Restaurants in Franklin

The vibrant orange walls are enough to make Antigua Latin Restaurant stand out, but owner and self-taught chef Nicolas Ramos appeals to his customers' other senses with a menu of contemporary Mexican, Latin American, and Spanish dishes. He taps into his family's experience in the restaurant industry-which spans across more than 50 years-to populate his dining room's blue tablecloths with Cuban sandwiches, paella, traditional tapas, and enchiladas crafted from fresh ingredients. Additionally, the eatery's culinary experts host hands-on cooking classes that instruct students on the finer points of preparing a Caribbean feast or using a shrink ray to transform an entree into an appetizer.

The eponymous owner of Sal's Pizza is nearly always on hand to greet customers and oversee the creation of his Italian-inspired dishes. Under his watchful gaze, cooks sprinkle toppings on bubbling thin-crust and Chicago-style pizzas or sauté veal and chicken in wine sauce. And if diners are lucky, they can behold one of Sal's ovens giving birth to hearty baked pasta, a thick Italian-style sub, or a tiny baby oven that tries to bake everything it sees.:m]]

Melthouse Bistro elevates a favorite childhood classic with its innovative roster of gourmet grilled-cheese sandwiches. The menu lists handcrafted creations such as The Arla whose buttered brioche loaf clasps Wisconsin havarti, candied pecans, and sweet-spiced apples. Each crispy medley of veggies, cheeses, and meats—which range from The Brasserie's braised short ribs to the hand-battered fried chicken of The Buffalo Bill—sidles onto plates tucked between locally baked artisan bread from Breadsmith. The bistro looks to local farms for its produce as well, prizing the down-home vibe of made-from-scratch meals over the artificial hum of fluorescent-light hoagies. Suggested wine and craft beer pairings whisper under each item listed on the menu, fleshing out the gustatory revelry.

The Melthouse's merger between modest and stylish cooking has garnered praise from OnMilawukee.com, the Journal Sentinel and A.V. Club Milwaukee, which praises the "delicious sandwiches, solid sides, and stellar service." Its decor mirrors the edibles, walking the line between rustic and modern: wood reclaimed from a century-old granary decks the walls, while floor-to-ceiling windows and metallic stools flaunt crisp edges.

The Landing Food & Spirits likes to boast that they’re so great that the state built an airport next to them. Regardless of why it actually happened, the restaurant is a haven for casual nights out in the shadow of small planes. Gaggles of friends settle onto red and wooden barstools or surround tables to grab slices of pizza or dive into beer-side nibbles of sour cream and chive fries. Along the walls, pinball machines, a foosball table, and video arcade games fire up healthy competition as the occasional live band croons from a small stage in the corner. Guests match wits during Monday-night trivia, and feast at the Friday-night fish fry—a great way to entertain visiting relatives or pet grizzly bears.

Before emigrating to the US, chef Aomjai Nueakaew perfected her brand of Thai cuisine in Bangkok’s Thai President Hotel. Now, at Jow Nai Fouquet, Nueakaew pays homage to her Southeast-Asian roots with a menu of stir-fries, noodle dishes, and a seafood green curry that Express Milwaukee heralds as “truly exceptional.” Another of the recipes on the menu—an "aromatic rice dish" with "slow-cooked pork and a garlicky secret sauce"—comes from Nueakaew's aunt, who runs a café south of Bangkok, according to [On Milwaukee] (http://www.onmilwaukee.com/dining/articles/jownaifouquet12.html?viewall=1).

Warm, natural-wood tones blend with contemporary design in the restaurant's interior. A bar painted with circuit-like designs serves up Thai beers and mai tais, and angular blue shapes bedeck a polished wood bench.

You can write on nearly every surface at The Loaded Slate. A slate strip runs down the bar for tabulating tips, wooden tables have hunks of slate where you can copy the chalk drawings by local student artists decorating the walls, and even the glasses have surfaces you can chalk your name onto in case you forget every word except "slate." The bar delivers on the promise of its name in other respects, too, with a menu loaded with filling pub sandwiches and nights packed with games, sporting events, and DJ sets. According to OnMilwaukee.com's 2011 profile, co-owner Joe Kuntz built drop-leaf tables that can be folded flat against the wall after the kitchen closes to flood the space with revelers. "We're family friendly till 10," explains co-owner Shawn Mellon. "Then we become strictly a bar."

During dinnertime, half-pound Angus burgers and the chef's panini of the month arrive with a pile of pub fries, waffle fries, homemade chips, rosemary red potatoes, or coleslaw. Poultry sandwiches also abound, with baked chicken piled with pineapple and pepper jack or assembled day-after-Thanksgiving style with provolone, spinach, and cranberry mustard. Throughout the night, five taps may pump out Strongbow cider, frothy Guinness, and New Glarus Spotted Cow Ale, which refreshes between bites of nachos made on a base of seasoned waffle fries, or reuben sticks, a fried wonton containing the sandwich's famous fillings and last words. Visitors spill out onto the patio on balmy nights, or pile into the back room—dubbed The Tailgate Zone because of the Ford and Chevy pickup beds jutting from the wall—to watch sports on a laptop-compatible projection TV, a 46-inch TV, and two 26-inch TVs.