It wasn’t until the early 90’s that I finally met Teddy Coerper, the owner of the Five O’clock Club. Teddy was the man behind the bar at what I felt was the best steakhouse in America. Tina and I had a table there every Thursday night for years, until my doctor said enough was enough! After 40 years we still haven’t had a bad drink or a bad meal. The new owners haven’t changed anything that we could find. The restaurant has a unique system that really provides a great experience. The wait staff comes to the bar and takes your order while you’re enjoying a great cocktail. When you are seated, the table is prepared with water, freshly baked sourdough bread, salad with dressings, and a relish tray.
For cocktails, as you know, I stick to an Old Fashioned sweet and have been known to switch up the brandy for Tennessee whiskey. This time around Tina had the Lemon Drop Martini. Because we were there to review the restaurant, we ordered appetizers, knowing full well that the steaks are huge. We had the crabcakes and the shrimp scampi (served without pasta, in a garlic butter wine sauce). The shrimp were in my estimate colossal size and done well. The crabcakes were ok, not bad, but we’d order the shrimp again. The service is always very good, however, as in every fine dining restaurant in the Milwaukee area Tina knows most of them. Now let’s get to the meat of the subject!
I have been saying that “next time I’m getting the filet, but it’s going on 35 years, and I still get the porterhouse every time! In years past I’d help her with her filet (that she gets every time). The filet is the bomb! It’s always cooked perfectly. I’ve never sent a steak back, but I have a fairly wide range of medium that I can accept. Tina… Not so much, she likes her steak rare plus, or rare to medium rare and it needs to be cooked appropriately. The Five O’clock Club is always perfect. I had her cut into it to show just what rare to medium rare should look like (in our opinion anyway).
The steak comes with mushrooms and an Au Jus sauce that competitors have been trying to emulate for over a half century. We did have the cheesecake and coffee, which is something that we normally do not do; however, when you tackle these steaks and still have dessert, a coffee and a short 17-mile stroll is in order…. If you are a steak lover, the Five O’clock Club is a MUST try.
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