Comet

1947 N. Farwell Avenue
Milwaukee WI

I'm not sure if it's the Comet Cafe or the Comet Coffee Shop, these days, though I've been calling it "The New Comet"-- which I have to stop, since it's been well over a year since they remodeled-- long enough for another major menu change. The crucial thing is that it used to be a smoky, sit there for hours, coffee shop, and now it's a restaurant and bar. You can still smoke on one side, but it's well-ventilated. They open at 11am, I believe, until 2am, and I think stop serving food at 1opm.

The symbol for this restaurant is a rabbit, though there is no rabbit on the menu, and even funnier, they advertise "slow food." This means that once you order, the cooks will consider your order, then step out back for a cigarette break and contemplate their artistry. But that's okay-- just don't be in a big hurry or anything.

I was thinking this morning about how much I hate the term "Cream City" for Milwaukee-- even if it does refer to the light colored brick, and not because it's the largest city in the Dairy State. Maybe it's just that I'm annoyed with "exposed brick, hardwood floors, and lake views," or maybe it's the generally disgusting sound of the term, or maybe it's something I think about every time I go somewhere and order coffee and the half-and-half is in those little tubs. Or worse, little tubs of Coffee-Mate. Before I moved here I heard that it was illegal to serve margarine or non-dairy creamer in the Dairy State-- not true!-- it's as bad, or worse, as anywhere else. So on this morning I happened to be trying to think of ONE PLACE that served coffee cream in a little pitcher, and I couldn't-- but I also happened to want to escape the snow, so I stopped off at the Comet. The last few times here I didn't get coffee at all, I guess-- and so I was shocked and really excited when the cream came in a little metal pitcher! That automatically puts the Comet near the top of Milwaukee breakfast places.

I wish they were open earlier, but the humane thing is they serve breakfast until 3pm. I kind of think of this place, now, as for 20-somthing hipsters who have hit 30 and are evolving beyond the 7-Eleven microwave burrito diet. You can still stay up all night drinking, then come in here for a late breakfast, and since they have a full bar, finish your coffee and start drinking again without even moving your butt from the comfortable, long booths (some are long enough to lie down in, if it comes to that).

I had a pretty good omelette and some really good hash browns. Really good hash browns are worth mentioning twice. On previous visits I ate lunch here, and now I'm sad to see that they have discontinued the "12 Layer Salad." This is really too bad, because that salad was an exploration-- 12 ingredients grouped in a large bowl, untossed, so that you could make your own combinations as you ate. I would eat the less exciting but more healthy parts first-- the celery and carrots-- by degrees working in the salad dressing and cheese, and then finishing with peas and bacon. And the best thing about it was that every time I ordered it, it was different! Different ingredients, arranged differently. Some people think consistency is the hallmark of a good restaurant-- not me! Screw consistency, I want adventure. But, oh well, no more 12 Layer Salad.

The other cool thing about this place is that if you sit in the right place, you can totally stake out Koppa's Grocery, across the street. I don't know why you'd want to, but if you had a crush on someone who worked the register there-- which is quite conceivable-- the Comet offers a perfect view-- in comfort. Oh, did I mention that the overall theme of the menu is "comfort food?" And the bathrooms (two on each side of the restaurant) are spectacularly, soaringly clean and, again, comfortable.