My partner and I spent over a dozen lovely dinners or drinks at Balzac over the last 4 years. We had our first anniversary dinner here. And we had our Balzac dinner here on 11/19/23 and we couldn't be more sad that it's closing. If you get the chance to go before it's 11/23/23 closing, do it! This is one of the comfier spots in MKE, with a manageable, delicious menu. Will miss you Balzac. RIP
KimS
It's no wonder they are going out of business with the service they provide. We dinned here probably 20+ times over the last few years, but starting new years 2023, this place has gone way down hill. The service is inattentive at best, the manager is rude, we've had problems with our bill, food hasn't been the best in the last few months either, when we used to rave about this place!
BJarrett
For the East Side, a good variety of interesting wines by the glass at reasonable prices. The basic charcuterie board is fine for a nibble before making the rounds on Halloween. Haven't had a full plate dinner there.
MeghanK
Balzac is one of my favorite Milwaukee spots! Always has an amazing wine and food menu with consistently great service. This visit our group did the Halloween candy and wine pairing which was super fun and informative. I always recommend Balzac!
Nand
We enjoyed all the food. The eggplant mousse could have just been a tad less salty! Scallops were great- wish there had been a mixture of beets with maybe potatoes? Since there were about 4ish scallops, you ended up eating a lot of beets that formed the bed of this dish.
deewass
Just a great way to spend an evening hanging out with a friend. Nice wine selection, great assortment of food that you can order as you like and have a nice pace. Service is attentive but gives you space and time. Not too noisy so conversation is easy. Highly recommend. Been here many times and it is always good.
Kayla
We always have a good experience here. Affordable tapas for the quality and quantity you get and you can't go wrong with anything you order. Love that you can try a lot of different dishes AND get drinks without feeling like you're breaking the bank.
BadgerAlum0124
Unfortunately after one of our party had a good experience at Balzac we had just the opposite. I realize they were way understaffed but restaurants need to start limiting their seating instead of ‘hoping for the best'. One of our local restaurants does that when they realize they can't manage to give good service. Customers that get turned away seem to understand and the people that do get seated get the service and the quality they expect and will come back. Even with the breaks they gave us on the bill, having the last dish come out 40 minutes after all the others were cleared is just too much and we will not be returning.
Brandon
Dined on a Sunday night at Balzac after recommendations from a couple of friends. The menu is constructed around shareable small plates, though there are some bigger entrees. There is plenty of wine to choose from though we didn't order any.We were seated quickly. It looked like there were only two servers for the dining room so I won't hold service against them on this visit. For as many tables as the servers worked, they stopped by plenty of times and were very pleasant. Depending where you sit, tables can be a bit too small and cluttered for sharing small plates.We did our best to share a couple of plates and also ordered cheeseburgers. We shared Peach Caprese and Sac Mac. Peach Caprese took full advantage of Peach season and kept this side simple and clean. I was a fan. The Sac Mac was well sauced and well balanced. Another win. The burger was delicious and straightforward; not an overwhelming amount of toppings. The french fries tasted exactly like McDonald's fries. Unsure if this is intentional. I would've preferred a thicker, twice fried french fry but their fries were not bad whatsoever.Overall, the prices at Balzac are reasonable and the portions fall in line with those prices. The food is prepared simply; they allow seasonal ingredients to shine. Execution was fine. I wasn't blown away by anything I ate, but nothing I had was bad. Balzac strikes me as a simple, reasonable and consistent local restaurant. I left satisfied and my wallet was happy with me. All wins in my book!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Stephanie Kuenzli
Beautiful outdoor patio with tasty food and excellent service.
It's not a hip wine bar as much as it is a bar for young ppl to get hammered. The food was very average and with all the loud drunk ppl, we won't be coming back. Didn't like a handful of things and didn't touch them, but the waitress never checked in to ask why.
Kara Bedell
If I could leave 6 stars for the service I would. The lady that gave us the wine recommendation was stellar. And Kyle was so nice and even let us put in a dessert right at 10 pm! I love when kitchens stay open to help their guests that are already here!! Will be back again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sac Mac, Bao Buns
J G.
Been a longtime regular and overall love this place, but was beyond disappointed with one of their most classic dishes...the Sac Mac. Used to come literally just for this dish, but our recent visit has changed this unfortunately. The Sac Mac was not the same at all, bland, not creamy and gooey like before, seemed like a velveeta thick dry consistency instead, and almost smokey instead of their former gourmet white cheddar savory sauce before. Still worth a visit for wine and ambience, but definitely not worth a visit for the Sac Mac anymore, hopefully, they'll change their recipe back. Side note, our server was great!
E Coleman
Nice cozy place but the service is bad. They're slow, not friendly, and we order an app before our dinner and was told my dinner may come before my app and it did! The food is just ok.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 1
Acsa Buening
We went there for drinks after dinner and I decided to try something new, so ordered the Fineapple, which is supposed to be made with pineapple, cachaça (sugar cane liquor) and ginger. Was not impressed and it wasn’t till we had left that I realized the weird taste was because they used Tequila instead of sugar cane liquor. Not going back.
