Sunshine Cafe Planned for Near South Side

A new cafe is planned for Milwaukee’s Near South Side. Sunshine Cafe would occupy the first floor of the building at 831 S. Cesar E Chavez Dr. in the Clarke Square neighborhood. A business permit application filed with the City of Milwaukee describes the restaurant’s offerings as “Traditional American breakfast, lunch, soups, salad & dinner.”

Owner Desire Calderon could not be reached for comment as of publishing this story.

Like many cafes in the city that specialize in breakfast, brunch and lunch, Sunshine Cafe would open early, 6:30 a.m. on weekdays and 7:00 a.m. on weekends, and close in the afternoon, 2 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on weekends.

Calderon would lease the space from building owner Ruben Arce. The three-story building was constructed in 1889 according to city assessment records. City records it has two apartments on its upper floors. It is located at the southside main street’s intersection with W. Walker St.

It was recently home to two short-lived restaurants. Mr. Taco Wings & Potato occupied the space from late 2019 until 2022 and before that Heavenly Grille occupied the space from 2018 to 2019.

Heavenly Grille was run by chef Tyree Fleming and his wife Gabrielle Ruiz-Fleming. A Facebook page for the restaurant indicates, as of May 2021, that there will be a Heavenly Grille food truck. Before they opened Heavenly Grille, Fleming and Ruiz-Fleming owned a food truck called Heavenly Cuisine on the Go.

Mr. Taco was owned by Flor Gaytan-Garcia.