Milwaukee’s Flight of Fancy
MILWAUKEE—When you’ve been in lockdown for nearly a year, the only way to go is up.
Last summer I found socially distant minor league baseball in Franklin, Wis., southwest of Milwaukee. I drove along South Howell Avenue near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. I noticed a few airport-themed restaurants and bars along the gritty ribbon of highway. It reminded me of the 1980s and going to the Baby Doll Polka Club, across the street from Midway Airport in Chicago. I recalled a simpler time when people might stop to watch airplanes take off into places more exotic than the South Side of Chicago or the South Side of Milwaukee.
So, last Friday I drove back to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
I did not get on a plane.
I did book a room in the Crowne Plaza Milwaukee Airport because it has the Altitude Bar and Lounge and the Altitude Restaurant. Well, the “Altitude” operations are on the first floor. That’s better than the Aviator Sports Bar & Grille at the Best Western Plus on South Howell. Located in a former Hoffman House restaurant, the Aviator is closed.
But I hit paydirt with the Final Approach, 4959 S. Howell. You can’t miss it.
There’s an authentic mid-century Cessna 150 airplane on the roof.
The aeronautical-themed restaurant was offering indoor seating for its Friday Night Fish Fry, but I carried out. There’s even a popular drive-through Friday Night Fish Fry from noon until 8 p.m.
Kim Sloan is the owner of the Final Approach. She is a made-in-Milwaukee success story. Her father Ken Jacobus was a gear cutter at the Falk Factory in the valley on the near west side of town. Her mother Gloria was a homemaker. After her five children were raised Gloria worked at a Milwaukee Dairy Queen decorating ice cream. When Sloan was in high school, she would go to the Final Approach in its previous life as a Shakey’s Pizza Parlor.
Sloan has spent most of her life in the service industry. She worked at the long-gone Eddie’s Club B supper club in Hales Corners, outside of Milwaukee. She tended bar at the Chancery Pub & Restaurant in Milwaukee and also at the Classic Lanes bowling alley in nearby Greenfield. Her first restaurant job was as a 16-year-old in 1976 at a tiny Walgreen’s diner in Greenfield. She served tables at a Red Lobster in Milwaukee and even worked at the Hoffman House that became the Aviator. The Final Approach opened in 1994. Sloan bought the restaurant from the original owner.
She aimed for the stars.
Owner Kim Sloan (All photos by D. Hoekstra.)
Sloan has made few changes, retaining artifacts such as a large propeller in the fireplace. “I’m carrying on his tradition,” she said in a Saturday morning conversation near the restaurant atrium. “I know
some of these customers as well as I know my brothers and sisters. I’ve been invited to parties and weddings. My husband and I have been together for 23 years but we just got married a year and a half ago. An amazing number of customers were at our wedding.”
Sloan turns 63 this week. “It’s a good age,” she continued. “Because I’m done trying to impress anybody. You like me, you don’t, I don’t care.” You will like Sloan. She has a considerable amount of spunk and works the front line on the Friday Night Fish Fry. While others travel the world, Sloan has found the deep meaning of roots.
The Final Approach serves lots of airline crews and pilots but not so many aviation groupies. Sloan looked at the airport through her atrium window. There were a few small planes and a large Air
Wisconsin hangar. It wasn’t exactly JFK Airport in New York.
“This isn’t the best spot,” she said. “These hangars are for repairs and the little planes are over here. But on a good day, you can sit here and watch planes coming and going. You can see the tower from here. The other cool thing is when the president comes in. He drives right past us. I don’t care if you’re a fan or not, it is just cool to see. They will block off every intersection and block off our parking lot. It’s for ten minutes or so. In nicer weather we’ll go out there and watch. Then we go out and watch him coming back.”
