New Downtown Beer Hall at The 42

The 42. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

A new beer hall and restaurant in the heart of Milwaukee’s Brewery District is ready to make its grand opening next week on September 6.

Glass + Griddle is part of a new venue opening in Downtown next week called The 42, which is a mixed-use complex located at 1130 N. 9th St. Visit the complex’s website for more information, including the lineup of events for the venue’s grand opening.

Although Glass + Griddle is just one component of the new venue, its size packs a punch. Located in a beer hall-sized venue, Glass + Griddle is hoping to take its cuisine just as seriously as the drinks.

OnMilwaukee’s Lori Fredrich previews the menu:

The menu features a nice selection of familiar, beer-friendly foods that won’t intimidate casual diners. However, even the slightly condensed opening menu – which will be offered during the grand opening – showcases a unique blend of globally inspired flavors and culinary styles while serving the needs of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diners.

Before the grand opening of Glass + Griddle, The 42 will have a launch party for the entire venue, taking place from August 29 through September 2.

There, you can have a sneak peak of what Glass + Griddle will have to offer. During those days, the restaurant and beer hall will be open from noon to 9 p.m. for drinks and food and will continue serving drinks until 1:00 a.m.

After Glass + Griddle officially opens on the September 6, the restaurant will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., with happy hour specials Monday through Friday.

Pancheros Comes to Town

The popular franchise restaurant Panchero’s Mexican Grill is coming to town. Panchero’s has two locations in Madison and one in Fitchburg, but is hoping to expand on its success by coming to Southeastern Wisconsin.

The casual restaurant chain first started in Iowa City, Iowa in 1992 and now has over 70 locations nationwide. The chain serves burritos, tacos, salads, burrito bowls, and much more. Customers have their own choice of meat and veggies for most items of the menu, as well as additions like rice, beans, guacamole, jalapenos and a variety of other sides.

Vice president of franchise development Gary Matusiak tells the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Sari Lesk more details:

“We’re looking to continue to roll out great burritos in the rest of the state,” he said.

Although he could not say immediately how many stores Pancheros wants to open locally, Matusiak said it would be more than one in order to develop name recognition and build the Pancheros brand…

He said Pancheros has not identified a timeline for when it wants to open the first shop.

Freddy’s Tacos Opening Near Sherman Park

A local authentic Mexican spot is looking to open near Sherman Park.

Freddy’s Tacos is aiming for a September opening according to the license application, but is still awaiting city approval.

The new restaurant, to be located at 4519 W. Center St., is owned by Jose Alfredo Aguilar. Urban Milwaukee’s Jennifer Rick has more on Aguilar’s thoughts for the new restaurant:

“There’s nothing around here and I have a hard time myself [finding restaurants],” says Aguilar. “Right now you have to drive all the way to the South Side for authentic Mexican food”…

Aguilar’s goal is to create a family-oriented restaurant, and his own family is at the center of taqueria’s conception.

“It’s all up to the people and the community,” says Aguilar. “If it works out, we plan to open more restaurants toward the north side with the same name.”

The new restaurant will offer tacos, burrito bowls and even whole grilled chickens. Other small items like fries and chicken nuggets are offered to appeal to children, creating a family-oriented environment.

Aguilar’s license application projected long hours, from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. daily.

New Char’d Korean on East Side

Char’d, the modern Korean restaurant in the Third Ward, will extend its presence towards North Point.

General manager of Char’d Hank Kim confirmed that a new location would open at the previous location of ramen restaurant Yokohama, according to Carol Deptolla of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As she writes:

Hank Kim, the general manager of Char’d, confirmed that they will take over the vacant space at 1932 E. Kenilworth Place. The lease was brokered by Hakan Hare of Founders 3…

Kim said the theme of the new restaurant still is being finalized; details are expected to be released in September. The restaurant is expected to open yet this year.

Char’d currently offers casual lunch during the day and transitions to a bar and grill in the evening, serving Korean-style dishes such as kimchi sesame noodles, bulgogi bowls, and Korean fried chicken wings. The restaurant and bar also has happy hour specials during the week, Monday through Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Hours for the current location, located at 222 E Erie St, are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., then 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m Mondays through Saturdays. Sunday hours are the same, aside from closing an hour earlier at 9:00 p.m.

Gallery Bar and Grill Opens This Fall

The new restaurant and bar named Gallery Bar and Grill plans to open this Fall near Sherman Park.

Located at 4322 W. Fond du Lac Ave., the place will begin with bar service first, then plan on opening the kitchen early next year. The same location was previously operated only as a bar, but now owner Yolanda Boyd hopes to make use of the vacant kitchen space available there.

Boyd gave more details to Sari Lesk of the Milwaukee Business Journal:

“The previous owner had not used the kitchen before, and I believe it would have been a great service to the community,” she said.

Boyd said she is planning for the kitchen to open in January. The menu would include chicken wings, fries, salads, sandwiches and vegan options…

“I just want to assure the community that it will be a safe place to come and make sure that we create … a positive environment, as well as an environment for people to come and enjoy themselves and have a little fun,” Boyd said.

According to the license application, Gallery Bar and Grill will operate from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m Saturdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Sundays.

