As the most recent addition to One Mayfair Place on the corner of Mayfair Road and Center Street in Wauwatosa, WI, the Flat Top Grill has already become a top choice when my wife and I are going out for a nice dinner, or have nothing in the house for a weekend breakfast. This chain is apparently already well established in Illinois, but this is only their second location to open up in Wisconsin and the first in the metro-Milwaukee area.

Their format is essentially the “Mongolian grill” create-your-own style of restaurant. While we’ve got plenty of those in and around Milwaukee, the Flat Top Grill kicks it up a notch. I can safely say that as long as Flat Top stays in Milwaukee, I will not be visiting any of the others. If you haven’t eaten at this type of restaurant before, you go up and fill a bowl with your choice veggies, meat, noodles, rice, and sauces. You then bring it up to a grill and they stir-fry it all together for you. In this aspect, Flat Top is the same as any other. Where they excel, however, is the variety of choices (It’ll be years before I’ve tried all of the sauces that tempt me), the freshness of everything offered, and most of all the last stop: the grill. Once you’ve got everything together, you go up to the grill and you have to decide which colored sticks to put in your meal to change it up. The one mandatory stick is the blue one for roti prata bread. I don’t know what exactly it is, but it’s super tasty and accompanies whatever you get perfectly. Other choices including having your creation turned in to a mu-shu wrap, a lettuce wrap, adding eggs, and plenty more. Once you’re done, you pass it over and go have a seat. There’s no waiting while it cooks, they’ll just bring it out to you when it’s ready.

If you’ve read this far your mouth is probably already salivating and you’re ready to hop in the car and go try it out. I have not, however, even touched on the breakfast yet. If you’re familiar with the area, you already know that One Mayfair Place was built on the rubble of Heineman’s (RIP). Breakfast took a big hit the day they closed their doors for the last time and I’ve since been hoping a good breakfast place would go back in. One finally did. Take the aforementioned lunch and dinner format that Flat Top uses and convert it over to breakfast foods and you have an awesome Saturday or Sunday breakfast or brunch. Just like with lunch or dinner, there’s all sorts of tasty things to toss in a bowl, then you take your creation and turn it in to pancakes, an omelette, scrambled eggs, or french toast. If that isn’t enough, you can also get bacon, turkey sausage, hash browns, oatmeal, fresh fruit, and more that I can’t think of off-hand. Yes, it’s as delicious as it sounds.

If any of the above food sounds even remotely good to you, you’ll like the Flat Top Grill. Regardless of what type of food you like you’ll be able to create something that will leave you highly satisfied and eager to go back up for a second bowl – if you’ve still got room.

Here’s the info:

FYI: Urbanspoon rocks!