Cool Water exceeds expectations

As promised last week, I went to check out the new Cool Water Bar and Grill on St. Francis Avenue in, you guessed it, St. Francis! The place is a new restaurant and tavern just west of Kinnickinnic Avenue in the space that long housed Majdecki's.

I knew that the owners spent four years renovating the building but I didn't realize just how nice it would look inside. That's partially due to the unassuming exterior, which comes alive later when the sky is dark and the lights come on and give it an alluring glow.

Exposed brick, hardwood floors and rustic earth tones make the bar and dining room warm and inviting. There's a triangular stage to the left of the entrance and above it, a balcony that allows the patrons in the smoking section upstairs to look down.

Cool Water is one of the smarter eateries in town that follows common sense (and physics) and puts the smokers upstairs. That way the non-smokers don't have to pass through the smoking area and the rising smoke, doesn't "infect" the non-smoking section.

There is a full bar up there, too, just above the one on the main floor below.

When I arrived with my wife, son and in-laws for a Friday fish fry, both owners came to greet us and doted on the little one. To say service is friendly would be an understatement. As the name implies, the vibe is cool, but the service is attentive.

Although the menu includes soup, burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, appetizers (the classics: wings, onion rings, shrimp cocktail, etc.), surf & turf, steaks and more, we were eager to try the fish fry. Especially because we'd heard the Majdecki's version was legendary and Cool Water was carrying on the tradition.

The fish fry -- we had battered cod -- was hot and delicious, with thick, sumptuous potato pancakes and all the fixings. The "meaty" pancakes were a nice counterpoint to the light, potato flour-style ones I'd had at State Fair the night before.

Considering we all had at least one beer, the $60 tab seemed like a bargain.

There's live music on weekends, but we missed it. That's no surprise; having a toddler at dinner often means we're on the road toward home while the band is just unloading its gear from the van.

Although Cool Water had only been open about a week and a half when we visited, it was doing a brisk business, suggesting that the word was out. And that's good news, because even though it's close to the KK nightlife, it's ever so slightly off the beaten path.

But don't let a block or two stop you from checking it out.