509 East Erie Street Milwaukee, WI 53202 Phone: (414) 277-1800 Fax: (414) 277-1802
I’ve been curious about Riverfront Pizzeria for quite some time now. They opened in 2006 and I used to deliver coffee to them when I worked for Alterra Coffee Roasters. I actually tried going there one time but discovered that they’re closed on Mondays. At the time I was seriously bummed but you can’t hate on an establishment for taking a day off. Especially, a Monday. I had a surprisingly drunken Wednesday night so I decided to take a nap as soon as I got home from work on Thursday. I was in my bed for a little while relishing in it’s comfort when there was that familiar knock on my bedroom door. It was Strip Club Dave, my room mate and long time friend (and one time band mate while we’re at it). He was leaving for Thailand on Saturday for a month and wanted to get some pizza since he wouldn’t be eating it for longer than anyone should go without a slice. He immediately offered Riverfront as an option. I was more than happy to oblige.
Neither of us had visited Riverfront Pizzeria as a customer before but we had both heard good things. I remembered that the door was heavy and tough to open and warned Strip Club as we neared. He took note. I noticed that they had now posted a sign about it, as well. Upon entering we realized that we were slightly under dressed. It wasn’t terrible but our hoodies seemed out of place with the sea of sweaters and button ups. I prayed they wouldn’t sit us next to the two babies. They sat us on the opposite side of the large dining room.
Our waiter, Steve, showed up with water and gave us a little time to peruse the beer list. I noticed that Sam Adams Winter Lager was on tap. My decision had basically been made for me. With drinks out of the way I worked my way over to the surprisingly extensive menu. I looked for some long time favorites, just to check. Wings. Check. Meatball sandwich. Check. Strip Club and I settled on The Carnivore (seemingly fitting since we are both lovers of animals dead and alive). The Carnivore is your basic “all meats” type ‘za. it comes equipped with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, Canadian bacon, garlic & mozzarella. We also noticed that there is a whole wheat crust option and decided to get it.
Steve returned and asked if we were ready while adding that he had nothing but time if we weren’t. We were and gave him our food and drink choices (forgetting that we intended on getting the whole wheat crust) and at the last second I decided to add a half dozen order of wings, too. I keep a personal wing ranking list (reread that and let it soak in for a second) and am always curious what places have to offer in the wing department. Steve returned promptly with our beers and we soon had our wings. The wings were fantastic. We finished them and our pizza was quick to arrive.
It looked impressive to say the least. Heaps of meat atop a thin (not cracker thin) crust with strikingly good looking cheese. The pizza was definitely cheese heavy in a good way. I was also excited to see bright white, fresh looking cheese. I’ve been seeing too much yellowish “mozzarella” lately. There was so much flavor running around that I didn’t even notice the sauce. All the meats tasted great. The sausage had a different taste than the norm. Very tasty. The pizza also had a mystery spice that would come around every now and then. I noticed it but said nothing. Strip Club made his discovery vocal and I knew I wasn’t an insane person. We finished about half the pizza and had it boxed up. All in all it was a great experience and I highly recommend not only getting pizza from Riverfront Pizzeria but dining in.
The Good: The dining room at Riverfront is great. The booths are spaced far enough apart and with plant dividers between them that you don’t have to deal with nosy neighbors. If a booth isn’t your steez, you have tables, hightop tables, and the bar to choose from. In the handful of warmer months there is an outdoor seating area that looks over the river (Riverfront… get it?). Steve, our waiter, was fantastic. I can’t speak for any of the other servers there but if a I opened a restaurant I would stock it full of Steves. The pizza is definitely a notch above the rest. $22.50 for a 15″ large is a fine price to pay for the quality of ‘za you receive. Riverfront also features Sam Adams Winter Lager and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (both seasonal) on tap with an impressive beer and wine list.
The Bad: I can honestly say I did not experience anything bad. They were even smart enough to sit the group with the babies in a corner away from everyone else. I did hear the new Foo Fighters song on the way home, though. That was pretty bad.
Try: The wings. I didn’t expect much out of the wings but they definitely showed up to play. They smelled spicy but they weren’t. They just had a real nice tangy buffalo flavor. The menu is definitely going to make me a repeat customer. When I go back to jam on some of their sandwiches I will update this.
Rating: Rocky IV
