Third Ward Dining Space For Sale
Plus: Frozen yogurt bar closes, WurstBar rebrands and Mexican restaurant opens near downtown.
509 E. Erie St. Photo taken April 25, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
The expansive riverside restaurant at 509 E. Erie St. is ready for its next tenant.
Previously home to Brisa Do Mar — and before that, Riverfront Pizzeria Bar & Grill — the location has been vacant since December 2025.
Paul Monigal of Corley Real Estate listed the 6,204-square-foot space in early February, with options to lease or purchase for $1.9 million.
According to the listing, the property “offers endless configurations,” with office or custom buildouts negotiable. Interested parties could also acquire the existing kitchen equipment.
Located less than a mile from Henry Meier Festival Park, the property features event space, a boat pier and a large outdoor patio overlooking the Milwaukee River. It’s surrounded by luxury residential buildings, with nearby commercial tenants including 2A Wine Merchants, Milwaukee Sail Loft, Cavas and DanDan.
Brisa Do Mar opened in May 2024, offering Mediterranean cuisine and wood-fired pizzas. Owner Ramses Alvarez told Urban Milwaukee in December that he had hoped to sell the turnkey business to a friend who would maintain its name and menu, but those plans never materialized.
New Operator Will Reopen Wantable Cafe
For the second time in a year, Wantable Cafe is set to reopen under new ownership.
41Fork Hospitality will be the latest operator, adding the coffee shop and coworking space to its portfolio of private event spaces and catering businesses.
A license application filed Thursday outlines plans to reactivate the space at 123 E. Walker St. with a full breakfast and lunch menu, coffee program, alcoholic beverages, and public entertainment.
The relaunch would also introduce 41Fork Exchange, described as a “home for rotating menus and robust grab-and-go offerings.”
Agency Cocktail Lounge Announces Food Partner
Outside-the-box beverages helped put Agency on the map at 817 N. Marshall St., where Baja Blast-inspired sips and gastronomic techniques earned the cocktail lounge a 2025 James Beard Award nod.
Now, it has a food program to match.
Zach and Katrina Panoske, leaders of the modern Filipino pop-up Sinta, have partnered with Agency to offer a selection of small plates and bar snacks designed to complement the featured cocktails.
Following a soft launch in January, the full menu became available Feb. 18.
My Yo My Closed, Space for Sale
My Yo My has closed its doors at 100 S. Water St., ending a nearly 14-year run just outside the Historic Third Ward.
The self-serve frozen yogurt bar was one of the city’s last, surviving long after a mid-2010s boom brought spots such as Berry Me, Cream City Swirl and Yo Fresh to an area traditionally loyal to frozen custard.
My Yo My opened in 2012, offering soft-serve frozen yogurt with toppings such as nuts, candies and fresh fruit. The model allowed guests to customize their own treats, dispensing swirls of creamy yogurt in any flavor and quantity they wanted.
In addition to its regular fro-yo rotation, the shop offered several varieties of frozen custard to honor local tastes.
WurstBar on Brady Gets New Name
Back in 2021, WurstBar set out to bring a taste of Berlin to Milwaukee. After more than five years of serving German street food and beer, the tavern has outgrown its niche — and its name.
On Saturday, WurstBar will officially rebrand as Underground Tavern, debuting a new menu, updated decor and a fresh identity as a no-frills dive bar.
“When people heard the name WurstBar, their minds — understandably — went right to a German bar,” said Ryan Cooke, director of operations for ownership group Heard Hospitality. “As we started to get away from that, realizing it was too niche, it led to a point of confusion.”
Cooke described the shift as an evolution rather than a total reimagining. “Really, what we’re doing is taking what worked from WurstBar and giving it a new name to help customers really identify with what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Jazz-Focused Cafe Closing
Sam’s Place Jazz Cafe is winding down operations at 3338 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., with plans to host its final service Friday, Feb. 20.
The jazz-focused coffeehouse is led by Sam Belton, who counts business ownership among his many descriptors, along with pastor, musician, barista and educator.
Belton cited economic challenges in his decision to close the cafe, which has offered locally roasted coffee from his own Abyssinia Coffee Roasters, along with brunch and live jazz music, for nearly five years in the Harambee neighborhood.
In an online post, Belton shared several paragraphs reflecting on the closure — though the message could have been summed up in two words: gone fishing. With his newfound free time, Belton plans to travel across Africa spreading the gospel, take part in regional gigs and enjoy “peace on the water with a fishing line in hand.”
Empanada Vendor Opens at Public Market
La Masa opened in a newly constructed vendor stand at the Milwaukee Public Market this week, adding Argentine-inspired empanadas to an existing lineup of global eats, pastries, seafood and other specialty foods.
The new restaurant is located near the market’s central staircase, across from Thief Wine Shop & Bar and Freese’s Candy Shoppe. It brings a fresh feel and additional seating to the former site of On the Bus, which offered an all-vegan menu from behind the wheel of a turquoise Volkswagen.
