Paper Table Food Hall Opens

Paper Table, Milwaukee’s “ghost kitchen” food hall is officially open at its East Town location, 733-737 N. Milwaukee St.

One restaurant, Blac Bistro, launched Friday morning and will be serving until nearly midnight, said owner Albert Burrus. The restaurant features a mix of Italian and Creole cuisines, including omelets and skillets for breakfast, plus flatbreads, pasta, seafood and more for the remainder of the day.

MilTex Kitchen, which was the first restaurant confirmed for the food hall, has posted its menu, a fusion of Milwaukee and Texas dishes, on the Paper Table website. But the website still indicates the restaurant is closed.

The takeout-focused food hall has developed over the course of the past year and so far houses four restaurants, though the 5,700-square-foot building has space to add over a dozen more.

The national franchise Wingstop will eventually open in the space, serving chicken wings, fries and sides. FreshWerks, which offers breakfast foods, burgers, wraps, sandwiches and smoothies, is also planned.

Getting a taste of these restaurants doesn’t require an in-person visit. The food hall was designed for takeout and delivery, after all.

MilTex Kitchen is live on Doordash but not Grubhub. Black Bistro is live on both. Neither is shown on UberEats.

Nearby customers and those who prefer to dine in are welcome to do so–the food hall has a walk-up ordering kiosk, or you can order for pickup on the Paper Table website. Seating is limited to about 10 window-facing chairs. Diners can also take their food to the nearby Cathedral Square Park or Milwaukee RiverWalk.

Paper Table emerged as the restaurant industry began to recover from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this new climate, many restaurants have been shifting away from the traditional hospitality model, opting instead for streamlined service. This trend has seen the rise of delivery apps, automated ordering and other stripped-down dining concepts designed to distribute high-quality food as quickly as possible. The virtual food hall model is the logical culmination of this.

Paper Table is a project from CloudKitchens, a startup from former Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick. The California-based company KBD Holdings purchased the building for $850,000 in 2021, Urban Milwaukee previously reported.