My partner and I spent over a dozen lovely dinners or drinks at Balzac over the last 4 years. We had our first anniversary dinner here. And we had our Balzac dinner here on 11/19/23 and we couldn't be more sad that it's closing. If you get the chance to go before it's 11/23/23 closing, do it! This is one of the comfier spots in MKE, with a manageable, delicious menu. Will miss you Balzac. RIP
It's no wonder they are going out of business with the service they provide. We dinned here probably 20+ times over the last few years, but starting new years 2023, this place has gone way down hill. The service is inattentive at best, the manager is rude, we've had problems with our bill, food hasn't been the best in the last few months either, when we used to rave about this place!
For the East Side, a good variety of interesting wines by the glass at reasonable prices. The basic charcuterie board is fine for a nibble before making the rounds on Halloween. Haven't had a full plate dinner there.
Balzac is one of my favorite Milwaukee spots! Always has an amazing wine and food menu with consistently great service. This visit our group did the Halloween candy and wine pairing which was super fun and informative. I always recommend Balzac!
We enjoyed all the food. The eggplant mousse could have just been a tad less salty! Scallops were great- wish there had been a mixture of beets with maybe potatoes? Since there were about 4ish scallops, you ended up eating a lot of beets that formed the bed of this dish.
Just a great way to spend an evening hanging out with a friend. Nice wine selection, great assortment of food that you can order as you like and have a nice pace. Service is attentive but gives you space and time. Not too noisy so conversation is easy. Highly recommend. Been here many times and it is always good.
We always have a good experience here. Affordable tapas for the quality and quantity you get and you can't go wrong with anything you order. Love that you can try a lot of different dishes AND get drinks without feeling like you're breaking the bank.
Unfortunately after one of our party had a good experience at Balzac we had just the opposite. I realize they were way understaffed but restaurants need to start limiting their seating instead of ‘hoping for the best'. One of our local restaurants does that when they realize they can't manage to give good service. Customers that get turned away seem to understand and the people that do get seated get the service and the quality they expect and will come back. Even with the breaks they gave us on the bill, having the last dish come out 40 minutes after all the others were cleared is just too much and we will not be returning.
Dined on a Sunday night at Balzac after recommendations from a couple of friends. The menu is constructed around shareable small plates, though there are some bigger entrees. There is plenty of wine to choose from though we didn't order any.We were seated quickly. It looked like there were only two servers for the dining room so I won't hold service against them on this visit. For as many tables as the servers worked, they stopped by plenty of times and were very pleasant. Depending where you sit, tables can be a bit too small and cluttered for sharing small plates.We did our best to share a couple of plates and also ordered cheeseburgers. We shared Peach Caprese and Sac Mac. Peach Caprese took full advantage of Peach season and kept this side simple and clean. I was a fan. The Sac Mac was well sauced and well balanced. Another win. The burger was delicious and straightforward; not an overwhelming amount of toppings. The french fries tasted exactly like McDonald's fries. Unsure if this is intentional. I would've preferred a thicker, twice fried french fry but their fries were not bad whatsoever.Overall, the prices at Balzac are reasonable and the portions fall in line with those prices. The food is prepared simply; they allow seasonal ingredients to shine. Execution was fine. I wasn't blown away by anything I ate, but nothing I had was bad. Balzac strikes me as a simple, reasonable and consistent local restaurant. I left satisfied and my wallet was happy with me. All wins in my book!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Beautiful outdoor patio with tasty food and excellent service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Saffron Mussels, Fried Brussels Sprouts, Bao Buns, Vegan Wings
Restaurantji Recommends
It's not a hip wine bar as much as it is a bar for young ppl to get hammered. The food was very average and with all the loud drunk ppl, we won't be coming back. Didn't like a handful of things and didn't touch them, but the waitress never checked in to ask why.
If I could leave 6 stars for the service I would. The lady that gave us the wine recommendation was stellar. And Kyle was so nice and even let us put in a dessert right at 10 pm! I love when kitchens stay open to help their guests that are already here!! Will be back again!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sac Mac, Bao Buns
Been a longtime regular and overall love this place, but was beyond disappointed with one of their most classic dishes...the Sac Mac. Used to come literally just for this dish, but our recent visit has changed this unfortunately. The Sac Mac was not the same at all, bland, not creamy and gooey like before, seemed like a velveeta thick dry consistency instead, and almost smokey instead of their former gourmet white cheddar savory sauce before. Still worth a visit for wine and ambience, but definitely not worth a visit for the Sac Mac anymore, hopefully, they'll change their recipe back. Side note, our server was great!
Nice cozy place but the service is bad. They're slow, not friendly, and we order an app before our dinner and was told my dinner may come before my app and it did! The food is just ok.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 1
We went there for drinks after dinner and I decided to try something new, so ordered the Fineapple, which is supposed to be made with pineapple, cachaça (sugar cane liquor) and ginger. Was not impressed and it wasn’t till we had left that I realized the weird taste was because they used Tequila instead of sugar cane liquor. Not going back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5