eve. Yum.)

Good table service. Parking is limited in the lot and on the adjacent streets. The owners really SHOULD spend a few bucks to have the weeds outside killed off, or at least more consistently trimmed. (But, hey, these are all minor details in the big picture of things.)

Smacznego!

We highly recommend Polonez! (Right now they are open for carry out) Their dishes are just delicious! My youngest loves the pork cutlet and I love the Bigos (hunters stew). My husband lives everything! I can't wait until the day it's safe for them to have their weekend buffet (and live music)

Polonez is a Milwaukee treasure