Hidden Restaurant Offers Sought-After Juneteenth Specials

Rhonda Carter-Watson, owner of RCW’s Cafe. Photo taken June 13, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.

One of Milwaukee’s most sought-after Juneteenth menus might be found in an unexpected place — the basement of a government building.

RCW’s Cafe, located on the lower level of the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building at 841 N. Broadway, will offer specialty soul food menus on June 16, 17 and 18; the building is closed June 19 for the holiday.

Now in its second year, the tradition began when operator Rhonda Carter-Watson took over the cafe space, formerly occupied by Aladdin’s City Cafe. The inaugural Juneteenth menu was a hit, drawing long lines for cream cheese pound cake, smothered pork chops, collard greens and more.

“I was very much surprised,” Carter-Watson said of the enthusiastic response from diners. “This was my first time stepping out of the box like this … we had never done a menu like that before.”

Though Carter-Watson worked at Aladdin’s, the former cafe didn’t serve pork products due to its then-owner’s Islamic faith. The transition allowed her to incorporate those ingredients into authentic soul food dishes like the ones she grew up eating.

“The cream cheese pound cake is my aunt’s recipe, so she taught me how to make that,” Carter-Watson said. “Smothered pork chops, that’s a traditional meal for us. And oven-baked mac and cheese is something I learned growing up.”

In turn, Carter-Watson passed her knowledge on to the cafe’s chef, Javier, who she said is well-versed in Latin-American and Middle Eastern cuisine, but less familiar with soul food.

RCW’s Monday menu, available beginning at 11 a.m. on June 16, will feature smothered pork chops and rice, green beans, biscuits and cream cheese pound cake. On Tuesday, the cafe will serve barbecue baby back ribs, baked beans, potato salad, dinner rolls and banana pudding. Wednesday specials include baked chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, corn muffins and peach cobbler.

Meals and desserts will be sold separately. Guests can order in person at the cafe or place orders online.

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, marks the symbolic end of slavery in the U.S. It commemorates June 19, 1865 — the day Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed more than 250,000 enslaved African Americans that they were free under the Emancipation Proclamation.

Juneteenth has long been celebrated as a milestone in Black American history and became a federal holiday in 2021, when then-President Joe Biden signed it into law.

“Juneteenth is Freedom Day, that’s what it represents,” Carter-Watson said. “So it means a lot for me to give back. It’s our heritage — soul food — we love these dishes, but we don’t have them all the time in some cases.”

She noted that preparations, particularly for dishes like scratch-made dressing and yams, can be labor-intensive. “When you can get someone else to do that for you, it’s better,” she said with a laugh.

Carter-Watson said she’s expecting a similar crowd for this year’s Juneteenth celebration. She also encouraged would-be customers to check out the “many vendors offering great eats” at the Juneteenth Festival on King Drive, June 19, when the cafe will be closed.

In the future, soul food specials could become a regular occurrence at the cafe, due to popular demand.

“Customers are asking for us to do it on a regular basis, maybe once a month,” Carter-Watson said. “It’s something to think about for us.”

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