No matter where you go in Milwaukee, you’re going to be near a Bella’s Fat Cat. Bella’s successfully re-creates an old-style custard stand and burger joint with its brick building, yellow walls and white uniforms.

The variety of burgers and sandwiches is better at Bella’s than at most burger places, and includes veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs. Also, beef isn’t the only kind of burger they serve — one can also get turkey, chicken or fish. And you get a choice of cheese curds, onions rings or French fries for sides.

The frozen custard selection includes vanilla, chocolate and the flavor of the day. Shakes, malts and an assortment of sundaes are other custard choices on the menu.

The small dining room is covered in bright paintings. Booths line the walls and tall tables and chairs face the windows. The restaurant is not trying to do anything fancy, which is a nice break in our complicated world.

The menu is a bit pricey for a burger and ice cream place; but then again, it isn’t McDonalds, so you get what you pay for. The prices range from about $2 to $5 for each item.

I had the buffalo chicken sandwich (which I chose over the week’s special chicken pesto sandwich) with French fries and a Coke. The meal totaled about $8.

The buffalo chicken sandwich was equally as spicy as it was flavorful. I was also shocked to find how un-messy it was. It is almost a guarantee to have the sandwich flopping all over the place when buffalo chicken is involved, but this time I was very satisfied with its cleanliness.

The fries were the regular slim French fries, of course complimented best with ketchup. The size of the cup was a bit surprising. I’m used to a regular being 20 ounces or more, but theirs was probably somewhere between 12 and 16 ounces.

I decided this was fantastic because there are enough places giving us 32-ounce containers filled with sugary syrup.

Bella’s is one of the few burger joints I would voluntarily dine at. It is a lot more intimate than Kopp’s and all the chain ice cream and burger places. It brings a little more color to the East Side, yet really blends into the community.

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