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    La Canoa

    3.5 (23 reviews)
    Ultra High-EndSeafood, Mexican
    Open 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    La Canoa Photos

    LA CANOA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Mojarra Empanizada
    Joí B.

    A GEM. A friend showed my partner and I around Milwaukee for the first time & introduced us to this restaurant. Simply put -- The food was BOMB. I ordered the Mojarra Empanazida (fried tilapia covered in a very spicy and flavorful chipotle sauce) and as you can see, the portions here are massive. The rest of our table ordered a Molcajete Mixto, molé enchiladas and mango margaritas. The staff were friendly and attentive & the music was great as well. This is one of those places that's so good you leave extremely satisfied but also a tad bit sad because you wanted to try every single thing on the menu lol -- I've already planned out my entire order for the next time we come back to Milwaukee.

    Puerco en salsa verde
    Rick R.

    I'd heard good things about La Canoa and they've recently been pushing their advertising, so I thought I would give them a shot. It was dead when I visited, only one other table had diners. I liked the vibrant color scheme and decor, lots of bright shades of blue. My server brought out a trio of salsas. One was a basic thin salsa, one was a little thicker and had small chunks of avocado in it and the third was actually more like a ceviche. All three were very tasty. She also brought out a complimentary empanada. The pastry was cooked well but it was "filled" (there wasn't much of it) with fish, and it tasted "fishy." Don't mock me! Fish is not supposed to taste fishy when it is properly cooked. I ordered Puerco en Salsa Verde as my entree. The menu described it as tender chunks of pork tenderloin, which sounded great. I requested a side of flour tortillas with it. When the plate arrived, I was surprised to see white rice instead of the typical orange hued rice I was expecting. That was fine with me. I like to see restaurants change things up. I was hoping that something had been done with the rice, but that was not the case. No cilantro...nothing. It tasted fine, so no worries. The beans looked very much like the refried beans one would expect to find at a Mexican restaurant but they didn't taste as good as other Mexican restaurants. I'm not sure how to describe them. They weren't bland. They had a flavor. I just didn't care for it. I planned on rescuing my dinner by putting the pork tenderloin chunks into the flour tortillas and eating them like tacos. The problem with that plan was that I don't believe these were chunks of pork tenderloin. I'm not a butcher, I don't play one on TV and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night, but I believe they brought me pork spare ribs. There were bones galore! I almost didn't notice because of all of the salsa verde, which was good by the way. I used my knife and fork to pry away what little meat I could from these chunks of bone. Needless to say, I was pretty annoyed. The saving grace were the tortillas. They were very warm and very soft and very delicious. I rolled them up and scooped up the salsa verde and the beans and that was enough to prevent my dinner from being a disaster. I asked the waitress if they used ribs instead of pork tenderloin because there were so many bones. I did not complain about it though. I merely asked the question and made the statement. When she came to collect my plate, she noticed a pile of bones with little bits of meat still on them. She must have put 2 and 2 together because when I got the bill there was a 10% discount on it. Again, I did not complain. She took it upon herself to read between the lines and try to make up for it even though I did not expect her to, not even hinted at it. Therefore, her act of good customer service was rewarded in her gratuity. I have had bad experiences at restaurants on slow nights in the past. You would think the cooks have more time to cook with care but maybe the food is just reheated leftovers from the day or two before. I don't know. I don't care. I doubt I'll be back to find out. There are too many other options for good Mexican food in Milwaukee.

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    11 months ago

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    9 months ago

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    5 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Food is great just takes time for it to come out. They need to add more fish in h the aqu

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    8 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Great food and will definitely be coming back soon! Our service was very good and my family and I have no complaints.

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    7 years ago

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    15 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Excellent Mexican food with emphasis on seafood. Have had many special meals her with family and friends. Highly recommend.

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    10 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    Café Corazón

    Café Corazón

    4.2(699 reviews)
    5.3 miRiverwest
    $$

    We had a great time at corazon happy hour! They have specials on food and drinks until 6 pm. The…read moreservers were very friendly and all the drinks and food were so delicious, and a generous portion for the price.

