Temple Goddess Opens Downtown
Vegan restaurant joins Paper Table food hall. Plus: Indian restaurant and a tequila bar coming to Walker's Point.
Paper Table sign. Photo taken Dec. 30, 2022 by Sophie Bolich.
A new, health-focused restaurant has joined the ranks of Paper Table, a takeout and delivery-focused food hall, 733-737 N. Milwaukee St.
Business partners Eve Savva and Gregory Cilmi recently launched Temple Goddess, serving a plant-based menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts with flavors inspired by Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisines.
The menu also includes several gluten-free items, including house-made wraps.
In addition to its all-vegan food menu, the restaurant offers beverages such as house lemonade, turkish coffee and turmeric-spiked golden goddess milk.
The Milwaukee restaurant is the reincarnation of a similar concept that the duo operated in Florida.
Temple Goddess is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Paper Table website.
A full menu is available to view online.
As the food hall welcomes a new restaurant, it appears to have bid farewell to another. Taqueria Zapopan is no longer listed as a vendor on the Paper Table website.
Aside from Temple Goddess and one other vendor, Poutine Stop, the food hall’s remaining eight concepts are operated by a single restaurateur.
Upscale Restaurant Planned Near Northridge Lake
A new restaurant proposed for a strip mall near Northridge Lake plans to bring an upscale dining experience featuring a diverse, all-organic menu to one of Milwaukee’s northernmost neighborhoods.
The restaurant, Upscale Galleria, would also serve as an event space and site for serving and bartending classes, as well as a hub for community improvement initiatives.
It’s slated to open at 6800 W. Brown Deer Rd., inside a retail building that also houses Perkinz Boyz on Tha Grill, a soul food restaurant, as well as several other businesses.
Heading up the multi-faceted project is Ebony Walker, whose entrepreneurial spark ignited at age 8 when she got her first job helping out at her mom’s resale store. Since then, her career has included working in a leadership position at a childcare center and in human resources for a nonprofit.
The Bartolotta Restaurants Celebrates 30 Years
For nearly three decades, The Bartolotta Restaurants have been the backdrop for countless milestone moments; patrons have cheered on proposals, enjoyed birthday dinners, toasted new graduates and celebrated baby showers, among other occasions.
On the 30th anniversary of its founding, the restaurant and catering brand will turn the tables on its guests, kicking off a yearlong celebration — featuring special menus and events — in honor of its own “three decades of growth and success.”
“Thinking about how far we have come in 30 years, the restaurants that we’ve opened, the incredible talent that we’ve nurtured and made part of our family, I’m both incredibly proud and humbled,” Paul Bartolotta, co-founder and owner of The Bartolotta Restaurants, said in a statement.
Bartolotta and his late brother, Joe, opened their first restaurant on March 23, 1993 in Wauwatosa, near their childhood home. They called it Ristorante Bartolotta, as an homage to their Italian heritage.
Pilot Project Introduces Brewery Tours
When Pilot Project Brewing moved into its Milwaukee production facility at 1128 N. 9th St. last year, the growing brewery found itself with big shoes to fill — in more ways than one.
Formerly home to Milwaukee Brewing Company, the commercial brewing facility totals a whopping 60,000 square feet.
Pilot Project has spent the past several months settling into the new space, tweaking its menu, adding decor and — of course — making beer and other fermented beverages.
Starting March 10, visitors can get a behind-the-scenes look at the facility by booking a brewery tour. An $18 ticket includes five 5-ounce tasters of beer or kombucha, a commemorative taster glass and information about the origin and history of Pilot Project.
Tequila and Mezcal Bar Opening at Former Triskele’s
You could call Patrick Todd a tequila enthusiast, but that would be underselling it.
The seasoned industry veteran, previously director of operations for SURG Restaurant Group, has centered his career on bars, alcohol and spirits — particularly the agave-based ones.
Along the way, he noticed a “lack of options” for high-quality tequila and mezcal in the state. In response, Todd took matters into his own hands and is now preparing to launch La Piña. The tequila and mezcal-focused bar will eventually offer dozens of unique and carefully-sourced agave spirits.
The business, planned for 1801 S. 3rd St., the former site of Triskele’s, will be the culmination of Todd’s long-time passion for and interest in the spirit, combined with knowledge and insight gained over seven years of research trips to Jalisco — the birthplace of tequila.
New Sandwich Shop For Brady Street
There’s a new sandwich shop slated for Brady Street. Called Megawich, the restaurant will operate on the belief that bigger is, indeed, better.
To put it simply, “big meat, big sandwiches, big sizes, that’s it,” said co-owner Adham Awadalla.
Megawich is expected to open at 1426 E. Brady St., within the Brady Place strip mall. That’s the previous site of Taco Stop MKE, which closed in November 2022.
