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The tough part is that busier a restaurant gets (making reservations more convenient or absolutely necessary, depending on your lifestyle/point of view), the more difficult it becomes to have a reservation policy in place. I've worked in places that have taken both approaches, and with all the variables involved in juggling an hour wait or more, the controlled chaos approach of no reservations makes so much more sense to me. More efficiency = decreased wait times by more than you'd think = less cranky people, which is the ultimate goal for all involved, I'd say.

Just last week I had a party of twelve come in to my current place of employment, which doesn't take reservations, who told me they had made them at three other restaurants before deciding to come here. My first thought, after "wow" and "glad they're not in my section", was "Man am I happy I don't have to deal with that anymore."

Anyway, as a diner, I have the luxury of the off days approach, which is nice. Tuesday and Wednesday are my maybe-go-out nights, and I can't remember the last time I went to a busy place on a weekend, mostly because I'm pretty much always working.

Fantastic idea. I'm on board starting Saturday - baseball tailgate tomorrow, and Pops is smoking some undoubtedly corn-fed pork shoulder that I've been looking forward to all week.

Nick, that first paragraph could have been written by me. I have Julie Sanhi's Classic Indian cooking and that new 660 curries book, which are useful in their own way, but I still feel a little lost. Anyone have suggestions?

Oh, where to start. Nice to see Milwaukee get some love, there are a ton of great places to eat, though I wish you would have visited under better circumstances.

Beer first. Forget the Miller tour, Lakefront is the way to go. Try any beer by them or New Glarus (of Spotted Cow fame). Milwaukee Ale House does good work. I'm meh on most Sprecher beers, but their Black Bavarian and root beer are both excellent. If you see a Bell's beer on tap, particularly Two Hearted Ale, try it (a Michigan brewery, but who's counting).

Mexican: South side is indeed the way to go. Conejitos has a nice cheap paper plate vibe, Cempuzachi is a good one too. I like Riviera Maya for more traditional Mexican, Botanas for well done Tex-Mex, and any El Rey location for my cheap and good fix. Avoid La Perla at all costs.

Someone mentioned Comet for breakfast, but their open faced meat loaf "sandwich" seems like it might be right up your alley. Cafe Lulu is always worth a soup and sandwich stop - the Mediterranean steak pita with chips or the roasted veg salad with a tuna steak on top are both money.

Pizza, as has been said, may well be avoided, but either DeMarini's location would be my suggestion. I prefer Mama's for the sit at the bar and eat vibe.

For upscale but surprisingly cheap, Coquette Cafe (coq au vin) and Meritage (any braised meat on the menu) are great.

As for curds, like you guessed, most good bars in the city, my place of employment included. The corner bar culture is alive and kicking here, it's really one of my favorite parts about this city. Conversations with interesting functional alcoholic strangers FTW.

Simma's cheesecake. Singha Thai's pad thai. Not much good Indian, but Anmol does excellent Pakistani. Coffee: Anodyne > Stone Creek >>>>>>> Alterra. Bloody Mary at any Diablo Rojo place (Cafe Hollander, Cafe Centraal, Trocadero), though I find their food mostly overpriced and underwhelming. Sobelman's for a burger (still) - though I haven't been to Solly's, I hear good things. Jake's for Jewish deli goodness. Good call on the National.

I'm out of gas, but that should get you started.

Nice work as always, Nick. I like brothy pasta dishes, but always seem to forget about them.

Hated tofu myself, until I found that it must be pressed, and then marinated, before baking/pan-frying/whatever. Now it's in the regular rotation (and I'm quite the Midwestern carnivore).

"...drippings and bits that are used for gravy, before the gravy period starts. I sneaked up to my boyfriend and shoved some in his mouth and his expressions of joy were obscene."

I'm not alone! Awesome.

The juices on the bottom of the plate after meat has rested? Yeah, those are getting drunk. Shameless carnivore.

Stock.

As far as I know, good sherry vinegar has a relatively high acidity - around 8%. It's strong stuff, and can be overpowering, so I use it in strongly flavored dishes to round out the flavors. I dump some in a quick saute of bitter greens, use it in cabbage slaws when I want them to cut through and really contrast heavy meats. Toss a sherry vinagrette with roasted or grilled potatoes while they're still warm for an odd little potato salad. Great for deglazing and making reduction sauces. Used it once when I had no red wine in an old school beef stew. In other words, I like it a lot.

Put me in the olive oil, garlic, and anchovy camp. Lotsa pepper. If I'm slightly less lazy, bacon, canned tomato, and onion. Maybe some balsamic or capers.

Agreed on the bacon fat - I almost never make a skillet bean dish without one, among other things. The girlfriend was skeptical when she first saw me saving it, but was quickly converted.

Just bookmarked this page. Well done, y'all - you can definitely stuff a pepper with just about anything.

ham, would you be using a gas grill, charcoal, or a smoker? Because I've done stuffed peppers on a Weber, indirect heat for about 20 or 30 minutes, but never the old school ground meat and rice type - once with cheese and veggies I sauteed for a bit, once with mostly cooked brown rice and lentils. Wouldn't trust the meat to cook through before the outside of the peppers get too blackened. If you were smoking some meat, though, and threw them in for an hour or so, I could see this working. Worst case scenario, you finish them in the oven.