Harboring A Fugitive Burger? Bartolotta Take Out at Harbor House 08/13/2025

 

It was another beautiful night in Milwaukee. We headed to the "Live At The Lake" concert down at Discovery World. The plan was to meet up with my son and his family to check out the show and grab some food from the food trucks. The venue's website said there would be food trucks. When we arrived we noticed a lack of previously mentioned food trucks. There were none and none were expected to turn up at any time. We had to figure out what to do for dinner. GrubHub or some other delivery service? We sort of joked about take out from the Harbor House Restaurant that was across the street from the venue. Food at Bartolotta's is not really "casual" nor are the prices, generally speaking. We decided to check it out. Yes, they do have take out. We ordered the Harbor House Burger to share. It's topped with Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Sciortino’s Bun and includes French Fries. All that for $15? I guess so. 

The burger was so good that we didn't even need any condiments. Lettuce and a big fresh tomato did the job. Perfect seasoning and cook to perfection. This was a great burger and a wonderful surprise. The fries were enough to feed three of us. Very satisfying. 

Rate It: 4.5 of 5

I have to admit that Bartolotta's has been one of my favorite burgers over the years. They used to have a place in downtown Milwaukee called the Rumpus Room. Best burgers. The Rumpus Room has been closed since Covid. The staff was super helpful and the price was pretty amazing too!

Harbor House Restaurant 

 

Gallery Nite and Rumpus, a new tradition (01.20.2017)

I swear, each time I go to the Rumpus Room, the burger gets better.
Taste, texture and color are spot on.
Maybe the idea of a Friday night in downtown Milwaukee just before heading out for yet another Gallery Night in the 3rd Ward makes it that much better. No clue.
All I know, the venue, staff and food keep me coming back.
Only one suggestion, for the staff, don't put a large group next to a couple at a small table if there are other tables open.
4 of 5 or better.
Price is still within the range for this kind of dining.

Rumpus Room - 3rd Time is a Charm? (03.27.2015)

I think it's always an added challenge to return to one of the places that I gave a glowing review. It has been some time since I was at Bartolotta's Rumpus Room. My last review on the Rumpus was a bit whiny. Must have been a bad day.
It was a Friday evening, sort of cool outside. The plan, Firefly in Wauwatosa for appetizers and a celebration for Jim Gehrke, Rumpus Room for dinner and Slim Jim Phantom's Rockabilly Circus at Potowatomi Casino Northern Light theater.
All went smooth. Keeping our schedule, we arrived at the Rumpus Room and were able to grab a spot at the bar. I ordered my burger. Medium rare and all the extra stuff on the side. I prefer to add my own amount of condiments. (talk later about that choice) We ordered drinks and only moments later, our food arrived.
I did my usual and decided to snag the burger with their name on it. Rumpus Burger. $12.50. I'm pretty sure that price had not changed since the last time. If so, maybe a $1 difference. Everything was as I remembered. Yummy. The only thing that may have boosted the flavor, just a little more cooked. Pretty red. Still, tasty.
Considering every place I go these days, including some "fast food" places charge me $10 or more dollars for a 1/3 - 1/2lb burger this is still a great value. The venue is always wonderful. The inside of the restaurant is really something else. Being downtown is always a different energy. Not something you get from a food court or stand alone chain.

The rating:
Still rocks! I would just order medium well maybe.
4 of 5
Price, venue and consistent quality and service.

Return to the the Rumpus

My burger consumption is possibly cyclic. I found myself back at the Rumpus Room, downtown Milwaukee having a burger. Go figure. It was Gallery Night in Milwaukee's 3rd Ward. Part of the evening would be visiting Gallerie M at the Intercontinental Hotel just a couple blocks from the RR. I should also mention, we had some gift cards to burn up before the end of the month.

