Tulum Latin Gastro Pub Opens in Bay View

Tulum Latin Gastropub, a Latin American and Caribbean restaurant in Bay View, has officially opened for business.

The new restaurant at 2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. was a highly anticipated addition to the neighborhood, with reservations filling up before it had a chance to open.

The team behind the new restaurant includes Ernesto Carmona, the owner, Dario Nunez, the chef, and Juan Magdaleon, the general manager. The restaurant specializes in what Magdaleon previously described as Latin comfort food. The dishes will borrow from the cuisines of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and the Caribbean.

The restaurant has taken over the space that was formerly the restaurant Odd Duck, which has since moved to 939 S. 2nd St. in Walker’s Point. The crew at Tulum decided to maintain the general rustic aesthetic, the exposed brick and the long wood bar. But the interior has been redesigned with matte-black accent walls and bright, colorful paintings by local artist Joshua Taylor that pop against the muted brick.

Notably, Tulum has taken a different approach to the concept of a dining booth. Instead of a row of booths, the restaurant has  a row of couches against the wall opposite the bar. These couches meet a dining table and have chairs sitting opposite, similar to how some restaurants offer a row of bench seating with tables.

The restaurant plans to serve a number of specialty cocktails. Currently it’s offering a guayaba margarita, a mangonada, a tamarind margarita and a pina colada.

The plan, Madaleon told Urban Milwaukee, is to have a menu that regularly rotates in new dishes and offerings. Their opening menu includes dishes like the traditional mexican soup, Sopa de Tortilla and a cactus salad made with Nopal cactus, or Ensalada de Nopal.

The chef, Nunez, is originally from Chiapas, Mexico and has many traditional Mexican dishes he plans to introduce at Tulum. The owner, Carmona, is from Peru, and Magdaleon said the restaurant will make a point to include some classic Peruvian dishes like the beef stir-fry known as Lomo de Saltado.

The restaurant has been open for less than a week, but is already seeing great interest from the community, Magdaleon said. In fact, his team could use some extra help. So if you have service experience and are seeking a job, you might consider Tulum.

Tulum Latin Gastropub