Vegan Restaurant Coming To Marquette Campus
Gray Jett Cafe is slated to open in the former Broken Yolk on 16th and Wells.
Site of future Gray Jett Cafe, 1617 W. Wells St. Photo taken May 30, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Following a wave of restaurant closures across the Marquette University campus earlier this summer, a new cafe is slated to bolster the dining scene ahead of the fall semester.
Gray Jett Cafe, specializing in vegan and vegetarian meals, is slated to open in August at 1617 W. Wells St., inside the former The Broken Yolk. The breakfast restaurant, known by the student population as Bro-Yo, closed in May after 15 years in business.
Unlike the egg, bacon and cheese-heavy menu of its predecessor, Gray Jett Cafe plans to offer a heavily plant-based menu with the goal to “make healthy eating exciting,” according to co-owners Shana Gray and Andren Jett.
Gray and Jett, both dedicated vegans, met during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following year, they launched Gray Jett — born out of a mutual passion for health and wellness — as a catering and pop-up operation.
The upcoming restaurant will be the first brick-and-mortar location for the business, which has made a number of recent appearances throughout the city, including a pop-up at a Marquette University dining hall.
Gray Jett was also a 2022 finalist in Near West Side Partners‘ Rev-Up MKE competition.
An online menu for the restaurant features a wide variety of sweet and savory dishes including breakfast options such as steel-cut oatmeal with fresh fruit, vegan and gluten free pancakes and a vegan scramble with sausage, cheese and bell peppers.
Lunch and dinner offerings include vegan jerk tacos with seasoned, pulled jackfruit in place of pork; a vegan reuben sandwich, plant-based brisket and a veggie-loaded Buddha bowl.
At its Marquette University location, Gray Jett plans to serve primarily vegan options, though non-vegan and vegetarian options will also be available.
The arrival of Gray Jett cafe is the latest in a series of recent changes to the dining scene on the Marquette University campus. Along with The Broken Yolk, Sobelman’s at Marquette permanently closed in May, while Tangled Noodles and More is planning a move to The Brewery District. SereniTea will continue operations at its flagship Marquette cafe, but will open a second location on Downer Avenue.
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