Deer District Bar Wants To Be Year-Round MECCA
The MECCA aims to 'invest in the neighborhood' with new menu of Wisconsin classics.
Deer District bars. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
When The MECCA opened in spring of 2019, it joined a downtown entertainment scene that is vastly different than that of today.
Fiserv Forum was brand new, having opened nine months earlier, and Deer District was still a fawn. In the years since, the area has seen substantial growth, accelerated by the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 2021 NBA Championship, and is now home to dozens of dedicated sports bars, entertainment venues and — the latest addition — a hotel.
The MECCA, 1134 N. Vel R. Phillips Ave., has done some growth of its own. The sports bar and grill recently debuted a new menu that’s chock full of Wisconsin fare. The latest iteration, according to chef Keith Luce, is intended to present The MECCA as a year-round destination for all Milwaukeeans, not just basketball aficionados.
“As the city changes, and as Deer District changes, we’re hoping to invest in the neighborhood and make The MECCA more of a year-round destination,” said Luce, who serves as senior executive chef for Fiserv Forum and Levy Restaurant’s Deer District operations.
“This evolution of the menu is really about that — becoming not just a sports bar to come pre-game and post-game, but hopefully a place that you can feel comfortable coming and consuming other sports in a really amazing venue.”
The star item on the new menu is beer cheese soup. Luce is well aware that the hearty, warming dish — topped with braised onions and pretzel croutons — isn’t in line with typical summer fare, but said he was eager to recreate the quintessential Wisconsin soup.
“I was a little skeptical going into the summer, but it’s a really delicious way to start,” he said, noting that a number of employees at The MECCA are veterans of Destination Kohler, where they made a soup that inspired The MECCA’s spin-off.
And if you don’t want to “hunker down” with a bowl of the stuff, it doubles as a great dip, Luce said. “If you’re going there as a group, it just becomes this great conduit to not just sit down and have a soup, but something to use as a dip.”
The Bavarian pretzel, onion rings and chicken sandwiches are particularly dunkable, he said.
Another standout item is the hand-breaded chicken, made from the same recipe as The Cluckery; the pandemic-era restaurant has locations inside of Fiserv Forum, Mequon and operates as a ghost kitchen at The MECCA, offering online ordering and pick-up.
Its popular chicken has also made its way into several menu items, including the chicken tenders and several sandwiches such as the spicy Angry Bird, which gets its heat from “buffalo breath” seasoning, chipotle aioli and jalapenos.
“I can’t say enough about the quality of those tenders,” Luce said.
Luce also called out a few lighter items, including the caesar salad, cobb salad and a roasted, hand-shaved turkey club sandwich that he said are hot-weather friendly.
The full menu and beverage list are available to view online.
Luce said the menu updates are just one step towards his broader vision of creating a more welcoming and community-oriented downtown destination.
“There’s a lot happening down here in Deer District. And the organization is really trying to give people reasons to enjoy this part of the city, because we really want to be a part of the community.”
The MECCA is open Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (kitchen closes at 10 p.m.). The establishment opens occasionally on Mondays for special events.
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If the Buck’s seriously want “to invest in the neighborhood and make The MECCA [and the entire Deer District] more of a year-round destination” beer cheese soup isn’t gong to do it. There needs to be a bigger draw to the area during the day and on evenings and weekends when there is no game or concert. A dog park on a substantial part of the land where the Bradley Center once stood would fill the bill. This was suggested years ago by the Downtown Neighbors Association, but quickly discarded. I’m the meantime, the block on Plankinton Avenue is being transformed into a dog park and brewery/restaurant, which will transform that area. Still there is room for another downtown dog park at the Bradley Center site! It may even help achieve the Mayor’s goal of 1,000,000 residents in the city one day!