Dagwood’s Sandwich Shop for Bay View?

Bumstead Provisions

It’s the talk of the town. A unique new establishment offering shopping, dining, and bar services is due to open at 2671 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. this September. Both Fox 6 and OnMilwaukee.com report that the Bay View store/bar/eatery, to be called Bumstead Provisions, will offer guests a “rustic” experience, with a restaurant offering artisan sandwiches, small plates, and entrees; and a bar offering quality craft beers. The store will evoke a “small-town-type” general store, offering deli meat, cheese, and bread, as well as sauces, seasonings and spreads.

From the sound if it, it could be similar in design and principle to Old World 3rd Street’s Wisconsin Cheese Mart, which features a low-key dining room and bar with soft light and hardwood floors and an adjoining market area offering cheese, sauces, spreads, and craft beer. Just a thought.

As for the name, it refers to the old Blondie comic strip. She was the ever-sweet wife of Dagwood Bumstead, who was known to pile his sandwiches high. Martha Stewart once did a demonstration of how to build a Dagwood sandwich.

The boys behind the project are David Eichler and Mike Bodow, who work for the company that owns The Crafty Cow in Oconomowoc. Expected hours are 11am to 11pm Sunday through Thursday, and 11am to 1am on Friday and Saturday.

Zoup!

Zoup! is on. The Michigan-based soup, salad, and sandwich chain Zoup! is gearing up to open its first Wisconsin location this week at 1433 N. Jefferson St. on the Lower East Side. The state’s debut Zoup! franchise will open its doors on the ground floor of the Avenir Apartments complex.

Zoup! offers a rotating daily selection of 12 award-winning zoup, er soup recipes that cater to all palates, from the indulgent (lobster bisque, chicken pot pie, pepper steak, etc.) to the health-conscious (roast veggie chicken kale, veggie waves of grain, tomato bisque). Also offered are sandwiches and salads made-to-order.

Franchisee David Thiele hopes to serve a wide array of customers when they open. The new Lower East Side location, he hopes, will bring in business from downtown and MSOE, as well as consumers from the surrounding businesses and residences. If all goes well, Thiele plans to open two more locations within the next five years.

Zoup! will officially open its doors this Thursday, May 7. They will hold a special fundraising event on Wednesday from 5 to 8pm in support of the nearby Danceworks studio.

A $5 donation will get you a hunk of bread, a bowl of soup in which to dunk said hunk of bread, and a soft drink with which to wash down said soup-soaked hunk of bread.

To date, the franchise has over 70 locations spread across 15 states and Canada. Hours of operation are 11am to 8pm from Monday to Friday, and 11am to 6pm on weekends.

After an extended absence following a change in kitchen staff, the East Side’s favorite German bar once again has an open kitchen and a full menu, now offering cuisine to match the bar’s décor. So, if you’ve ever found yourself planted at the bar and hungry for something besides popcorn, rejoice – the wait is finally over.

The menu’s main focus is sausage, most of which– but not all – is provided by the Bavaria Sausage Company in Fitchburg, WI. Customers can choose from several familiar and not-so-familiar varieties like wild boar or lamb, beef or bison, or a more exotic choice like pork and crawfish. Also offered are classics like giant hot pretzels with imported mustard, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and potato salad.

The kitchen is open 4 to 10 pm, Tuesday through Sunday.

42 Ale House

Gather your dice, stock up on health potions, and make sure your batteries are charged, because the 42 Ale House opens for business this Friday, May 8. As we’ve previously reported, the new restaurant in St. Francis offers a varied menu stuffed with pop culture references and two dozen tap beers.

The ale house is the second venture by husband and wife team Tony and Lynn Niles, who also own the 42 Lounge at 326 E. Mason Street. Unlike the lounge, whose bread and butter is cocktails, the ale house is all about beer and grub. Burgers, sandwiches, salads and wings are all par for the course. The owners have invested especially in the building’s existing wood-fired oven to offer quality pizzas. The pies will be prepared with house-made dough, and a gluten-free option is available.

42 Ale House caters to gamers and geeks, with table-top games  available in the dining room and electronic games set up in separate rooms.

The place opens at 5pm on Monday through Friday, and at 1pm on weekends. The kitchen will remain open until 10pm. The bar closes at midnight from Sunday to Thursday and at 2am on Friday and Saturday.

New Bar on Old World Third St.

Ahem, here is this column’s second reference to Wisconsin Cheese Mart, undoubtedly a record. Ken McNulty has plans for the three-level, currently vacant space that once served as the Cheese Mart’s storage facility. After his first business outgrew the space and he had to find storage elsewhere, the building stood empty for years. McNulty figures it’s time to do something about that.

According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, McNulty envisions a classic, vintage experience. He was a period interior that harkens back to the building’s late-19th century roots, which guests can enjoy with a glass of craft beer. McNulty is reportedly planning to offer a grand total of 48 taps.

The Old World 3rd’s new vintage bar is a ways off yet – don’t expect to see it open until at least March of next year.

Now Closing

The Chocolate Factory

Call it death by chocolate. The Chocolate Factory located  at Bayshore Town Center in Glendale, has closed, co-founder and general manager Mike Toffler told the Journal Sentinel.

The final day of business was April 28.

The Chocolate Factory, known of course for chocolate, ice cream and sundaes, and less for its sub sandwiches, still has seven locations in the area, including the original store in Cedarburg (opened 1972) and those in Shorewood, Oconomowoc, Waukesha, West Bend, Pewaukee and Elm Grove.

“It was kind of a bittersweet thing,” Toffler said of closing, not of the chocolate, though he might have. The company has plans, he told the newspaper, to open new stores at Drexel Town Square in Oak Creek and at an undisclosed, hopefully chocolate-friendly location in Mequon.