Downtown Food Halls Add New Vendors
Plus: Palomino returns and a Czech-inspired beer festival.
3rd Street Market Hall.
Changes Coming to 3rd Street Market Hall
The ever-evolving 3rd Street Market Hall is gearing up for another set of changes.
Since its January 2022 opening, a host of tenants have joined the downtown food hall, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave., and more are on the way. Among the familiar faces of long-term vendors, diners can look forward to a round of new concepts at the hawker stalls, which are set to launch in mid-September.
New food options will include a restaurant featuring soft pretzels and a range of dipping sauces and toppings; and an Italian-American restaurant serving chicken parmesan, fettuccini alfredo, meatball sandwiches and garlic bread.
The new concepts would replace Middle East Side, Amano Pan and Strega. The latter, which served handmade pasta, pastries and snacks, was the last to leave the food hall. Another hawker, Hot Dish Pantry, is still operating.
Paper Table Gains New Vendor
A new vendor has joined Paper Table, Milwaukee’s “ghost kitchen” food hall.
The new vendor, Po’Manz Food, is planned to open for business Nov. 1, according to a license application recently filed with the city. Cheticka Cotton, a restauranteur with more than 10 years of experience is listed as the sole owner of the establishment.
Paper Table, 733-737 N. Milwaukee St., had a quiet launch earlier this summer with its debut vendor, Blac Bistro. Another restaurant, MilTex Kitchen, followed soon after. The downtown food hall is now poised to add another restaurant concept in the coming months.
Po’Manz may be new to downtown, but the business has been operating as a catering company and pop-up since 2010. Most recently, Po’Manz was a vendor at the Waukesha County fair, offering dishes like crab boil, cajun gumbo, boneless wings, deep fried crawfish and other southern-inspired fare.
North Avenue Market Opens Wednesday
North Avenue Market, a food and retail hall located on Milwaukee’s West Side, will have its soft opening Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Throughout the past weeks, many of the market’s vendors have marked the date as a tentative soft opening, and social media was abuzz Tuesday in anticipation of the new market located at 5900 W. North Ave.
In an interview with Urban Milwaukee, Founder Chris Harris Morse confirmed the “very soft opening” starting Wednesday with a modified version of the market concept. “We’ll roll out a portion of what we’re doing.”
North Avenue Market will house a variety of food vendors, plus retail, co-working and conference space and a stage and event venue. The two-level, 10,232-square-foot space can seat up to 150 guests with additional lower level and outdoor patio seating.
Restaurant To Be Named Undergoing Renovations
Following the recent completion of its X-Golf facilities, American Family Field is turning its attention to a new project.
Restaurant To Be Named Later, a restaurant and bar serving upscale bar food overlooking the Brewer’s home field, will temporarily change its hours in preparation for a major renovation. As of Thursday, Sept. 8, the restaurant is closed on non-game days and during the off-season.
Just over two years since its March 2020 opening, RTBNL will “undergo major changes,” according to a press release from the Milwaukee Brewers. Prep work for the renovations is already underway, with the majority of design and construction work starting in November following the conclusion of the season.
“We are looking forward to unveiling the amazing plans we have for this space,” said Rick Schlesinger, president of business operations for the Brewers, in a statement. “This initiative involves a complete re-imagination of the facility with a new concept that will be a great fit for the space and fan expectations.”
East Side Bar and Grill Opening on Prospect Ave.
A new restaurant planned for the East Side would serve American food with the additional goal of fostering community and bringing new life to the neighborhood, according to the owner.
Uniqua Glaude plans to open East Side Bar and Grill, 2178 N. Prospect Ave., in the building that formerly housed Seoul Korean Restaurant.
Chris Wright, a friend of Gaude’s, is helping her open the restaurant but won’t be a co-owner. He told Urban Milwaukee that Gaude has been cooking for years, and hinted that her food is something special, but, to maintain the suspense, left it at that.
“I’m not even going to put it out there,” he said. “People will have to come see for themselves.”
Central Standard Creates Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Hall of Fame
If you’re drinking a proper Wisconsin Old Fashioned, it had better be brandy, and this month, Milwaukee connoisseurs are making a case for using local spirits in the state’s favorite cocktail.
First introduced in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair, the Old Fashioned soon took on a Wisconsin flavoring, as residents of this state substituted brandy for the usual ingredient of whiskey. Perfected over generations by mom-and-pop supper clubs, the cocktail has deep Wisconsin roots, and its signature brandy supports a statewide industry and nearly 40,000 related jobs.
The drink’s rich history isn’t lost on Central Standard Craft Distillery co-founders Evan Hughes and Pat McQuillan, who worked with Governor Tony Evers to proclaim September Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Month, with Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned Day on Sept. 22.
Throughout the month, Hughes and McQuillan are encouraging Wisconsinites to choose local spirits, like Central Standard’s North Wisconsin brandy.
Amorphic Hosting ‘CzechtoberFest’
With Oktoberfest quickly approaching, nearly every brewery in the city is gearing up to celebrate the famous Bavarian festival with traditional German-style beers and food. But Amorphic Beer in Riverwest is a notable exception.
Never one to conform, the seven-month-old brewery will instead host Czechtoberfest, trading soft pretzels for sausages and featuring three specialty Czech-inspired lagers for a fresh take on the classic festival.
Tickets are now available for this inaugural Czechtoberfest, which will take place Sept. 24 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the brewery at 3700 N. Fratney St..
The Return of Palomino
If you’ve been dreaming of enjoying an evening on the patio at Palomino, “don’t stop now.”
After a brief hiatus, the bar at 2491 S. Superior St. will reopen Friday, Sept. 9, bringing “cold beer and hot whiskey” back to the Bay View neighborhood, the restaurant announced in a Facebook post Tuesday.
As the bar returns to full service, the restaurant side of the establishment will remain mostly dormant as Palomino works to fill openings in the kitchen. At this time, the restaurant will offer “a small menu of bar snacks.” Guests can also visit nearby food trucks parked on Russel Street during the weekend.
Palomino is owned and operated by Valeri Lucks, who also runs its sister restaurants Honeypie, SmallPie and Comet Cafe under the restaurant group PIE Inc. with business partner Derek Petersen. Lucks also runs the wholesale bakery HoneyPie Bakeshop and an online shop called PieGram.
Land of Plenty Includes Many Food Deserts
When Tony Moore wants to make a quick grocery run, his options are limited.
Most of the foods that fill the shelves in his Kenosha, Wisconsin neighborhood are laden with sugar and fat — chips, soda and other sweets. Moore calls it the kind of food you eat to just “fill your stomach.” It’s the only food he can find at a gas station, after all.
In Moore’s neighborhood, two large grocery stores have closed since 2017, and in January, a small grocery there burned down — removing one more source of fresh meat and produce in an already deprived area.
Data from 2015 show that 10% of Wisconsin, or about 570,000 people, live in areas meeting the standards of a food desert, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
FaB Wisconsin Announces New Executive Director
FaB Wisconsin, a food and beverage business network, announced the promotion of Gina Balke to executive director.
In her new position, Balke will lead the company in serving the state’s food and beverage industry, while also collaborating with FaB Wisconsin’s members, executive board and council on strategic initiatives and programming.
She brings with her 13 years of food and beverage industry experience to her newest role, having previously worked for Ocean Spray.
FaB’s previous executive director, Shelley Jurewicz, retired in June after starting and leading FaB Wisconsin for the past decade.
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