Good City Brewing Replacement Opens on East Side
Wayfinder offers globally inspired small plates, craft cocktails and beer from both Good City and Explorium.
Wayfinder, 2108 N. Farwell Ave. Photo taken April 11, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.
From hyper-local to globally inspired, Explorium Hospitality Group has unveiled its new concept, Wayfinder, on the Lower East Side.
The bar and restaurant, which replaces Good City Brewing at 2108 N. Farwell Ave., serves upscale small plates and craft cocktails that draw on global cuisines to create unexpected flavor profiles.
Owners Joan and Mike Doble have traveled extensively, collecting recipes like postcards from far-off destinations including Central and South America, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Belgium.
While those flavors didn’t align with the menu at their existing concept, The Explorium Brewpub, the new space gave them a chance to bring fresh ideas to the table.
“It’s a menu of all my wife’s and my favorite things,” Mike told Urban Milwaukee in February.
The Dobles acquired Good City Brewing in January, closing the Mequon location and rebranding the Wauwatosa taproom as Explorium. The Farwell Avenue space is the first to debut a brand new concept. It also serves as the company’s primary brewery. A fourth location in Deer District will remain unchanged through the end of the Milwaukee Bucks season.
The couple also operate existing Explorium Brewpub locations in the Historic Third Ward and Greendale.
Wayfinder began its invite-only soft opening April 1. After a brief closure April 7 and 8, the bar and restaurant welcomed guests by reservation only starting April 9. A grand opening is still forthcoming.
The menu, focused mainly on small and shareable plates, divides dishes by flavor and ingredients, with categories including Wanderer’s Harvest, plant-based items; Mariner’s Catch, seafood; Fireside Provisions; smoky, crispy and bold flavors; Hunter’s Feast, meat and game and Wayfarer’s Indulgence; desserts.
Chef Mike Mondelli leads the kitchen at Wayfinder.
Standouts include crispy Peking pig with Thai chilis, sesame and shaved garlic; Filipino adobo chicken wings; deviled scotch eggs wrapped in rosemary-thyme lamb crust; larb gai with vegan chorizo and Korean prawns with gochujang glaze.
The cocktail menu also leans global, with drinks like East Meets West — a blend of American bourbon and Portuguese port — and Turmeric Twist, a scotch spritz infused with earthy turmeric. Wine and draft beer, including selections from both Explorium and Good City, are also available.
Wayfinder is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.
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