Comet Cafe, Milwaukee

Comet Cafe is an East Side Milwaukee staple, a great place to take that hard-to-feed vegan, or visitors wanting to see the bohemians of the city. Look out for odd specials like the Sunday basket-of-bacon with a purchase of $2.50, as well as touches like the bacon strip in your Bloody Mary (unless, of course, you're that hard-to-feed vegan.)

Comet Cafe has been a bastion of cool in Milwaukee since it opened as a smokey coffee-bar dive in 1995. After having undergone an expansion and renovation ten years later, the cafe is now a popular restaurant and bar.

True to its roots, you can still walk in to Comet and order a coffee to go, or a cheap lunch of veggie chili ($4.50 a bowl), but most come for a leisurely meal with a group of friends or a few rounds of cocktails. Leisurely is the operative word here, because frankly, the service at Comet is often slow, as are many customers when lingering over that last round of drinks or dessert. Don't be dissuaded, however, just know not to walk in to Comet starved, and you won't be disappointed by their generous portions of such staples as Trudy's Chicken and Noodles ($9) or staples-with-a-twist like the Vegan Gyro ($8).

Likewise, Comet's bar is stocked to suit a variety of tastes just as its menu is. With features like the weekday happy hour "Beermergency," where cans of Old Style will run you $1, to a huge beer, wine and cocktail list sporting such gems as a $7 Founders "Breakfast Stout" (who knew?), there is enough to keep a beer-loving Milwaukeean busy for quite some time.