New Third Ward French Restaurant

Coquette Cafe. Photo by Sinead Eby.

The much anticipated French restaurant Fauntleroy, located on 316 N. Milwaukee St. in the Third Ward, now has an official opening date: Thursday, July 26. Owners Dan Jacobs and Dan Van Rite have followed through with their plans to revive the vacant space of the old French restaurant, Coquette, which went out of business in February. Fauntleroy will offer modern French cuisine, with a 1970s Rock ‘n’ Roll atmosphere.

Carol Deptolla from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offers more details:

Although Fauntleroy’s menu was still being finalized this week, the format will be traditional rather than shared plates: hors d’oeuvres that are finger foods, appetizers, salads and main dishes, plus desserts.

Prices will be about $16 to $25 for most entrees, but the showpiece main dish, duck à l’orange for two, will be $70…

Fauntleroy will play ’70s rock because that’s what Van Rite and Jacobs like.

“It reminds me and Dan of being with our dads. It was the music they listened to,” Jacobs said. “Our theory is that people will be happy with things that make us happy.”

Fauntleroy will be open for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

New Shah Jee’s Near UWM

Azhar Shah believes there’s a hunger for more Pakistani food in Milwaukee. For 20 years he has run a place at 770 N. Jefferson St. which has drawn some students from UW-Milwaukee, so he’s now opening another Shah Jee’s restaurant at 3116 N. Downer Ave., across the street from the college campus. And he plans two more restaurants as well, according to the story by Melanie Lawder of the Business Journal:

Shah said he’s waiting for the necessary city licenses before he can open, but is ready to get the new eatery up and running in the next few weeks… The east side dining spot is one of three new locations that Shah is planning to roll out in the city in the near future. The other two Shah Jee’s… are slated for 228 W. Wells St. and the other at 3933 S. 76th St. Shah said he’s waiting to get the necessary licensing and approvals from the city for those locations and is hoping to get those spots open soon…

The new 700-square-foot Downer Avenue location will seat around 15 to 20 people and takes over the space that was formerly a Dogg Haus restaurant. Proposed hours of operation at the east side location is 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Shah said.

More Hours for Red Light Ramen

The popular late-night shack for ramen noodle dishes – Red Light Ramen – will now be open two extra days of the week, on Sundays and Tuesdays, from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. The restaurant, located at 1749 N Farwell Ave, originally only operated Wednesday through Saturday, from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Matt Wild from Milwaukee Record details a bit of the humble history of the small restaurant:

The popular noodle emporium began life as an after-hours weekend pop-up restaurant inside Ardent. In the summer of 2016, Red Light moved to a permanent space next door. Since then, it’s common to see folks waiting outside as early as 6 p.m., caught between the aroma of piping-hot ramen and the temptation of affordable Lord Of The Rings DVD box sets at the nearby Mega Media Xchange.

The restaurant is now open six days a week — every day except Mondays.

Saving At Random

One of Milwaukee’s oldest spots for cocktails — At Random — has a chance to stay above water now that John Dye, owner of two other renowned bars in Milwaukee, plans to purchase it from owner Ron Zeller, who is retiring. Dye currently owns two other long-established bars in Milwaukee, The Jazz Estate on the East side and Bryant’s on the near South side, and has a passion for keeping these staples of Milwaukee’s history.

At Random, found at 2501 S. Delaware Ave., was in operation since 1964. Dye has plans to reopen the bar in November, after doing maintenance and cleaning of the facility.

Jennifer Rick has the story for Urban Milwaukee:

According to an application filed with the city, Dye plans to purchase the Bay View tiki bar for $400,000…

Once open, the new hours of operation will be 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, according to the application. Previously, the bar was only open from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Known for its specialty ice cream drinks and cocktails, At Random boasted a unique drink menu that was many pages long. It’s unclear if that will undergo changes after reopening.

Now Closing: Crawdaddy’s

The long-standing West Allis Cajun restaurant Crawdaddy’s closed on July 16, and shows no signs of coming back. In fact, the only sign was a piece of paper left on the front door, stating “Crawdaddy’s restaurant is permanently closed”. This isn’t the first time they’ve shut down: the popular restaurant had closed  for three years in 2013 after operating at its first location since 1995, then came back again in 2016 at a new location.

Though the owners weren’t available for immediate comments, Bob Dohr from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provided comments from West Allis Mayor Dan Devine:

“You never want to see any business close, restaurant or otherwise,” Devine said. “Crawdaddy’s has been in West Allis, in their two locations, for many years, and from what I could tell, they seemed to have a strong following and very good food.”

There is no word if the restaurant on 94th and Greenfield will ever operate again, but the sign sounds pretty final.