    The first time I had Cafe Corazon was in December 2011, with a friend. It was chaotic inside, but…read morethe food was great. I loved the variety of the menu, especially the vegetarian options, which are hard to come by in a lot of Mexican restaurants. In the past few years since I've moved back to Milwaukee, I've eaten at this location several times. It's about 6 blocks from my house and I still find veggie Mexican options to be rarer than I'd like. Generally the food is good, if no longer great. I wonder if their expansion and success has spread them thin over the years. Sometimes the service is good, sometimes it's like an afterthought. I've also ordered delivery from them many times and it's been generally fine, but not often great. Tonight I ordered delivery, paid extra for expedited service, and I really just wanted some good cheese and onion enchiladas. The delivery time was quick. Despite that, my food was cold. My black beans - literally cold. The cheese enchiladas - um, the cheese on top wasn't even melted. The rice had no flavor at all, like it could have literally been plain white, tepid rice. So I don't know what is going on at Cafe Corazon, but it's just not good anymore and that makes me really sad.

    Photos
    Café Corazón
    Café Corazón - Rice and beans and.. carne?

    Rice and beans and.. carne?

    Café Corazón - Bloody María and Coronita chaser

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    Bloody María and Coronita chaser

    Troublemakers Cocina - Street corn quesadilla!

    Troublemakers Cocina

    4.2(24 reviews)
    3.0 miWestown, Bronzeville

    We love Troublemakers. We love Central Waters Brewery. With these two place combined, you cannot go…read morewrong. We'd been coming to Central Waters for a while, when one night we found ourselves hungry. Since Troublemakers Cocina was open, we gave it a try. We've been hooked ever since! Our two favorite menu items are the Carne Asada Fries and the Carne Asada Burrito. Both are flavorful, fresh, and filling. Triple threat! Prices are reasonable and the staff are always friendly. Plus you can have a scrumptious beer from Central Waters while you wait for your beeper to go off. And the setting is in an old gorgeous church converted into a brewery/event space. You can't beat that ambiance! Prices are reasonable, the space is clean, and there is plenty of seating for groups of all sizes. And there are screens for watching games. This place is an all-around winner! Hungry and thirsty, make your way to Troublemakers Cocina today!

    We have been here quite a few times and every time the food is excellent and consistent! Tons of…read morefresh veggies and excellent sauces. The fries are crispy and thin. The elote is incredible. Tacos have very good quality meat. The service is quick as long as you know you need to order at the front. The vibes are chill and great for kids if you have one cause it's inside of a brewery. Overall great food and experience.

    Photos
    Troublemakers Cocina - Restaurant ordering area

    Restaurant ordering area

    Troublemakers Cocina - Beef Birria quesadilla!

    Beef Birria quesadilla!

    Troublemakers Cocina - Beef Birria Egg Rolls

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    Beef Birria Egg Rolls

    Don Lucho Carnitas - Barbacoa taco

    Don Lucho Carnitas

    4.4(37 reviews)
    0.6 miHistoric Mitchell Street
    $

    It's Saturday and I'm thinking......Don Lucho!!!!!…read more The team has been up since late night roasting and boiling and creating the most amazing carnitas you will find in Milwaukee. Get here early - parking sucks, and suburbanites will freak out at the hood, but no worries Jesus is right next door at St. Josaphats basilica and will watch over you. And don't forget to take a tour of one of this country's most beautiful cathedrals. Right there by Don Luchos. You can eat here. Lots of long communal tables so don't be shy. Prices aren't cheap but this is quality. I usually get a pound or so of carnitas. They measure it out, it's steaming, and ask if you want it chopped. I say yes. It's wrapped up tightly and it will feed you all weekend. This meat is freaking amazing!!!! I pray they haven't run out of homemade tortillas, but like I said, you gotta come EARLY. Sigh. There's about 6 different amazing salsas to try. Smoky, fresh, green, red, hot sweet - I get two for the weekend. I consider a quart of menudo. I think about. Lamb, goat, barbacoa, chorizo - but I have enough. Too hungry to wait to go home, I sit down to eat. Two tacos - huge! The best was the barbacoa - tasty little carmelized deeply flavored meat bits. Hey - don't go expecting American extras like sour cream or cheese. This is the real thing. Warming: one taco will do you. Got a side of rice and beans - yum. Don Lucho is a treasure. It is authentic, mom and pop, and these are the businesses I love to support. For an incredible adventure and source of authentic carnitas, git yourself down to da south side ya day hair and ENJOY!!!!!!

    Great place, take a seat and the waitress will bring you a menu, order some meat and horchata, and…read morethen eat some delicious tacos.

    Photos
    Don Lucho Carnitas - The meat counter

    The meat counter

    Don Lucho Carnitas - Pork Asada Taco

    Pork Asada Taco

    Don Lucho Carnitas - Lots of authentic ambience

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    Lots of authentic ambience

    La Canoa - seafood - Updated May 2026

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