Spotted Cow, sausages and classic cocktails popular

Posted on by Vaseline

For four days, the Republican National Convention took place in hotels and the entertainment district of downtown, bringing many new faces from across the country to Milwaukee.

Bars and restaurants did their best to prepare for the visitors, but were there any unexpected favorites from the out-of-towners? We asked bartenders at the convention site and here’s what they had to say.

So many spotted cows

Bartenders repeatedly said they were serving a lot of New Glarus Spotted Cow, the beer famously sold only in Wisconsin. Also popular were Wisconsin Old Fashioned and Lakefront Brewery beers.

“Everybody wants to try a Spotted Cow, of course,” said Riley Gwilliam, a bartender at Craft at the Trade Hotel, 420 W. Juneau Ave., next to Fiserv Forum, where the RNC was held. “It’s always fun, the people who are not from here say, ‘I want one of those, uh, Wisconsin beers.’ And I’m like, I know one.”

“It was more local stuff than normal,” said Mike, a bartender at Copper on King, 1019 N. King Drive, who asked not to give his last name. “Fifty percent of the drinks were Spotted Cow, Lakefront drinks or Old Fashioneds.”

“We’ve had a lot of Schlitz, a lot of tapped Schlitz, and, as usual, New Glarus,” Rae Law said at Milwaukee Brat House.

Classic cocktails

Bartenders also reported ordering more simple, classic cocktails than usual.

“I served a bunch of Tom Collins the other day. I put one out and everybody wanted one,” said Andrew Trumbull, who was bartending an event Wednesday at the Iron Horse Hotel, 500 W. Florida St., and who has worked other events during the RNC. “It’s fun to see people ordering classic cocktails.

“Otherwise, vodka sodas, just diet drinks. It’s been so hot,” he said.

According to a bartender who asked to remain anonymous due to the hotel’s media policy, the old-fashioned cocktails were popular at another downtown hotel.

They said the Wisconsin Old Fashioned and the regular Old Fashioned (without soda) were equally popular.

“A lot of Scotch,” said Gwilliam of Craft. “Dewars, mostly.”

“A lot more classic call drinks compared to everything on our traditional menu,” she noted, particularly John Daly’s and Manhattans. “It was a lot of two-part mixers and classic call drinks.”

The most popular mixed drink was tequila, she said.

Eggy Singzon, who was tending the VIP section at The New Fashioned, across from Fiserv in the Deer District at 1122 N. Phillips Ave., said he mostly served two-part mixers. The most popular were Jack and Coke and Tito’s vodka mixers, he said.

Bratwurst and cheese curds… but also spare ribs, Reubens and Caesar salads

According to bartender Van Walker, the Old German Beer Hall, 1009 N. King Drive, served an unusual number of Reubens.

“What was unique was that the most common dishes were Reubens,” he said. “A lot more Reubens than we normally make.”

Another waiter at King Drive, who did not want to give his name due to his restaurant’s media policy, said they had already run out of bratwurst twice.

Not only were the classic Wisconsin sausages popular, but also the curds.

“I know it’s bar food, but so much cheese curds, and they were all eating Caesar salads. Caesar salads with grilled chicken,” said Craft’s Gwilliam. “I swear, I’ve seen more Caesar salads in four days than I’ve seen in all my years of bartending.”

Tracyleigh Davis worked the RNC lunch shift every day at Carson’s, 301 W. Juneau Ave. She said people were ordering heavier lunches than usual.

“People were ordering real entrees — ribs, steaks — for lunch,” she said. “People were coming from these places with sandwiches and hors d’oeuvres. They were coming in here and saying they wanted real food. Kind of a nap after dinner.”

Less alcohol

Lou Stevhenson at Mader’s, 1041 N. King Drive, also worked every lunch shift during the RNC. He said he served less alcohol than usual.

“Because there were a lot of out-of-towners, people weren’t drinking as much during the day,” he said. “Normally we get all these people who get beer with lunch, but they just had coffee, tea, juice or soda.”

Courtney, who worked as a bartender with Trumbull at the Iron Horse Hotel, also said she served less alcohol.

“There’s a lot of soda out there, and people just aren’t drinking like they normally would,” she said.

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