4th Base | West Allis, Wisconsin
It’s surprising to me that 4th Base hasn’t been mentioned in any of the reviews floating around this small city. If this place were located in downtown Milwaukee, Bayview or any of the small surrounding hubs, 4th Base would be selling double the amount of bloody mary’s on the weekend. Less traffic goes to West Allis since there are so many great choices right inside the Milwaukee city limits. But heck, the new year is right around the corner! Let’s adventure!
Once I caught wind of their bloody, TJ and I made it a “to do” before a Packer game one Sunday. We got there before he crowds and decided against breakfast (you’ll see why) even though the owners son, CJ, did his best to pursued us into it.
4th Base Bloody Mary
Mix: The coolest part about this mix, was the bartender created the entire thing right in front of us. We saw him put every single ingredient in (which I have only seen one person do: Adam Beilke). In a pint glass, he put a scoop of horseradish, celery salt, tabasco, worshershire and vodka before filling the rest of the glass with straight Sacramento tomato juice. With a good shake, it was ready. The mix was very well done and you can tell has been customized to perfection. Not too thin, not too thick and had great spice. My only grief is not asking for more Tabasco but I’ll be sure to next time!
Garnish: When we each ordered one Bloody, I saw three guys behind the bar get to work right away. The bartender told another guy and he got to work right away on the mix. Then he told someone in the kitchen and you could see them begin to cook something up. The four or five minute wait was worth it. This bloody was served with an entire order of onion straws PER drink. They wrapped around the straw, some dipping into the mix with the remainder on a plate. They were fantastic. The sweetness of the onion and fried batter went perfectly with the tangy tomato juice. (Insert Jesse Pinkman impression here:) This was for real, yo. The onion straws came paired with a large pickle spear, a slice of fresh yellow squash, fresh green bean, sugar snap pea, a fresh broccoli floret, and a green olive. It was awesome.
Chaser: We got to select our choice of beer chaser. There were no miniature glasses or cute cans… 4th Base serves their Bloody chasers with a full 16 oz glass which any Sunday drinker can appreciate. Hacker Pschorr was my final decision while TJ went with Riverwest Stein.
Size: Standard 16 oz bar glass
Buzz: Yes. Let’s just say we were well prepared for our Packer party thanks to CJ and Co.
Cost: 4th Base ranks in at the most expensive bloody experience yet at $12. Keep in mind, $12 gets you an excellent bloody mary, a full beer and an order of onion straws. This was $12 well spent.
4th Base may look like a typical Ol’ Timer bar, and to be honest, it might from the inside too. This place was awesome though. While we sat there, the locals joked around with us and made us feel welcome. We also entered the Pick ‘Em draft they run weekly which is free with a chance to win breakfast the following week. You can they see the importance of customer service here. The staff and drinks equated to our best bloody experience yet which is why they’re taking over Club Charlies in the Top Contender spot. I highly recommend stopping in for one!
We stopped in before a Packer game in October and can echo everything stated above. My wife is a Bloody Mary aficionado and agrees that 4th Base ‘s is one of the best. Their food is also excellent, from the farmer’s omelet to burgers to crab legs and steaks.
Mmmmmm onion straws.
The 4th Base is hands down the best combination of atmosphere/drinks/food in the area. I feel like “Norm” every time I go in there,…. everyone knows my name.
Thanks to your recommendation, and how and where it fit into our schedule, we went here. Nothing but great things to say about the bloody mary, the full pint of a great beer, and the corresponding “garnishes”. Plus it was the owner’s dad’s birthday, so they bought everyone in the bar (at 11 AM?!) a beer on top of it. Great experience and we will be back! Thanks