La Masa’s stand includes a takeout counter and a dine-in bar, and also features a floral ceiling installation and murals by Wisconsin artist Colleen Drew.
“La Masa represents the kind of evolution we value at the market,” said Paul Schwartz, executive director of the Milwaukee Public Market and Business Improvement District No. 2. “The impressively redesigned space, paired with a fresh and authentic menu, creates an experience that invites people to gather and enjoy something that accommodates a range of dining preferences.”
Bartolotta Group Unveils New Downtown Restaurant
A European-inspired steakhouse, High Stakes by Bartolotta, is set to replace The Rumpus Room at 1030 N. Water St., bringing new life to the space that has been closed since early 2020.
The Bartolotta Restaurants announced the project Wednesday, describing it as an evolution of the area’s restaurant scene and an effort to reshape fine dining in downtown Milwaukee.
Expected to open this summer, High Stakes will draw from Chef Paul Bartolotta’s travels and previous ventures, including the Las Vegas restaurant he led when he earned the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef Southwest.
“I am excited to bring this space back to life for Milwaukee and our visitors as an all-new Bartolotta restaurant,” said Bartolotta, the company’s co-founder and owner, in a statement. “Every detail has been carefully curated to deliver an elevated steakhouse experience that feels both timeless and distinctly modern.”
All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Restaurant Opens Downtown
ZX Sushi brings a taste of the ocean to Riverside Lofts.
The new restaurant opened Feb. 14 on the ground floor of the apartment building at 823 N. 2nd St., serving dozens of sushi rolls, ramen, bento boxes and other Japanese specialties.
The sit-down eatery caters to visitors at the nearby Baird Center and Deer District, offering lunch specials and catering. TVs for sports viewing and a separate party room accommodate groups of up to 100 guests.
“We look forward to becoming a go-to destination for everything from corporate lunches to game nights and private celebrations,” owner Andy Zheng said in a statement.
Milwaukee Tater Tot Company Expands Statewide
Milwaukee-based food truck Tots on the Street has expanded statewide, bringing its handmade tater tots to the frozen foods aisle at all Pick ’n Save and Metro Market locations across Wisconsin.
The early-January rollout added roughly 100 stores to the brand’s footprint, marking its largest retail push to date and further stretching the business whose local popularity has already tested its production capacity.
Co-founder Hannah Kopplin summed up the shift in a single word: “life-changing.”
“It was one of those crying-of-happiness moments,” said Kopplin, who runs the business with her mom, Tami. The mother-daughter team participated in a local Roundy’s pitch last year and learned in October that Tots had been selected.
Lupi & Iris Was a Special Experience
The first thing my companions and I noticed when we walked into the dining room at Lupi & Iris was the subtle aroma of smoke from the wood-burning oven. We were there for Sunday brunch. We knew at once that we had entered a special place: The classy chandeliers, the sound-absorbing panels on the ceiling, the gorgeous wine cellar in the main dining room, and even the pillars wrapped in something to absorb sound all told us the owners had paid attention to every tiny detail.
What to order for brunch presented a dilemma, as each of the seven brunch entrees or “oeufs” sounded too delicious to pass on. There was oeufs Benedict with smoked salmon; trofie al limone, pasta quills with ricotta and a poached egg; a classic quiche Lorraine; and the dishes we settled on: uova in purgatorio, galette d’oeufs and polenta.
For the eggs in purgatory, similar to shakshuka, two eggs were baked in tomato sauce along with onions and peppers and served on toasted country bread from Rocket Baby that had a mildly smoky taste from the wood-burning oven. When the runny egg yolks mingled with the spicy sauce and the thick-sliced bread, it turned into an irresistible riot of flavors.
Ditto for my companion’s polenta, a creamy, understated dish that included a variety of sautéed wild mushrooms that were hidden underneath the polenta. For a chewy contrast, there was kale, and on top, two sunny-side-up eggs completed this entrée that was full of surprises.
Mexican Restaurant Opens Near Downtown
Many love stories start at restaurants. Allende Cocina Mexicana is the result of one.
The Mexican restaurant opened Monday at 170 S. 1st St., the former site of Stack’d Burger Bar, and will end its first week with Valentine’s Day service featuring a beet- and white chocolate-infused mole to honor the holiday.
When owners Cesar Lopez and Yolanda Herrera Montes welcome couples for the occasion, they’ll also quietly celebrate their own relationship. The pair were married in San Miguel de Allende, a Mexican city that inspired the restaurant’s name.
A wedding photo in the entryway shows the couple in front of Parroquia San Miguel Arcángel, the city’s iconic pink church where they exchanged vows. Beside it hangs a later image, taken when the couple returned to the site with their baby.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
Now Serving
-
Amilinda Unveils a Sandwich Hour
Feb 15th, 2026 by Sophie Bolich
-
Farmers Market Coming to Deer District
Feb 8th, 2026 by Sophie Bolich
-
Yuengling Beer Comes to Wisconsin
Feb 1st, 2026 by Sophie Bolich