MobCraft to Serve Pizza

MobCraft Beer in Walker’s Point will begin serving pizza at its brewery by early September.

The brewery, located at 505 S. 5th St., is teaming up with Hidden Kitchen MKE to transform MobCraft into a brewery and pizzeria combo.

MobCraft co-owner Henry Schwartz tells Maredithe Meyer from BizTimes that the pizza will be ready to serve by the first week of September, and will feature house-made dough, and locally sourced sauce and cheese.

Meyer offers more on the development:

The building was constructed with a fully-equipped kitchen when MobCraft relocated there in 2016 from Madison. The kitchen hasn’t gotten much use, though, due to various hurdles to secure a food partnership, Schwartz said, so MobCraft’s in-house food offerings up until now have been limited to bar snacks.

“We are still focused on the beer, but we wanted to have something for people to eat while they’re hanging around,” he said.

The new menu will offer standard pizzas like pepperoni and margarita, but also some unique options according to Schwartz.

Second Urban Beets Opens

A second location of the vegan cafe Urban Beets Cafe & Juicery opened softly last Thursday, August 23 in Wauwatosa, at 3077 N. Mayfair Rd. The first Urban Beets is located at 1401 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.

The Tosa cafe’s interior offers a rustic feel with many handcrafted pieces of wooden furnishing. The menu is similar to that of the near North Side location, including a lot of fruit and veggie-based items, with plenty of options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Lori Fredrich from OnMilwaukee has more details:

Entrees include smoothie bowls ($7.50) and bagels ($3.95) to power granola ($7.50) and a “Sunrise Sammy” featuring an English muffin topped with housemade “sausage” (made with gluten-free oats, flax and chia seeds), topped with tomato, spinach, red onion and Sriracha mayo ($5.95). Avocado toast features sprouted wheat bread topped with avocado, smoky coconut “bacon” and balsamic ($3.95)…

Highlights include a falafel “buddah bowl” with warm quinoa, housemade falafel and roasted beet hummus with spinach, pickled vegetables, housemade tahini dressing and a topping of pumpkin and sesame seeds ($9.95). There’s also a vegan beet-based Reuben sandwich featuring corned beets, saurkraut, relish, Russian dressing and Daiya cheddar on marble rye ($9.95)…

Urban Beets also offers cider, beer, wine and a selection of sake-based cocktails…

The new cafe should begin normal hours this week: from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Rey’s Cafe Opens in Brown Deer

The grand opening of a new cafe near the Granville neighborhood was announced by Ald. Chantia Lewis in a press release last week.

Rey’s Cafe, located at 6800 W. Brown Deer Rd., opened its doors to the public last Thursday, August 23 for dinner at 5:00 p.m.

The menu includes a wide range of foods, including sandwiches, wraps, pretzel bun burgers, pizza, tacos and more. The new cafe also offers options for delivery and catering.

Lewis noted that this opening is part of her efforts to stimulate economic growth in the 9th aldermanic district as well as in the Granville Business Improvement District:

“I am continuing my efforts to attract new and budding businesses to the district and I encourage residents to consider stopping by Rey’s Café in the #New9thMKE,” her press release said. “And let’s continue to support all of our 9th District businesses and show them we appreciate them!”

The cafe is open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Up-Down MKE Opens

The arcade-themed bar Up-Down MKE opened its doors last week, after holding its grand opening Friday, August 24.

The new bar is located at 615 E. Brady St., the former location of Comedy Cafe which closed in 2015.

If you’re a fan of gaming and nostalgia, this bar is the perfect place to go: arcade games and pinball machines occupy the two-story bar and the walls are plastered with pop-culture images of the ’80s and ’90s.

That’s two stories full of more than 70 old-school arcade machines, plus two outdoor patios with even more outdoor games. And if you aren’t into old-school games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, the bar also offers newer generation platforms like the N64 located near the front door, readily equipped with 4 controllers and Mario Kart.

Matt Mueller from OnMilwaukee reports more on the “humongous” bar from marketing manager David Hayden:

“This is our fourth location, so I guess we’re officially a chain,” Hayden said. “But we really make an effort to make each location unique and to accentuate the local flair.”

But really, the decor that matters at Up-Down MKE is the decor that you’ll be playing: the video games…

Luckily, this massive space features an equally massive bar featuring more than 60 beers to help refuel in between levels.

According to Mueller, the beer selection at Up-Down MKE is so big that you’ll need to visit the bar’s website to see what they have to offer.

Food options were not yet available last week at the opening, however there will be appropriate items like pizza by the slice coming soon.

You must be 21 or over to enter. The bar operates from 3:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, and 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Now Closing: Cousins in East Town

The Cousins Subs located at 324 E. Wisconsin Ave. closed down on Friday, August 24.

The restaurant was located on the ground floor of the Wells building, on the corner of E. Wisconsin Ave. and N. Milwaukee St. Roughly 13 other Cousins Subs locations still reside in the city.

Urban Milwaukee’s Jennifer Rick reported on the closing. The future of the vacant location is yet to be determined.

Just a few months ago, the Cousins Subs location on the corner of Oakland and Locust, at 2900 N. Oakland Ave. also closed down. The entire building has since been demolished, in order to make room for a new apartment complex.