Two New Downtown Restaurants

Doc’s Commerce Smokehous. Photo from Facebook.

Doc’s Commerce Smokehouse will be serving Southern style barbecue beginning the second week in March. The restaurant will be located in the downtown SpringHill Suites Building on 744 N. 4th St. and will feature hickory-smoked meats cooked daily in custom smokers.

In addition to daily specials, menu highlights will be brisket, pulled pork, chicken, ribs and turkey along with sides like Carolina hot slaw, macaroni and cheese, and Southern style Brunswick stew.

OnMilwaukee.com’s Lori Fredrich offers more details from co-owner Brent Brashier:

“Every day, we’ll have chalkboard specials,” he says. “Most focus on vegetables like collard greens, creamed corn and anything that’s fresh,” Brashier notes. “But we also have a special we call redneck fries that features fries topped with cheese sauce, brisket and sliced jalapenos.”

Meats are served bare, with a choice of regional sauces including a spicy Texas-style sauce, a tangy tomato-based Memphis style sauce, Eastern Carolina pepper sauce, Doc’s signature sauce which is sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, and a poultry-friendly Alabama-style white sauce made with mayonnaise and vinegar.

Pizzeria San Giorgio

Pizzeria San Giorgio opened for business Downtown and is serving up traditional Neapolitan style pizzas daily.  The restaurant is located in the building that used to be home to Thai Palace at 838 N. Old World 3rd St.

Carol Deptolla of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story:

The wood-burning Stefano Ferrara oven at San Giorgio will take 70 to 90 seconds to bake the 10 or so kinds of pizza on the menu, such as Margherita with buffalo milk mozzarella and the San Giorgio, topped with olive oil instead of tomato sauce and with braised fennel, crisped pancetta, fresh mozzarella and a sunny-side-up egg. Pizza prices are expected to range from $10 to $16.

Besides pizza, the restaurant will serve rotisserie chicken with roasted rosemary potatoes and rapini; panini on the house ciabatta, including porchetta, from Fazzari’s father’s recipe for roast pork; salads that will include one with beets roasted in the wood-fired oven; and soups such as vegetable broth with house tortellini, filled with cheese.

Mason Street Grill Gets Makeover

Milwaukee staple, Mason Street Grill has re-opened after a brief closure with many exciting updates to the interior and menu. To celebrate the restaurant’s 10th anniversary, a special anniversary menu is now available that will feature current favorites as well as some old classics. There will also be a frequently changing selection of four to six dishes only available for patrons who dine at the chef’s counter.

Fredrich has a rundown of all the updates.

Mason Street Grill Re-Opening and Anniversary

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MealSteals Now Offers “Flash Steals”

MealSteals, the Milwaukee-based app that allows locals to explore nightly, happy hour, and brunch specials in town has launched a new, merchant-side mobile app.

The new app, which launched on Feb. 7, allows businesses to post recurring, nightly, or one-time specials called “FlashSteals” that will be seen on the user app by thousands of nearby locals who are looking to eat or drink right now.

An update to the user app was released with the launch as well that includes speed, performance, and interface enhancements. For more information about both apps check out www.mealsteals.com

Chillwaukee’s Ice Pops Coming

Ready for summer? Starting in May, Chillwaukee’s cargo trike will hit the streets of Milwaukee serving up a variety of tasty, handcrafted ice pops in a variety of flavors. Here is the company’s official story:

Chillwaukee is a handcrafted ice pop company in Milwaukee, WI. Our goal is to create a rad product that takes very little but gives a whole lot. Chillwaukee is fueled by local ingredients, bicycles, and the people around us.

For more information on the company, flavors they plan to serve, and events they can be found at, check out their official website https://www.chillwaukeepops.com/

Kickstarting Gathering Place Brewing

Gathering Place Brewing Company, which plans to open in Riverwest in a few short months, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a walk-in cooler and bar for its tasting room.

Founder and President Joe Yeado caught the home brewing bug while studying in Germany several years back. His beer has since won many home brew competitions including three first place ribbons at last year’s Wisconsin State Fair. He has leased a space in Riverwest and is in the process of building the production area and tasting room.

The Kickstarter campaign page has a ton of great background information on the brewery and info about all the cool Gathering Place Brewery Company swag you can get with different levels of donations.

Construction of Gathering Place Brewing Company

Wisconsin Foodie Smorgasbord

Arthur Ircink, creator of the Emmy-winning television show “Wisconsin Foodie”, is putting on a unique food experience Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino event center.

The event will feature foods and beverages from more than 35 artisan makers who have been featured on “Wisconsin Foodie.” The event will also feature master classes relating to food-pairing and special dining experiences with the chefs for V.I.P ticket-holders. Fredrich has more details, and check out www.wisconsinfoodie.com for ticket information.

Now Closing: Allium

Allium located at 2101 N. Prospect Ave. in now closed. Allium was known for its beer, wine, and its simple, yet thoughtful small plates. A posting on Allium’s official Facebook page says that the business is “closed until further notice” and that they are “taking time to re-evaluate the future of the business.”