Of course, visitors can always look at the Cessna on the restaurant roof. Unlike presidents, that plane isn’t going anywhere. The two-seat tricycle gear was designed for flight training, touring and personal use. The Cessna 150 is the fifth most produced civilian plane in history, with nearly 24,000 aircraft made. The Cessna 150 ceased production in 1977. “The original owner just happened to get his hands on that plane,” she said. “It has no engine. He plunked it up there when he was redoing the building. It will remain. Technically it now belongs to me.”
Romantic fireplace at the Final Approach.
Although the Final Approach is not a sports bar, the restaurant is framed by 12 mid-sized television sets. The bar area is adorned with oak paneling and tables and chairs are finished in matching oak. Hundreds of military and police patches hang above the long bar.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jim Ferrier is a retired member of the United States Marine Corps (B-17 Flying Fortress). He makes daily morning visits to the Final Approach. Ferrier’s color photograph hangs near the cash register. The restaurant sponsored his 2020 honor flight to Washington, D.C.
“It was a surprise,” Ferrier said in a Wednesday morning phone conversation. “I found out about it the day before we left. Looking at the planes across the street brings back memories.” Ferrier, 78, lives about a mile away from the Final Approach. He’s been coming to the restaurant on a daily basis since 1997. He always arrives just before the restaurant opens. Ferrier’s favorite menu item is the kid’s special. “I’m not a big eater,” he confessed. “So it’s small hot dogs. I sit at the bar, but I don’t drink. One of my sons will join me once a week.”
Sloan said, “I have a loyal customer base and a loyal staff. That’s why we made it through the pandemic, or at least this end of it. We were closed for indoor dining for 12 weeks. That was tough. We just did carry out. We created the drive-through fish fry five years ago. When we were closed to indoor dining, that stepped up a notch. And that will never stop.”
I carried out the beer battered cod (with coleslaw, rye bread, and potato pancakes; $12.99). The batter was heavily beer based in true Wisconsin style and the buttered marble rye bread was a nice touch. The fish fry also includes baked cod (with rice and vegetable of the day), breaded perch, breaded or broiled walleye pike, broiled tilapia, and more.
Sloan said that 90 percent of the kitchen items are made from scratch: salad dressings, barbecue and tartar sauces, soups, and desserts. “We buy nothing pre-made,” she said.
The Final Approach opens at 11 a.m. daily and food is served until 9 p.m. daily and until 10 p.m. Fridays. “Years ago we had a late-night crowd,” Sloan said. “There’s nobody out late at night anymore. Even
before the pandemic. The atmosphere has changed. For a while, we had people who were staying at transient motels, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. We are not a bar. We are a restaurant with a bar. And our business is regulars. Let’s face it, the pandemic came and traveling stopped. It didn’t close us.”
Sloan was able to keep her staff of 20 people. “We’re coming back,” she said. “We go by all of Milwaukee’s rules. We passed our safety code plan with the city. It’s 100 percent capacity, but lots of my tables are gone. We have to have partitions. We have to have spacing. Everyone wears masks and gloves and there’s sanitizing everywhere.”
Even a roadside attraction steer with a mask sits atop a shed in the parking lot. The previous owner found the mammoth black and white steer just like he found the airplane.
Last summer the Final Approach debuted classic car shows in the parking lot and Sloan is planning more shows for this summer. She may even include live music in the parking lot. Sloan is looking forward to all of it.
The sky is the limit.
I’ve worked in the restaurant business in both Milwaukee and Chicago for years. I still do in fact, I own a small wine bar in Bayview. I have worked at three James Bears nominated restaurants and a one Michelin star restaurant. I had a solid career at some great places, and cooking in these places was thrilling. That being said, like many restaurant folk, when they’re done with the job they want the simple things. Quick and accurate service, warm food that is clearly made from the heart. Final approach is one of the most underrated restaurants in the city. It’s not going to win any awards. It’s simple food for simple folk, but they do a damn fine job of it.
It was nice to see this place get a little well
deserved recognition.
Thank you for checking in Micah, I will have to check out your Bayview operation. Have a great 2023!