In November 2001, Laurie Jolly, Jim McCabe and chef Kasmier Rutherford revamped Milwaukee's downtown Brew City BBQ restaurant, according to Romantini. "They worked to improve their menu and ribs recipe, and they succeeded," he says. "They sought help from consulting chef Scott McGlinchey, formerly chef at Heavenly City." The result is one of the best rib joints in town. From the famous BBQ Ribs platter to combination platters including Pork Shoulder, Beef Brisket, and Rotisserie Smoked Chicken, the smell of the South is inescapable when you walk through the front door - and from blocks away for that matter. But the main staple here is the slow-smoked roadhouse spare ribs. Romantini says that Brew City boasts the largest outdoor patio in the city. At night this place morphs from a family restaurant into a sports bar atmosphere - with the patio overlooking the Performing Arts Center.

As appeared in Milwaukee City LifeStyle Magazine - September 2002

Pigging Out
The new Brew City Bar-B-Q
Excerpts from the Shepherd Express, Dining Out by Jeff Beutner

A few months ago the ownership of Brew City Bar-B-Q changed hands. Longtime owner Tom Shepard moved on to his second location in Mequon. The new owners, Laurie Jolly and Jim Mc Cabe, are longtime veterans in the local dining scene. Jolly had operated Jolly Vnuk's and more recently Jolly's on Harwood, which specialized in Cajun and southwestern cuisine. McCabe owns the highly popular Milwaukee Ale House.

Brew City underwent a makeover this summer. The character of the place remains much the same with vintage beer signs, Tiffany-style chandeliers, a large bar and a few TV sets. Now there is a stage for live music and the room fills with the aroma of wood from the large red smoker.

But, the important revamping was more recent. On Nov. 4, a new menu was inaugurated. In addition to barbecue, there are plenty of Cajun items from Jolly's recipes. And the approach to barbecue has changed as well. Meats are now served minus sauce and every table has a choice of three on hand - Texas, House and Beer-b-Q. Spiciest, and my pick, is the Beer-B-Q, though it hardly qualifies as extra spicy. Those in search of more heat will find plenty of Tabasco bottles, which were essential in the former Brew City days.

Appetizers are a varied lot with nachos, riblets, crawfish tails and chicken wings among them. Crab cakes ($9) are above average, very meaty and made of blue crab, which has the best flavor of domestic varieties. The accompanying remoulade sauce could use a bit more punch. Its taste if disconcertingly reminiscent of Thousand Island dressing. Happily this shortage of flavor is the exception, not the rule. The Brew City salad ($2) is filling with its diced cucumber and tomato, broccoli and cauliflower florets and alfalfa sprouts over leaf lettuce. The current dressing selection in boring, but Jolly plans to improve it with her delicious recipe for pecan vinaigrette. Gumbo ($6) is listed among the soups but this big serving should be considered an entree. The roux is a beautiful deep brown like gumbos I found in the Lafayette, Louisiana area. But this gumbo of chicken, okra and sausage needs more restraint in the kitchen, as it is vanquished by too much salt.

My least favorite item at the old Brew City was the pig sandwich, a heap of fatty pork drowning in candy-like barbecue sauce. The new pig ($8) is leaner and meaner, but I like the Chattanooga even better - made with pulled pork shoulder and topped with cole slaw in authentic North Carolina style. The meat has such a fine smoky flavor that sauce really is an option, though the Texan or Beer-B-Q work just fine. Sandwiches include fries potato salad, Cajun slaw - a mildly spicy slaw of cabbage and carrot - or brewhouse beans.

The barbecued eat platters are also sold as Pig Pen combos. Twenty dollars buys a choice of two, $26 a pick of three and $49 for a supersized combo that serves four. The beef brisket is lean, tender and full of smoky flavor. Rotisserie chicken arrives plump and moist and the prime rib is served cooked to order. Ribs are served two ways, wet basted in sauce or dry. The meat on the dry ribs is nearly crunchy but could be a bit meatier.

.......All in all the makeover is a success. The barbecues meats are now treated seriously in a Southern spirit and the Cajun items are a welcome change of pace. The word is definitely out. Lunches are busy and a recent Saturday night visit found the place packed, though the wait for a table was merely a quick twenty minutes. Make a visit and "pig" out.