Bay View’s High-End Restaurant Reopens

Bellis Bistro & Spirits is open once again, and once again in Bay View, but this time with a higher-end format and new location. The restaurant left its original home at 3001 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in 2021 in order to move to the former Honeypie Café at 2643 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The restaurant will serve brunch and dinner, with the potential for live music and sports event viewing to become a regular occurrence. Carol Deptolla reports:

Dinner reservations are $125 a person; drinks from the bar (such as its Melito: Hennessy cognac with pineapple and orange juices and mint) are separate. Brunch reservations are $75 a person, which includes bottomless mimosas with a choice of orange, cranberry or pineapple juices.

Customers select their dinners when they make their reservations, choosing soup (such as lobster bisque or gumbo); salad (such as as one with berries and greens or Greek salad, among several); and a main dish from 10 or so choices (like an 18-ounce porterhouse steak, Creole-style fried catfish or roast chicken).

The meal includes a choice of four side dishes, such as baked mac and cheese, cornbread, asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes, and a dessert, such as strawberry cheesecake or Oreo cake.

KISS Members Open Rock-Themed Restaurant

KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley came to Milwaukee this month to do two things: “Rock and Roll All Nite” and take part in a groundbreaking event for the bandmates’ new restaurant at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. The new restaurant, called Rock & Brews, will open on the third floor of the casino. Hannah Kirby reports:

Rock & Brews, which has locations across the country, will feature “American classics with a twist,” according to a news release. That includes burgers, sandwiches, pizzas and more.

There will be 52 brews on tap, including local offerings.

The restaurant is part of a $100 million renovation project that will also include over 1,800 more slot machines; a full-service Starbucks; three new “quick service” food and beverage stations; a new room for high-limit gamblers; and more. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2023.

Japanese Style Pub Coming to Walker’s Point

A new Japanese-style pub that will eventually feature Japanese comfort food is coming to Walker’s Point. The bar, called Red Maple, is being opened by Robin Koutecky and Janet Boettner, who also own Clementines tavern. The bar will be located at 100 W. Maple St., in a historic building that was previously home to Ollie’s. Graham Kilmer reports:

Koutecky’s partner on Red Maple, Boettner, told Urban Milwaukee in an interview that Red Maple will be a “hip, eclectic, Japanese-style pub.” Describing their plans for the former dive, she said “I think the best way, and this sounds funny, but the best way I can describe it is, think Godzilla; it’s gonna be kitschy and fun.”

(The menu will include) items like Japanese curry, which is not like Indian or Thai curries, she said. Then there’s Omurice, which she said is a very popular “Japanese family style dish” that contains a Tangy tomato base, like chicken fried rice wrapped in an omelet. This food will be complemented by a plenty of Japanese beer on tap, Boettner said.

The pair are also looking into getting some Pachinko machines for the bar. For those that have never played one, Boettner described it as “sort of like a cross between a slot machine and an amusement machine.” The machines, she said, are incredibly popular in Japan. “We actually had one when we were kids and we played the heck out of that thing.”

New Takeout Cafe Coming to N. 27th St.

A couple of lifelong friends are opening a new restaurant at 925 N. 27th St. called Ziggy’s Goodway Cafe. The new restaurant is a combination of the owners’ respective business — Randy Torrance owns the Goodway Grille, and Zeb “Ziggy” Allen owns Ziggy Mealz. The cafe will be a counter-serve, takeout-style restaurant, and the menu will be very meat heavy, featuring jerk turkey legs and one of the owner’s signature wraps. Kilmer reports:

The new restaurant will be a counter-serve, takeout place. It will be fast food in the sense that the food will be served quickly. But Torrance said the food won’t resemble typical fast food made from frozen ingredients.

The plan for the menu, Torrance said, is a lot of fish, chicken, burgers, Italian beef, turkey legs – including jerk turkey legs – and Ziggy wraps. These wraps are a popular item that Allen pioneered at Ziggy Meals, Torrance said.

These fast food and takeout favorites will be made with care and attention to ingredients, Torrance said. “We really care about the food,” he said. “That’s why it’s the Goodway, we don’t want to do it any other way.”

High End-Restaurant Opens in Downtown Tower

Lupis & Iris, a new high-end restaurant located on the first floor of the 7Seventy7 apartment tower at 777 N. Van Buren St., will be open for business as of Tuesday, May 17. The restaurant is being opened by James Beard award-winning chef Adam Siegel and real estate developer Michael DeMichele, and the menu will focus on Mediterranean cuisine. Hours for the new restaurant will be Monday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jeramey Jannene reports:

The 10,500-square-foot space, running the length of E. Mason St. from N. Van Buren St. to N. Jackson St., was reconfigured to hold six different dining and drinking areas, a 60-seat outdoor patio, U-shaped bar, lounge, dining room, chef’s counter and three private dining rooms.

“The Lupi & Iris menu is a reflection of my years of experience as a chef. Throughout my career, I’ve worked for Italian, French and Spanish chefs. I’ve worked in France and lived and worked in Italy. All of those influences can be found in the menu I created. I’m doing cuisine that I love and I’m looking forward to sharing Lupi & Iris with the city that I love,” said Siegel.

A sample menu includes mussels and clams, daube de ravioli, corzetta pasta coins, seafood stew, grilled lamb chops, Mediterranean sea bass, roasted veal chop and bistecca (a 44-ounce porterhouse stake).

Hue Vietnamese Restaurant Reopens

Hue Vietnamese Restaurant has reopened in its new location — the former Sven’s European Café at 2699 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The restaurant is utilizing the former cafe as its kitchen space, while a newly constructed two-story building that resides in front of the cafe serves as the front-of-house. Jannene reports:

The brightly-colored dining room and bar includes a variety of artistic pieces featuring motorcycles and mopeds, which are ubiquitous in Vietnam. A patio, with an operable window into the bar, is located on the southeast side of the building.

Hue is open in the new space from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The restaurant’s offerings include spring rolls, beef short ribs, bun fresh noodle bowls, Vietnamese crepes, soups and fried rice.

The upper floor is to be used for short-term rental, Airbnb-style apartments. Building plans included three studio units.