Organic Smoothie Bar and Coffee Shop Opening in Bay View

Coffee and organic smoothies will be served at a new cafe planned for the Bay View neighborhood.

Kelly Wei plans to open Karma Café & Smoothie Bar at 2434 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., in the Dwell building. The new shop will replace Just Eyebrows Milwaukee.

Cold brew coffee, specialty coffees, smoothies and regular coffee are on the menu according to Wei. The central item is the smoothie or acai bowl. It will come filled with berry and fruit puree and topped with a choice of flax seeds, chia seeds, granola or almond butter. Breakfast food like avocado toast will be served as well. Wei told Urban Milwaukee that her menu items were inspired by the vegan cafes she visited traveling in Indonesia.

Business hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Tuesday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. from Saturday to Sunday.

After working in the financial sector, Wei worked worked in a coffee shop in Chicago for almost two years to get a feel for the cafe business.

Wei said she noticed Milwaukee didn’t have many smoothie bars outside of corporate chains. Having worked in corporate smoothie bars, Wei said she knows that chains usually only use ice and puree for their smoothies. At her new cafe, she said, the recipes will have more substance.

There is plenty of foot traffic on Kinnickinnic Avenue, and Wei said she wants her store to feel open and friendly so anyone can feel welcome to come in.

The Dwell building was built in 2012. It holds 70 residential units and has a series of first-floor commercial spaces occupied by Anytime Fitness, an Allstate insurance office, Community Bark and now Karma Cafe.

Dwell Bay View