More Patio Dining for Milwaukee

Milwaukee might be a northern city, but boy, do we love outdoor dining. And there is no shortage of places to do this, as our story from last year, “50 Great Places for Patio Dining,” documented. And we can now add two more to the total.

Draft & Vessel has opened its new patio along with a bike corral. Images posted on their Facebook page show the addition of 4 tables and 16 new seats. Located at 4417 N. Oakland Avenue is open 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. during the week and open at 11 a.m. weekends.

Another street deck opened at The Pub Club at 1103 N. Old World Third Street. On Milwaukee reported the deck is 37 feet long and 15 feet wide and will add 56 seats.

We reported on owners Jake and Seth Dehne buying the property with Mike Zimmerman and the grand opening last year.

Scout Lake Beer Garden

Adding another outdoor option for beer and sausage lovers: Scout Lake Pavilion, 5902 W. Loomis Road in Greendale, will operate a pop-up beer garden beginning June 10 at 6 p.m. and will run till June 21.

It will be run by the same company that operates the popular Estabrook Park Beer Garden. Hans Weissgerber III and Milwaukee County Parks are working together to offer a variety of beers from Hofbrau Munich Brewery, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

All beer will be served in liter and half-liter mugs, available for purchase. Food will include Usinger’s Sausages and Miller Bakery pretzels. Purchases are cash only.

This beer garden will also have free acoustic performances every night.

Chubby’s Cheesesteaks

Chubby’s, based only in Milwaukee, opened its second locale last week at 2147 W. Miller Park Way. Their original location has been operating on the East Side, 2232 N. Oakland Avenue, since 2007. They’re open 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., but Thursday through Saturday they’re open until 3 a.m.

They offer a wide variety of ribeye and chicken cheese steaks along with gourmet burgers and signature sandwiches. The full menu available on Chubby’s Cheesesteaks website.

While they’re advertised as an answer to Philly, we’ll let the Milwaukee fans of the classic sandwich make that decision.

PubPass

Milwaukee is adopting an idea from Minnesotans, a $25 beer passport that opens the door to 25 different area bars for a free brewski.

Jake Nyberg along with Nick Dyer and Rett Martin started the concept in Minneapolis, they decided to leave their hometown and launch in a second city, according to On Milwaukee.

Nyberg said they’d originally picked Portland, but had second thoughts. “Milwaukee is a fantastic beer city with great energy and we love the unique mix of bars,” he told the publication.

25 Milwaukee Bars are participating in the program that lasts until the end of 2015, including Fink’s, Old German Beer Hall and The Riverwest Filling Station. This is the list of all the bars.

Bars get to choose which beer is free to PubPass holders. Nyberg points out that this program was created for people who appreciate craft beer.

“This is not a college punch card and we are not aiming for the ‘where can I get a free beer’ crowd,” Nyberg said.

Wisconsin Pizza Works

Wisconsin Pizza Works is opening at 8210 S. Howell Avenue in Oak Creek later this month. Owner Joe Cardenas told the Business Journal that it will offer casual dining serving pizza and salad. Their Facebook page offers this paean to the pizza’s style: “Ooey, gooey, delicious cheese… We plan to use 100% real, natural Wisconsin cheese on our pizzas.”

Topper’s

Topper’s, the Whitewater-based pizza chain, already has 70 stores, including two in the city, on the East Side (1901 E. Kenilworth Pl.) and in Bay View (2262 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.). But the company has its eyes on national franchising.

Scott Gittrich, president and founder of Topper’s Pizza, told the Business Journal that they’re changing from slow organic growth to targeting larger franchisees. “Restaurants are outperforming the economy, pizza is outperforming and we’re outperforming pizza,” Gittrich said.

They intend to grow from 70 stores to 200 nationwide stores by 2020. But Gittrich realizes his position in the grand scheme of the pizza world, he told the newspaper: “We’re the little guy, and that’s how we talk.”

Maki Mondays

Ever have the need to visit the Hilton for sushi to solve a natural case of the Mondays? Well you do now.

The Monarch Lounge inside the Milwaukee Hilton City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave. will be serving fresh sushi with their kickoff June 8. Chefs from Izumi’s will be selling made-to-order rolls Monday’s 5 to 9 p.m. ranging $5 to $11, according to On Milwaukee. The lounge will also be running happy hour drink specials with $5 wine and mixed drinks and $2.50 for tap beer.

Blooming Lotus Bakery

Do we need more bakeries on the East Side? Yes!

So it’s great news that Blooming Lotus is due to open later this month at 2215 E. North Ave. Owned by Susan Goulet, the bakery will not only be gluten-free, but will avoid grains altogether, along with dairy, eggs and cane sugar. This will make the bakery unique in Wisconsin, as the Journal Sentinel reports.

Goulet’s approach to baking came because of her family history. Her father died at 27 of complications from treating Crohn’s disease (before medical advances in treating it), and her sister and brother and Susan herself also were diagnosed with the condition. Given the rise of people with diabetes and other diseases that cause dietary restrictions, Goulet hopes her bakery will appeal to them — as well as those just looking for healthier sweets.

Goulet told the newspaper she expects to offer such items as pumpkin, banana and blueberry muffins, biscotti, chocolate brownie cupcakes with chocolate frosting, apricot and dried cherry scones, focaccia and Irish soda breads, cookies including hazelnut sandies and chocolate chunk cherry and truffles made from cocoa and dates. Blooming Lotus will offer coffee, tea and lemonade and will have a few tables for customers. Their phone: 414-212-8010.

Plum Lounge

Jefferson Street Dogg Haus is a rock’s throw from Plum Lounge, that opened on June 6 at 780 N. Jefferson St. Mazen Muna owns both the hot dog chain and Plum Lounge.

We reported on the initial name change from The Phantom Bar last month.

Their opening coincided with this years’ Jazz in the Park debut, which is down the road at Cathedral Square Park.