화로 · Live Fire Korean Barbecue

Live fire
Korean barbecue.

A 28-seat counter and grill in Milwaukee's Third Ward.

Opens 5:00 PM · Tuesday through Saturday 221 N Broadway · Milwaukee, WI

01 · Introduction

A counter, a flame, and the people you came with.

Hwaro is a small Korean barbecue room in Milwaukee's Third Ward, run by chef Min-jun Park and a six-person crew. The menu is short on purpose. Beef from Strauss Brands in Franklin, banchan made fresh each morning, a cellar of natural wine and a few quiet sojus.

The room has twenty-eight seats and one shape: a counter that runs the length of the kitchen, with eight tables along the brick wall. Each seat has a smokeless charcoal grill set into the table. A server brings the meat. You cook it. We bring it back if you want it different.

We open at five. We seat the last table at nine-thirty. Reservations release on Mondays for six weeks out. Walk-ins after nine, when the room slows down.

02 · The Menu

Korean barbecue, a few cold dishes, the right wines.

The menu rotates with the season. A different version of itself, every six weeks.

Beef

Galbi

Beef short rib, marinated 24 hours in pear, soy, and rice wine. Strauss prime, cooked at your table.

Pork

Samgyeopsal

Three-layer pork belly. Heritage Berkshire. Served with sesame oil, salt, and three rotating dips.

Beef

Bulgogi

Thin-sliced rib eye, marinated overnight. Cooked fast over high heat with onion and scallion.

Banchan

The Spread

Twelve small dishes that change with the day. Always: kimchi from a 60-day mother, pickled radish, seasoned spinach. Refilled on request, no charge.

Cold

Naengmyeon

Cold buckwheat noodles in beef broth. Pickled cucumber, soft-boiled egg, mustard on the side.

Rice

Dolsot Bibimbap

Hot stone bowl with seasonal vegetables, hand-cut sirloin tartare, sesame oil, and a single yolk.

03 · The Experience

The fire is yours.

Every seat has a smokeless charcoal grill built into the table. A server brings the meat over, explains the timing, lays the first piece on the grate. After that, the table is yours. We come by often. We bring it back if you cooked it past where you wanted.

i. The grill comes to you. We bring it over hot, with a fresh grate for each table.
ii. One server explains the timing. After that, you cook. Or we cook for you. Your call.
iii. We don't rush. The meal takes ninety minutes by design.