Uncle Wolfie’s Adds Dinner Service
Plus: Lao restaurant opens downtown, another grocery store closes and Milwaukee gets James Beard recognition.
Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern. Photo taken Dec. 17, 2018 by Jeramey Jannene.
Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern may soon need a new name. The Brewers Hill restaurant, a favorite for breakfast and lunch dishes, will expand its hours with the debut of regular dinner service Jan. 30.
The launch menu includes burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries—available to-go or paired with a drink from the bar, which will also remain open during extended hours. The full menu will be announced at a later date.
To start, dinner service will be available Fridays and Saturdays from 5 to 9 p.m. at 234 E. Vine St.
The new schedule brings the flagship Uncle Wolfie’s into alignment with its downtown location at 600 N. Broadway, which follows the same hours when moonlighting as The Wolf. Chef Kristen Schwab has put her own spin on the dinner menu, showcasing her heritage through Southeast Asian–inspired small plates and comforting entrees—a departure from the Brewers Hill restaurant, which centers on classic American dishes.
Beans & Barley Items Headed to Auction
Even after Beans & Barley shuts down Jan. 31, you can still grab something to go. The restaurant, which also includes a cafe, deli and market, will auction off its remaining equipment in February.
Badger Corporation is hosting the online auction, which begins Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. Bidding will end Feb. 19 at 10:30 a.m., with viewing available Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Checkout will take place Feb. 20 and 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Get a daily rundown of the Milwaukee stories“Don’t miss this opportunity to bid on some Milwaukee history!” reads a message from Badger Corporation. The complete catalog is not yet posted, though the auction is expected to include commercial kitchen equipment, fixtures and supplies from the longstanding business.
Updates will be available online in the coming weeks. Badger Corporation specializes in auctioneering, liquidation and appraisals, with an emphasis on industrial, restaurant and commercial equipment. The Lomira-based company has hosted auctions for other Milwaukee-area businesses, including Milwaukee Ale House, Stack’d Burger Bar and José’s Blue Sombrero.
Bars and Restaurants Announce Closures, Shortened Hours Due To Cold
As meteorologists warn of dangerously low temperatures and wind chills heading into the weekend, a number of local businesses have announced preemptive closures for Jan. 23, joining a shutdown that also includes Milwaukee Public Schools.
Friday’s weather forecast shows a high of minus 3 degrees Fahrenheit, with wind chills potentially reaching minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold warning into Friday morning.
Midwest SAD was among the first to announce it will remain closed Friday. However, the Walker’s Point bakery, 601 S. 6th St., is set to return Saturday and Sunday with regular hours and deals including $1 off coffee, $2 off sandwiches and a 10% discount on bills totaling at least $25.
Also in Walker’s Point, SapSap‘s truck at Zocalo Food Park will close Friday through Sunday in response to frigid temperatures. The restaurant’s new location at 3rd Street Market Hall is expected to operate as usual.
Barnes Proposes Grants To Fight Food Deserts
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mandela Barnes is proposing a statewide solution to food deserts amid a recent wave of grocery store closures in Milwaukee.
On Wednesday, Barnes announced a plan to fund locally owned grocery stores through startup grants for small-business entrepreneurs. The proposal would also provide emergency assistance to stores at risk of closure and incentivize programs to connect Wisconsin farmers with reliable buyers.
“Access to affordable food shouldn’t change just because of your ZIP code,” Barnes said in a statement, also slamming Republicans including former President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany for cutting SNAP benefits and enacting tariffs, which Barnes said have driven up food costs.
“By investing in local entrepreneurs and creating local markets for family farms, my plan will lead to greater food access and lower costs for Wisconsin families in urban and rural communities,” he said.
Lao Restaurant Opens at 3rd Street Market
A new location for Lao restaurant SapSap opened earlier this week at 3rd Street Market Hall.
The expansion, first announced by Urban Milwaukee in November, brings dishes like egg rolls, stir-fried noodles and sticky rice to the downtown hub, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave.
It’s one of several recent market changes, which also include an existing vendor’s rebrand and a new gaming experience.
Founder Alex Hanesakda launched the SapSap in 2015, paying homage to his family roots by showcasing authentic flavors from his childhood. The concept has operated in various formats over the past decade, hosting pop-ups, private events and, at one time, running a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
City Suspends Northwest Side Bar
City officials sparred over the fate of a Northwest Side tavern earlier this month, divided over whether to renew its license outright or with a suspension.
The Milwaukee Common Council‘s Tuesday vote favored the latter, resulting in a 15-day suspension for New Entertainers, 5321 W. Green Tree Rd. The decision was based on a police report detailing multiple fights between patrons, including one that later escalated to a fatal shooting off-premises.
Council members unanimously approved the closure, which runs Feb. 6 through 20, aligning with an earlier recommendation from area Alderwoman Larresa Taylor. Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa was recorded as excused.
Earlier this month, Alderman Alex Brower suggested during a renewal hearing that the committee forgo a suspension, saying the bar never violated its plan of operation and the incidents on the police report—two fights, disorderly conduct, and one underage entry—didn’t justify the lengthy suspension Taylor had requested.
