New Third Ward Comfort Food Restaurant

316 N. Milwaukee St. Photo by Mariiana Tzotcheva.

The Thiensville-based coffee roaster Fiddleheads Coffee has opened its first Milwaukee location in the downtown BMO Tower located at 790 N. Water St. The cafe, located off the lobby, will also have a separate entrance on Water St. for foot traffic. Carol Deptolla reports;

The cafe itself can seat 49, but a multilevel common area beyond it has room for customers to distance themselves further.

Besides serving coffee and espresso drinks, the cafe sells baked goods and breakfast and lunch menu items. Customers can order at the counter in person or online at the roaster’s website, fiddleheadscoffee.com, or through its app.

Hours downtown are different from other Fiddleheads cafe hours. It’s open 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. It’s closed on Sundays.

Third Ward Comfort Food Restaurant Planned

The owners of Fauntleroy, a former French restaurant located at 316 N. Milwaukee St., have plans to open a new concept in that same space. The new concept, named Fool’s Errand as a nod to the risks of opening a new restaurant in the pandemic, will specialize in comfort foods. Deptolla reports:

At first, Fool’s Errand will open for takeout on Friday and Saturday nights starting March 19. Customers should be able to order online beginning March 14 through the website, foolserrandmke.com, and reserve times through the website for curbside pickup.

Then, on April Fool’s Day, the restaurant will open for in-person dining. Dinner will be served Thursday to Saturday as of April 1 and brunch served on Sundays, with reservations available now through Tock.

“We wanted something that’s a neighborhood spot,” with a neighborhood-bar atmosphere that would appeal to nearby residents, (Co-owner Dan) Van Rite said…

The restaurant, which marks the return of Fauntleroy chef de cuisine Blair Herridge, will serve almost as many sandwiches as entrees, a mix of old school (fried bologna and battered-and-fried Monte Cristo) and new (avocado toast), with a couple of burgers and tweaked classics, such as BLTs with thick slices of house-cured bacon and hydroponic tomatoes, sparked with celery vinegar on Texas toast.

Main dishes run the gamut from fish fry, potato pierogi and smoked-gouda mac and cheese to steak Diane, crabcakes with mustard butter, and salmon with bearnaise sauce. Sandwiches are $8 to $14, and entrees mainly $14 to $24.

Capacity will be limited when the restaurant opens, and other precautionary measures against COVID-19 include air filtration, servers in masks and dividers between tables.

Cafe Benelux Adds Rooftop Chalet Dining

The Lowlands Group announced via press release the addition of a VIP Lux Chalet to the rooftop at its popular European-inspired restaurant in the Historic Third Ward. Ten very important diners can enjoy a meal in a 10-foot-by-12-foot, heated atrium that overlooks the downtown area. On top of some pleasant views, guests can order platters and beverage packages exclusive to the Lux Dome or stick to the classic Cafe Benelux offerings.

Reservations can be made for 90-minute increments online at lowlandswinter.com and walk-ins will be accepted as available. Each reservation will include a beverage package, meaning all guests must be 21 years or older. A downpayment of $200 will be required to reserve a spot, but Lowlands Group is offering a $150 reservation fee throughout the month of March.

Riley’s Good Dogs Now Open at on Water St.

A new food truck specializing in hot dogs will remain parked on Brady St. In the former Moto-Scoot previously located at 1652 N. Water St. The food truck, called Riley’s Good Dogs, will offer 24 kinds of hot dogs and sausages with vegan alternatives and sides. Urban Milwaukee’s Graham Kilmer reports:

The owner, Hank Stiehl, used to work at Moto-Scoot and is a friend of the owner Bill Weslow. The pair had long discussed opening a restaurant at the location. They thought something like fast-casual dining would do well there…

They thought about doing a “burger and fry kind of place” Stiehl said, but they ended up going with hot dogs. Not just any old hot dogs, though.

Riley’s sells a wide variety of original hot dog styles, all made with 100 percent beef. Stiehl told Urban Milwaukee they are the highest quality all-beef dogs they could find. They source their Italian sausages and bratwurst from Pritzlaff Meats in New Berlin.

And if you don’t eat meat, there is vegan alternative to every item on the menu. They use Beyond Sausages for their brats and Italians and Field Roast Frankfurters for the vegan hot dogs.

The truck sells 24 unique hot dogs and sausages, with names like the Kogi, Carolina Classic and Luigi Supreme. The Kogi dog is one of Stiehl’s personal favorites, though naturally he likes everything on the menu. It’s a hot dog with hand made slaw, garlic teriyaki, sriracha and sesame seeds…

Riley’s also sells thick-cut potato twists called Zoomie Fries, which can be ordered with a liberal powdering of maple mesquite seasoning, or with cheese and bacon. Once again… there is a plant based alternative for toppings to Zoome Fries.

City’s First Cidery Opens in Bay View

Milwaukee’s first cidery, Cache Cider, owned by Ethan Keller, opened last month in a warehouse space located at 2612 S. Greeley St., near Bay View’s Hide House. Whereas a typical apple cider contains a blend of several types of apples, most of the ciders that Keller offers focus on a single apple — a type of cider known as a single-varietal. And only apples grown in Wisconsin are used, as a story by Urban Milwaukee reported:

Keller currently offers six ciders — four single-varietals and two blends. His most popular cider, the Northwestern Greening, is dry and light with a hint of ginger… Keller bends his own rules with his “Entangled” series of ciders, offering either a hard cider created using a blend of apple varieties or one created using additional fruits. The “Entangled Cherry,” for example, is a 5.5% ABV hard apple cider interfusing the flavors of sour and dark cherries…Keller has sourced the apples used in his ciders from various orchards and markets all across Wisconsin…

Cache Ciders current offerings run for $14 or $15 a four-pack, depending on the varietal. Sample packs can be created as well for $4 a bottle. The cidery is currently open Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. And Keller offers in-person tasting as well for those who would like to sit at the bar.