Curry Cat Debuts in Harbor District

Curry Cat MKE. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Curry Cat MKE was a bright spot at Saturday’s Harbor Lights festival, serving Asian-inspired comfort food to crowds braving below-freezing temperatures.

The mobile business, led by Eric Cieplensky and Cory Trones, dished up Japanese golden curry, plum teriyaki meatballs and vegetarian fried rice with pickled daikon and optional roasted Spam.

Along with heartier offerings, Asian-style chips, hot miso soup and toasted sesame slaw rounded out the soft opening menu.

“Thank you all for your wonderful and much needed support,” Cieplensky and Trones wrote to followers on social media ahead of the weekend appearance. “Every single little bit counts.”

First conceptualized as part of Red Maple, which opened in 2023, the curry-focused food business had a slow burn, eventually hosting its first pop-up in December 2025 at Clementines.

Weekly appearances followed, with a rotating menu featuring beef bulgogi walking tacos, crab rangoon dip, gyoza fried rice, egg roll s’mores and other fusion dishes.

Now officially licensed as a food truck, Curry Cat is poised to ramp up operations in the coming months, with a full-scale celebration on the horizon.

“Our grand opening is going to go so incredibly hard,” the post continued.

For future updates and menu drops, follow the business’s Facebook page.

Fast Food Restaurant Proposed For High-Turnover Building

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Cafe With Healthy Options Proposed For Center Street

A vacant northside building could soon become a hub for healthy and affordable meals under a proposal from industry veteran Tomica Thomas.

The former operator of Fast Break Cafe intends to purchase and redevelop the city-owned property at 1633-1635 W. Center St. as a site for her new business, Tomica’s Corner Cafe.

The Milwaukee Common Council‘s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee unanimously approved the sale at its Feb. 24 hearing. Thomas will pay $40,000 for the property, which the city acquired through tax foreclosure in July 2025.

Once open, Tomica’s Corner Cafe would focus on nutritious breakfast and lunch options such as salads, wraps, sandwiches, parfaits and smoothies. A dinner menu would rotate daily, featuring comfort foods like steak and rice, Caribbean oxtails and soul food.

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The Laughing Tap Returns in March

The Laughing Tap is set to reopen next month, completing its move from Walker’s Point to a larger, more prominent space in the George Watts and Son Building at 761 N. Jefferson St.

With room for more than 100 patrons, the downtown space — a former tea shop — emerged as a favorite after dozens of tours across the city, co-owner Matt Kemple said, calling the 100-year-old Revival-style building “the perfect spot.”

“It allows us to elevate the live comedy experience with a bigger space, in a great neighborhood with amazing restaurants and other amenities,” Kemple said in a statement.

Wisconsin native Nate Craig will christen the new venue with sets on March 27 and 28. The comedian’s homecoming marks the end of a nine-month hiatus for the tavern and comedy club, which previously operated at 706 S. 5th St.

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Knickerbocker Hotel Unveils Plans For Bakery and Cafe

A Southwestern-inspired bakery and cafe, La Posada, is slated to open at the Knickerbocker on the Lake, filling a vacant street-level space on the west side of the hotel, 1028 E. Juneau Ave.

The new business aims to become a third space for the neighborhood, featuring local art, ample seating, coffee drinks and pastries — plus areas for gathering and future community events.

La Posada will also highlight New Mexican cuisine, a regional style shaped by Indigenous Pueblo, Spanish and Mexican traditions. Popular dishes — including stacked enchiladas, breakfast burritos, red chile pork tamales and carne adovada — are characterized by heavy use of red and green chile peppers, along with ingredients like blue corn, hominy and pinto beans.

Danee Christensen will lead the food and beverage programs, drawing on her past experience as owner of Three Fifty Desserts, a cottage pastry shop. The cafe team also includes owner David Conell, general manager Larry Robe and Sophie Zogg, creative director and marketing concepts consultant.

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New Mediterranean Restaurant Opens Downtown

Aya, the new restaurant from Saffron owners Fatima and Hanish Kumar, opened to the public Feb. 23 following a four-service soft launch at 700 E. Kilbourn Ave.

With wagyu kebabs, tableside Greek salad and caviar service, Aya breaks the Mediterranean mold in Milwaukee, offering staples reimagined through a Middle Eastern lens.

Like its sister restaurant in the Historic Third Ward, showmanship is central at Aya, which wafts dry ice over colorful cocktails and finishes dishes — from salads to creamy hummus — with delicate edible flowers.

Where Saffron is dimly lit and intimate, however, Aya is bright and open, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, reflective marble accent walls and a canopy of olive trees. Textured art and custom furniture bring additional depth to the spacious dining area, located at the ground level of Ascent, a 25-story luxury residential tower that gained recognition in 2025 as the world’s tallest mass timber building.

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Dunkin’ Opens New Milwaukee Shop

A new Dunkin’ is open at 3267 S. Chase Ave., bringing quick-service coffee, breakfast and treats to a commuter-heavy stretch of southern Bay View.

The chain now has 14 Milwaukee locations, including two airport kiosks. Its newest outlet occupies 1,167 square feet inside a multi-tenant retail building constructed in 2021, offering on-site dining, carryout and drive-thru service.

Franchisee Ravi Pandya leads the location, growing his portfolio of area Dunkin’ stores, which also include Milwaukee shops on S. 27th Street and W. Layton Avenue.

Founded in Massachusetts in 1950, Dunkin’ — formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts — has gained international popularity with more than 14,000 restaurants worldwide.

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Vientiane Noodle Shop Offers Pho and Much More

February, also known locally as Phobruary, is a good time to visit Vientiane Noodle Shop on West National Avenue to try the pho, which is featured there. Friends and I recently enjoyed two lunches there. Vientiane serves a variety of Laotian, Vietnamese and Thai dishes, including several kinds of pho, the Vietnamese soup that begins with a rich stock usually made with beef bones and spices such as cinnamon, anise and ginger, and, for extra umami, a touch of fish sauce. This flavorful broth is poured over rice noodles and meat and served with mung bean sprouts, basil and lime wedges.

At Vientiane you can order the Phobruary special pho, beef and meatballs, at the special price of $8, or do as my companion did and order pho duck. This was a gigantic bowl of broth and noodles plus several pieces of duck, bones and all. We noted that the beef and meatball special came in a smaller bowl that still held more than enough pho for a satisfying lunch, while half of my companion’s duck went home for another meal.

You can order the Thai yellow noodles two ways: crispy mee krob, served with a variety of vegetables, or pad yellow noodles, stir-fried with vegetables in a dense sauce that created a rich and filling entrée. Slices of chicken were mixed with mushrooms, kale, carrots and broccoli in the pad yellow noodles, and, like the pho, half of this dish went home for another meal.

We found the three appetizers, from a list of 14 appetizers on the menu, all exceptionally tasty. Egg rolls stuffed with pork and served with a spicy sweet-and-sour sauce, fried Vientiane sausage and crab rangoon left no doubt that great care is taken with everything on the menu. Other appetizers included steamed Chinese broccoli, marinated and deep-fried quail, firecracker shrimp and pork belly.

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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.”

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