My choice, the Rumpus Burger. As described: Half-pound Angus patty on a Sciortino's bun with your choice of cheese, lettuce, red onion, pickles and house-made Russian dressing 12.50 
Being a more pure burger kind of fella, I removed most of the extra stuff. Especially, the Russian dressing & lettuce. The lettuce was shredded and a little wilted from the dressing and warmth of the patty.  That left me with what I came for... a burger on a bun with a little cheese and onion.

I didn't look at my previous experience at the Rumpus Room. I remember it being rather good. I'm not sure if I can say the same for this time. Tasty, yep. Top notch, I wouldn't say so. It also seemed like they may have changed up the fries. Sort of skinny and lacking the french fried potato flavor.

3.5 of 5
For the money, I start expecting something that has almost a sirloin edge to it. The burger was just a burger. Truthfully, not one of the best. Things always go down a little easier when you are using gift money to buy stuff. I'm not sure if it was help enough. Nor do I think charging less would make it better. Overall, it's a delightful place to go. Great drinks and good eats. Just not this one time.

The fish that got away...

Call it a risk if you must, I ordered a cheeseburger at a fancy restaurant that is known for seafood. The menu includes steak and the restaurant group is know for quality meat and top notch chefs. That's why I took the gamble.

I ordered med-rare and for the most part, it was. My first bite let me know that the chef might not really care to cook a burger. An over abundance of salt and seasoning made it difficult to taste the meat. Maybe it was cooked on a grill that had not been cleaned and the seasonings from the previous dish was still present? I kept eating. Hey, it's a burger. By the time I finished, I was even less impressed. The bun was pretty good. I'm not going to say it was one of the best I've had.

Later, while I talked with friends about the experience, they said to me "really? a cheeseburger?" My reply was "sure, why not? does a chef at a restaurant that specialty is seafood only know how to cook seafood? a quality beef, grilled. not too complicated"

What I learned from this experience, don't tell your friends that you ordered a burger at a high-end restaurant that is know for seafood. ;)

Overall, the restaurant was really nice and the atmosphere and staff were wonderful. The people I went to dinner with enjoyed their seafood dishes. They too felt as though for the restaurant group and price the dishes were only very good.

I don't care to bash any particular restaurant so, I won't name names. This blog is mostly for my record. I'll know which place I went to. If you read these blogs please, always understand, they are my opinion, tastes etc.

My experience:
Location, atmosphere and staff were great. Price, not bad. Food, so-so. I went in expecting more. Maybe that is where I went wrong.
3.0 of 5.0

Scrumpcious Rumpus

The year has only just started and the local burger consumption promise has begun. I didn't plan it that way but, I'm not going to complain. Last Friday evening, as part of a date night, we headed to downtown Milwaukee for some local flavor. The Milwaukee Art Museum for the Impressionist Exhibit, The Rumpus Room and Comedy Cafe'. The museum, as always was excellent. We'll keep our membership for another year. The next stop was Bartalota's new restaurant in the old Egin's Pub. I reviewed their menu on-line and was totally prepared to enjoy the Rumpus Burger. It's a casual scene with a bit of fancy feeling. The menu isn't all fancy foods. Just dishes that make you feel good. Prices are relative to the downtown scene and Bartalota's. So, I'm not all shocked to pay $12 for a burger. (What a country we live in!) Again, ordered as medium-rare with cheddar cheese. The order arrived, served from behind us, we were seated at the bar because it was super busy. The bar actually worked out well. You get to watch the staff in action. There is an opening in the wall that shows through to the grill/kitchen. Back to the burger. I did the usual grab of just burger to get the real flavor without all the cheese and stuff. Yum! A little pink in some places but, where it hit the perfect mix of pink, the flavor was awesome. I had fries instead of a salad, go figure. The fries were excellent and plentiful. On this one, I will ignore the price as part of my rating. I think that you should have a burger like this no matter the price but, I was glad that it was enjoyable at the price.
The scene was cool, neat staff. Burger was tasty, fries plentiful.
4 of 5. (Maybe a bit more if it were $2 less.)

Dasburgereater