Departments

Harmony Pizza in Appleton is a non-traditional pizza shop with traditional style pizza. The restaurant opened three years ago, borrowing the name from Harmony Cafe, a non profit business ran by Goodwill that closed its doors in 2014 due to lack of funding.

At Harmony, there are three categories of specialty pizzas: vegan, vegetarian and omnivore. This helped the restaurant secure the fork for Most Vegetarian Friendly, in addition to Best Pizza. The owner of Harmony Pizza, Matty Burns, says that it’s important for his restaurant to make everyone feel included.

“Vegetarians and vegans, when they look at a menu, their options are usually in the back,” Burns says. “But when people come into our restaurant, on our menu they see vegan and vegetarian in the front. We’re aiming to meet the needs of vegans and vegetarians to be as inclusive as we can.”

However, Harmony Pizza has plenty of meat options as well. There are traditional items like pepperoni, chicken and sausage that you can add when you’re building your own pizza, or you can try any of the specialty pizzas that they offer. One of the best selling pizzas at the restaurant is The Beetza. Made with beets, red onions, feta, mozzarella, leek pesto and a balsamic reduction, the pizza is earthy and savory with a touch of sweetness.

Harmony Pizza uses all the traditional methods to make a pizza while adding a local twist on their recipes by sourcing ingredients from producers in the region.

“Our [pizza] is the most traditional in town, we do it Italian style in a wood fire oven,” Burns says. “The thing about traditional Italian pizza is that it’s supposed to be made from all the ingredients that are close by, and that’s what we do.”  –JB

With two locations in the Fox Cities, Seth’s Coffee is a cafe that strives to “remove as many obstacles to good coffee as possible.” Owner Seth Lenz says that the secret to a good cup of coffee starts before the coffee is even made.

“Purchasing a high quality product in the first place is a pretty huge contributor,” Lenz says. “Paying attention to detail, using high quality water such as reverse osmosis water, using the right ratio of water to coffee, it really is multifaceted.”

Reverse osmosis is a water purification process that uses a semi-permeable membrane to remove ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water.

“Drinks like our traditional cappuccino are really popular,” Lenz says. “But we really want to showcase our espresso which also requires great attention to detail and excellent equipment.”

Seth’s Coffee offers a wide variety of caffeinated drinks as well as other non-caffeine drinks such as teas, “steamers;” milk steamed with a syrup flavor of your choice, fruit smoothies, milkshakes and Ialian soda. However, the list does not end there. Seth’s Coffee in Little Chute now offers high quality wine and craft beer on their drink menu as well.  –JB

This generational family restaurant has been serving quality food since 1967. The Appleton restaurant was originally named Chef Bills after the original owner, but the name was later changed to Mark’s East Side after the owner’s son, Mark Dougherty, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and took over the business.

Mark’s East Side offers a variety of fine dining choices including steak, seafood, chicken and desserts. There is also a section of the menu called “A Taste of the Old Country” that offers customers a choice of German dishes such as schnitzels and sausages.

The restaurant’s seafood selection is popular among customers, earning them first place for Best Fish Fry as well. Dougherty says that a great fish fry starts with the very basics.

“It’s the quality of our ingredients down to the smallest detail,” Dougherty says. “We buy more expensive fish, we hand shred all our own coleslaw, we make our own tartar sauce. We use a premium frying oil and we always make sure it’s clean and filtered, and we make all of our food to order.”

Dougherty says there are two important factors of a successful supper club.

“To be a supper club, you need a nice loungy bar and a mean Old Fashioned,” he says. “And we do make a mean Old Fashioned.” –JB

FCM: When did you open New York Deli?

JG: The restaurant was opened in 2004, but I purchased it in 2018.

FCM: Where did you get the idea to open a deli?

JG: My husband and father were raised in New York. We had been eating at the deli for several years and were looking to purchase a restaurant when it came up for sale, it just seemed like the perfect fit for us as a family.

FCM: Why do you think your restaurant won Best Dine-in Deli?

JG: It’s a very big deal to me that everyone who walks through the door feels welcomed and they’re coming to a place that feels inviting. We strive for a New York deli vibe with the style of sandwiches and with the Boar’s Head deli products.

FCM: What’s the most popular menu item?

JG: One is the Italian sub sandwich, which has prosciutto and capicola. It’s very Italian and traditional. The other is the turkey apple harvest wrap which includes turkey, apple-wood smoked bacon, provolone cheese and apple butter and herb mayo that we make.  –JB

Food & Dining