Awadalla said he hopes to fill a niche in the city’s restaurant scene, catering to families as well as students and the late-night crowd.
Milwaukee Gets a Mancave
A new, men’s-only barbershop and lounge is moving towards an opening in the East Town neighborhood.
Mancave Milwaukee, a project of Jeffrey “Jay T” Taylor, recently secured its liquor license and added signage to its building, 706 N. Milwaukee St.
The upcoming business is a unique take on the traditional barbershop — offering a variety of grooming services in a laid-back atmosphere where guests can also socialize, enjoy entertainment and sip signature cocktails.
Taylor explained that the business will have the feel of a sports bar, featuring a number of TVs tuned to sports stations and Spike. In addition to a salon area with four barber chairs and three nail care tables, the business will feature a lounge. The two concepts will have differing hours of operation.
Sushi Bar at RuYi Will Reopen March 9
After an extended closure, The Sushi Bar at RuYi will reopen on March 9.
RuYi, a restaurant housed within Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, at 1721 W. Canal St., had featured The Sushi Bar since in 2016, but the latter has been closed since the onset of the pandemic. RuYi was also closed for some time but reopened in August 2021. Now it is bringing back its sushi bar, which will have a new chef and new menu.
The new head chef Sang-ki Kim is a sushi expert who brings over three decades of experience in restaurant management and Japanese cuisine. Under his leadership, The Sushi Bar will continue to serve traditional sushi and sashimi, as well as unique new offerings such as the Wagyu roll, featuring cooked Wagyu beef, sesame soy, scallion and kaiware (daikon sprout), topped with torched Wagyu and truffle ponzu.
Throughout the coming six months, RuYi is also planning to overhaul its main menu, incorporating new flavors and dishes while building on and enhancing long-standing favorites, the restaurant said in a news release.
Interval Leaving MARN Art + Culture Hub
Interval is winding down operations at its Third Ward location within the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) complex.
The cafe will continue serving its coffee, tea, wine and snacks at the arts hub, 191 N. Broadway, through March 20, at which point MARN will take control of the food and beverage program as Interval prepares to launch its newest location in Bay View.
“We cannot thank MARN arts enough for welcoming us at the MARN Art + Culture Hub in the Third Ward,” the company said in a Monday afternoon social media post. “As we prepare to open our new Bay View location, we’re looking forward to exploring ways that MARN and Interval can continue to collaborate.
SereniTea Coming to Downer Avenue
A new location for SereniTea, a cafe specializing in boba tea, is slated to open at 2575 N. Downer Ave., bringing an end to a more than 15-year vacancy at the former site of Chancery restaurant.
SereniTea has two Milwaukee-area locations including a flagship cafe at 1414 W. Wells St., near Marquette University, and another at Bayshore Mall.
Owner Manpreet Singh, a former Marquette student, was just 23 when he opened the first location for SereniTea in 2019.
The proposed third location would build on the cafe’s original concept, offering cocktails and food as well as a variety of bubble teas, according to a license application.
Nkauj Yi Plans Hmong Cuisine for Northwest Side
The Northwest Side may soon have a new option for authentic Hmong cuisine.
Nkauj Yi, a restaurant slated to open inside the 5XEN Super Asian Market at 6318 N. 76th St., would offer dishes such as sticky rice, larb, red curry, chicken, soup and more.
The upcoming restaurant will be a first for owner Xai Vang, though his culinary inclinations can be traced back to his childhood.
“I was always interested in opening a restaurant,” said Vang, who grew up surrounded by homemade food as part of a family that was “always doing a lot of cooking.”
New Indian Restaurant For Walker’s Point
Ruta’s Vibrant Indian Cafe will vacate its Crossroads Collective stall at the end of the month, with plans to open a stand-alone restaurant in Walker’s Point.
The new restaurant will occupy the former Bowls To Go space, 207 W. Freshwater Way, between Purple Door Ice Cream and Float Milwaukee.
“It fits our vibe very much,” said owner Ruta Kahate of the neighborhood. “It’s hip, it’s cool, it’s eclectic, there’s a real sense of curiosity about food.”
The new restaurant is expected to open at the end of April, featuring an expanded menu including salads and variety of drinks in addition to the current lineup of handheld naanwiches and curry bowls.
Wedding-Focused Event Hall Planned for Vliet Street
Amber Bricco and her partner Rachael Flood spent years dreaming of opening their own wedding venue. The whole time, the perfect space was lying in wait just steps away from their Near West Side home.
The couple, who are residents of the Martin Drive neighborhood, often walked their dog past the vacant, boarded-up building at 4227 W. Vliet St. On a whim, Bricco reached out to the property owner to share her vision for the building. He was on board.
“It must have been meant to be, that the building was supposed to fall into our laps,” she said.
The upcoming venue, called Denizen MKE, is expected to host its first events later this fall.
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