Milwaukee Nabs 4 James Beard Nominations
Vanessa Rose garnered immediate local praise with the June opening of her Bay View restaurant, Mother’s. Diners raved over the global small plates, complementary cocktails and European approach to service—all backed by an ethos that prioritizes teamwork, inclusivity and fair wages.
Opening a restaurant is risky. Opening one with a people-first business model is even more so. Yet less than seven months into service, Rose woke up Wednesday to a James Beard Award nomination.
Rose is listed in the Emerging Chef category, joining 19 other semifinalists from Philadelphia to Honolulu—and including E.J. Lagasse, son of the legendary Emeril Lagasse.
Milwaukee chefs and businesses earned three additional nominations in separate categories: 1033 Omakase is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant, The Mothership is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar and Lisa Kirkpatrick and Paul Zerkel are among the nominees for Best Chef: Midwest.
Is Sam’s Tap in Bay View Closed For Good?
Sam’s Tap has served as a casual Bay View watering hole since 2016, offering beer and cocktails, snacks, bar games and occasional open mic nights at 3118 S. Chase Ave.
Now, it appears to be closed. The tavern, led by Sam Leaf, went quiet last fall, leaving patrons wondering when—and if—it will return.
Sam’s Tap was last open in November, according to its social media page, but has since been marked temporarily closed online. The business’s phone number is also disconnected.
The apparent closure would mark the end of a nearly decade-long run in the neighborhood and leaves a historic building, originally constructed in 1929, without a tenant.
City Suspends Pink Agave
Silver Spring Sentry is Closing
Another northside grocery store has announced its upcoming closure, continuing a string of shutdowns raising alarms among residents and city leaders.
Sentry Foods will cease operations at 6350 W. Silver Spring Dr., according to signage posted at the store over the weekend. An exact date has not been announced.
The latest development follows Aldi’s Jan. 11 closure at 5301 N. Hopkins St., which drew criticism from area Alderwoman Andrea Pratt, and Pick ‘n Save’s exit from locations at 2355 N. 35th St. and 1735 W. Silver Spring Dr., in Glendale, over the summer. Another store, Sherman Park Grocery, recently issued a plea for community support, warning of imminent closure without immediate action.
Neighbors and elected officials have protested the trend, warning of widening food deserts.
DOC’s Commerce Smokehouse Is a BBQ Blast
If you are looking for some tasty barbecue, check out DOC’s Commerce Smokehouse on Vel R. Phillips Avenue in downtown Milwaukee, across the street from the Baird Center and four blocks from Fiserv Forum. The location suggests it could get busy on nights when there are events at the Forum — and it does, as our server told us — but if you come for lunch on a weekday, as friends and I did twice recently, parking was easy and DOC’s wasn’t overly busy.
If you are looking for a starter, a good choice is the hat trick, a trio of pimento cheese, L.A. caviar and smoked onion dip. My companion, who hails from Texas, spoke highly of the heavily pimento-studded cheese, a Southern specialty, while the rest of us decided the L.A. caviar, made with black-eyed peas in a balsamic marinade, must be an acquired Southern taste. The smoked onion dip, flavored with smoked paprika, was a perfect match for the house-made chips. The trio also included saltines, perhaps intended to pair with the caviar.
The dry-rubbed St. Louis ribs had a lot of flavors from the rub. A dash of DOC’s spicy TX heat sauce added pops of acidity to the ribs, which were meant to be hand-held and gnawed to get all the meat off the bones.
You can order your Angus brisket on a plate or in a sandwich, and fatty or not. The brisket, like the ribs, needed sauce. DOC’s original sweet sauce paired well with my fatty brisket, which was also smoked with a dry rub. There was enough fat to add buttery flavor, but not so much that it overpowered the meat.
Draft & Co. Opens Downtown
The long-awaited Draft & Co. began its soft opening this week at Vel R. Phillips Plaza. The bar and cafe is intended to activate the downtown gathering space, which debuted in June 2024.
Led by tavern veteran Nathaniel Davauer, Draft & Co. offers 32 rotating tap lines—many featuring local craft beers—along with draft cocktails, wine, ciders and a more than a dozen non-alcoholic options.
A limited food menu features smash burgers, chicken tenders and snacks like French fries, cheese curds and soft pretzel sticks. Davauer previously shared a goal to revive Soup Bros—a former Walker’s Point cafe—in the new location.
Draft & Co. occupies a 2,900-square-foot building at 401 W. Wisconsin Ave., located on the western edge of the plaza. The custom build-out blends an industrial feel with vintage touches, including growler pendant lights and carved wood decor, also featuring a wraparound bar, high-top tables and booth seating.
Vacant Northside Building Could Become Community Cafe
Secret Cocktail Lounge Expanding
Shanghai, one of Milwaukee’s trendiest cocktail bars, is expanding its East Side space.
Housed in a former cleaning closet and hidden behind a discreetly marked gate in Black Cat Alley, the lounge has nonetheless maintained an enthusiastic fanbase since its 2019 opening—out of sight, but not out of mind.
Its sustained popularity, paired with its small footprint, has limited operations, Shanghai shared in a news release. “People can’t keep a secret, so we had to do something about it.”
The larger layout, unveiled Jan. 15, can seat up to 45 guests and allows Shanghai to accommodate parties of eight, up from a previous maximum of four. The space will also be available for private events and full buyouts, a frequent request, according to the release.
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