Wine Spectator has released the list of winners of the 2023 Restaurant Awards, which honor outstanding eateries with extraordinary wine lists.
The awards are given on three levels: the Award of Excellence, the Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award. This year, the program recognized 3,505 restaurants in the U.S. and more than 70 other countries, including 37 in the state of Wisconsin and 23 in the Milwaukee Metro area.
Best of Award of Excellence
Four Milwaukee restaurants were awarded the Best of Award of Excellence. This award is granted for venues offering a wine list of typically 350 or more quality selections with significant vintage depth or superior breadth in one or more major wine regions. Those restaurants include Bacchus, Carnevor, Lake Park Bistro and Story Hill BKC.
Wisconsin wide, winners also included the Immigrant Restaurant at the American Club (Kohler), Lake Street Cafe (Elkhart Lake), Santé Wine Bar & Bistro (Neenah) and Muse at Sentry (Steven’s Point).
Award of Excellence
Meanwhile 19 venues in Milwaukee and its surrounding suburbs were honored with the Award of Excellence, which recognizes wine lists offering an interesting and diverse selection of wines (90 selections+) that are well-presented and thematically match the restaurant's cuisine in both price and style.
- Ash at the Iron Horse Hotel (Milwaukee)
- Buttermint Finer Dining & Cocktails (Shorewood)
- Eddie Martini’s (Wauwatosa)
- Harbor House (Milwaukee)
- i.d. (Delafield)
- Jake’s (Pewaukee)
- Johnny Manhattan’s (Hubertus)
- Lago Su Bella (Oconomowoc)
- Mason Street Grill (Milwaukee)
- Milwaukee Chophouse (Milwaukee)
- Mr. B’s, A Bartolotta Steakhouse (Brookfield)
- Mr. B’s, A Bartolotta Steakhouse (Mequon)
- Palmer’s Steakhouse (Hartland)
- Red Circle Inn (Nashotah)
- Ristorante Bartolotta dal 1993 (Wauwatosa)
- Sanford (Milwaukee)
- The Capital Grille (Milwaukee)
- The Union House (Genesee Depot)
- Ward’s House of Prime (Milwaukee)
Other notable winners in the State of Wisconsin include Canoe Bay (Chetek), Green Acres Restaurant (Sauk City), Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse (Eau Claire), Mary Kate’s Wine Bar (Eagle River), Opus at the Belfry House (Delavan), Rare Steakhouse (Madison), T.J.’s Highland Steakhouse (Oshkosh), The Bottle Room (Green Bay), The Walnut Room (Green Bay) and Velvet Buffalo Modern Italian (Beloit).
The Grand Award
The Grand Award represents the program's highest honor. Those in this elite group generally offer more than 1,000 selections, with superior breadth and depth in many of the world's classic wine-producing regions. No restaurants in the Midwest were Grand Award recipients. View the list of recipients here.
The complete list of award winners is featured in the Restaurant Awards issue of Wine Spectator, which was released July 11.
In addition, all restaurants can be found in WineSpectator.com's Restaurant Search, which allows users to find information about wine selections, cuisine, prices, key staff and more.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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