Todd I Believe I Can Fry Opens in Bay View
The takeout-focused restaurant sells popular Asian street foods such as takoyaki and gyoza.
Site of Todd I Believe I Can Fry, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Photo taken Jan. 25, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
Todd I Believe I Can Fry opened its doors in Bay View on Monday, bringing a new option for quick and casual meals to the neighborhood.
Despite less-than-ideal weather conditions, the takeout-focused restaurant, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., enjoyed steady business throughout its first week, with owner Paphitchaya Liotrakun flitting between the counter and the kitchen to take and fulfill orders.
Though far from the only fast-casual restaurant in the area, Todd I Believe I Can Fry offers a unique menu of Asian-style street foods, from snacks like gyoza and ika geso (fried squid) to meal-sized orders of wings and other specialties.
In addition to chicken wings, available with a choice of seven different sauces, the restaurant sells chicken tenders and karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken).
There’s also a variety of snack-sized appetizers — ideal for sampling a bit of everything. That includes cheese curds, french fries, sweet potato fries, crispy fried tofu, potato korokke (mashed potato cakes served with katsu sauce and kewpie mayo), onion rings and takoyaki (octopus balls topped with bonito flakes, mayonnaise and katsu sauce).
Side orders of kimchi, kimchi slaw and pickled Korean radish are the perfect accompaniment to the other menu items, providing a hit of acidity to cut through the richness.
In addition to its food, the restaurant’s title has been a source of buzz leading up to its opening day. Liotrakun said the idea started with the word “Todd,” which means “fry” in Thai, her native language. She realized the word alone, commonly understood as a name in English, could cause some confusion, so she incorporated it into the song lyric “I believe I can fly,” adding a twist to the final word as a nod to her menu of fried foods.
The new restaurant is a welcome addition in the winter, but will especially shine once guests can take full advantage of its patio space.
For now, guests can grab a seat at one of four window-facing stools or take their meals to go. Items are made fresh to order, so expect a bit of a wait. Online orders can also be placed in advance.
The tiny restaurant space isn’t a bad place to hang out for a spell, offering plenty of natural light and a bright, hand-painted mural featuring Milwaukee-themed doodles and cartoon-style menu items.
If you linger long enough, you might even learn how to say “beer” in Korean, which could come in handy, as the restaurant also offers a selection of alcoholic beverages. A cooler at the counter is stocked with domestic and imported beers, soju, wine and sake. Canned teas and a variety of soft drinks are also available.
Todd I Believe I Can Fry is the first of several establishments planned for a $2.5 million restaurant complex being developed by Rice N Roll co-owner Pramoth Lertsinsongserm, who began work on the 0.37-acre lot at 2159-2161 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in 2022.
The new restaurant is set back from Kinnickinnic Avenue. It occupies 891 square feet in the southern portion of a newly-constructed building.
Todd I Believe I Can Fry is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Those hours are likely to extend in the future.
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