A's Restaurant De Pere, WI

Bar Review of A's Restaurant and Music Cafe in De Pere, WI

By END
November 17, 2011

It was a Thursday evening and I was in the De Pere area. I was looking for a laid back, kinda casual, yet, a date night bar. While I was cruisin’ down Broadway I saw the perfect place. A’s Restaurant & Music Café. They have a sign that says, “Fine Dining and Cocktails”. I mean how much more of a sign do you need when there is literally a sign telling you this. As for the fine dining part, I’m sure it’s awesome but I was more concerned about the cocktails.

When you step inside A’s you are immediately transported into this parallel universe where you feel like you would see someone like Nina Simone crooning out some soulful music. A’s Restaurant does a great job of putting that old school classy vibe out. The place is dark with dimly lit lights, the walls are exposed brick, the bar is dark wood, the music smoothly flows throughout the air and the people there are just so, well, relaxed.  The bar is L shaped and there are plenty of bar stools to go around. You can choose to sit at some of the smaller, more intimate tables or any of the 3 booths lining the Broadway street wall. We chose to sit at the bar and let the atmosphere simply soak in. While sitting you notice all these details that make A’s different from other places. First off, there’s a piano just waiting to be played, there are instruments adorned on the brick walls and also I noticed a classic juke box. I have no idea if it works, I was too scared to touch and break it, but it was cool nonetheless. All these unique features blend blissfully to create a truly nice affection to your mood. Please note that I am only talking about the bar side. The restaurant side is kinda the same but not. Hop on over for yourself and check it out.

A’s conveniently has a drink menu for you to peruse which was nice. I wanted a wine but had no idea which one of the many to order. I settled upon a Malbec while my date ordered Cab Sav, and they both were 6 bucks. Just so you know they have Wine Night Wednesdays.  What that means, it’s party time. Kidding. In reality, they offer $3 Red or White wine and ½ off their Small Plate Menu. A’s also has live music most every Friday and Saturday nights. Check out our Event Calendar for the scoop. As for beers they carry quite a variety. I did not see any taps (I could be blind), but in bottles they have Miller Lite, 64, Bud and Bud Light for $3. Fifty cents more can get you Leinies, Hacker Pschorr, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Spotted Cow, Amstel Light, Corona, Red Stripe (Hooray Beer) or a Smirnoff Ice. In the mood for a Stella? That’ll throw you back $4. Wine and beer won’t float your boat? Then come up with something creative in the liquor department, A’s has all kinds of that too. The bartender, who I think was the owner, is very friendly, and if you ask nice, she just might make something for you ;)       

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Restaurant Review of A's De Pere, WI

By Patricia Summerfield
September 2, 2009
I decided to go to A's Music Cafe for dinner; it is situated in historic De Pere which is on the Eastern border of Green Bay. Since I last dined at A's in De Pere they changed their menu and acquired a new Chef, Steve Swattler. It was a cool rainy weekend night and we were the first customer's of the evening. The interior had not changed and the décor still reminded me of a cozy warm European Cafe with smooth jazz playing in the background. The walls are done in a warm color of peach with various pictures adorning the walls framed with drapery. Located in the back corner of the dining room is a bookcase and the ceiling has brass chandeliers and ceiling fans. All the tables have white linens with clear glass tops and scattered underneath are postcards from different countries. Also adorning each table are adorable small candle holders which look like lamps with shades and give off a nice glow.

I was seated by the window and was told the name of my server for that evening. The server was polite and friendly; he brought me ice water then gave me the wine list, which is presented in a book with the bottles label and description of each wine along with the price. Upon asking if there would be any entertainment tonight, I was informed for that weekend there would be none, but entertainment would be starting again in September. I was then asked if I was ready to order and was not told of any specials, so I inquired if there were any and was told that there were not any this evening. My server put my napkin on my lap and then proceeded to take my order. I started out with an appetizer, the Asparagus Tart for $9.95 and for my entree I ordered the Crusted Sea Bass for $25.95 which includes your choice of salad or soup, I chose the soup which was a Salmon Bisque. My appetizer consisted of asparagus, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and Béarnaise sauce over a flaky crust. It had a colorful and pretty presentation but the roasted pepper and crust overpowered the flavor of the goat cheese and asparagus. My soup was brought out next with a pre-sliced French baguette, served warm and wrapped in a linen table cloth with honey butter on the side. The soup had a thin consistency with pieces of salmon and tasted like liquid smoke with a strong-tasting fishy flavor, not very savory. The bread did not taste homemade and when I questioned the server I was informed it was delivered frozen then baked on the premises. I am not a big fan of honey butter and would have liked another choice of a plain butter. I was also informed that they will soon be serving Great Harvest bread, which is a bread store in De Pere that makes and bakes all their breads from scratch – a good choice for A's. I was then brought a raspberry lemon flavored sorbet to cleanse my palate. The sorbet was extremely sweet and sugary. My entree, the Crusted Sea Bass, had a nice presentation with a nice portion. It was served over saffron risotto surrounded with chive oil but the fish was not really crusted, instead it had a fresh crab mixture placed on top. The fresh crab mixture had a nice flavor and the Sea Bass was delicious, very moist and flakey. The risotto was creamy in texture and the saffron had a slight soft flavor. The choices for desert were two types of Baked Alaska and a Tiramisu; I chose to pass since I was craving more of a chocolate desert. Overall A's in De Pere has a pleasant atmosphere, but I wish the quality of food was consistently good.

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