Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
Prime beef burger with American cheese, in-house thousand island dressing, tomato, lettuce, pickles, and red onion on a brioche or potato bun. Everything made in-house — bun, pickles, and sauce. Milwaukee Magazine's Ann Christenson named it her #1 burger in the city.
Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
Chef Dane Baldwin and his wife Anna opened The Diplomat on Brady Street in August 2017, in the former Bosley on Brady space. The concept is modern American small plates with elevated comfort food — but the burger is what gets called out in every major review, and it's been on the menu since day one.
The Diplomac is Baldwin's signature burger — a deliberate, playful nod to the Big Mac, hence the name. But where the Big Mac is engineered for consistency at scale, the Diplomac is engineered for flavor. The bun is made in-house. The pickles are brined in-house. The thousand island dressing is made in-house. Prime beef, a tight build, and everything dialed in by a chef who went on to win the 2022 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest — the first Milwaukee chef to win that award since 2014.
Milwaukee Magazine critic Ann Christenson named it her #1 burger in the entire city in 2025, calling it a "paragon" that's been on the menu so long it's part of the scenery. The Diplomat is dinner-only, closed Sundays and Mondays — plan accordingly.
This is it: My No. 1 burger in Milwaukee. Inspired by McD's famous double-decker, this paragon has been on The Diplomat's menu for so long that it's part of the scenery. They make everything that matters in-house — the bun, the pickle, even the sauce.
If a Big Mac and a Whopper had a baby — and that baby inherited all the good genes and then some — you'd end up with the Diplomac.
The Diplomat stands out for its menu of craveable dishes, which are simultaneously new yet comfortingly familiar.
The Diplomat on Brady Street makes inventive twists on comfort food that feel exciting without entering Mad Lib territory.
Dane Baldwin, owner and chef at The Diplomat, was awarded Best Chef: Midwest by the James Beard Foundation — the first Milwaukee winner since 2014.
Small plates format can feel awkward for diners expecting a standard burger shop flow. Some reviews prefer other Milwaukee options or call the burger greasy.