Crowd Favorite Returns to Mekong Cafe
Plus: Licenses, lattes, last laughs and a Latin-inspired tavern.
Mekong Cafe, 5930 W. North Ave. Photo taken April 26, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.
Fans spoke, and Mekong Cafe listened — after years of constant requests, the restaurant is bringing back its lunch buffet.
Featuring dozens of authentic Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian dishes, the buffet will officially return May 2, the owners announced on social media.
Offerings will vary daily, though staples such as sticky rice, crying tiger steak, kapoon noodles, bánh canh Vietnamese noodle soup, banh xeo, mok gai, Laotian bamboo soup, and banh mi sandwiches will remain mainstays.
The reopening marks a major milestone for both the restaurant and its customers, symbolizing a long-awaited return to pre-pandemic operations after years of uncertainty and challenges.
Mother-daughter duo Banh Phongsavat and Sichanh Volp co-own Mekong Cafe, which has operated at 5930 W. North Ave. since 2008.
In 2020, the restaurant suspended in-person service amid the pandemic and converted its dining space into an Asian grocery store. Along with launching the new retail operation, the restaurant continued to prepare orders for carryout and delivery.
Mekong scaled back its grocery area and reopened part of the restaurant for sit-down dining in 2023, but held off on bringing back the buffet for an additional two years.
Starting Friday, the buffet will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
With New Alderman in Place, Three Milwaukee Businesses Advance After Delays
Three local businesses are one step closer to full operation after the Milwaukee Common Council voted Tuesday to approve their previously delayed licenses.
Prairie Springs on Park, an event space, Sip & Purr, a cat cafe and Purslane, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, are now fully licensed — thanks to a new addition to the council: Alex Brower.
The District 3 alderman was voted into office April 1, filling a five-month vacancy that had left several proposed businesses on hold. He endorsed the aforementioned businesses during a special licenses committee hearing just before the council vote.
Liquor licenses for The Seafood Shack at 2336 N. Farwell Ave., Donnie’s Bar at 1686 N. Van Buren St., Back Street at 2116 N. Farwell Ave are still pending, along with extended hours applications for The Gallery, 2335 N. Murray Ave., following its change of ownership.
Walker’s Point Comedy Club Announces Move
A popular Milwaukee comedy club will have its last laughs in June before hitting the road for the summer.
The Laughing Tap, 706 S. 5th St., will close temporarily, with plans to reopen in a new location.
While the new home has yet to be announced, the move is expected to expand the club’s offerings with more seating, bigger acts and, according to a social media post, “more laughs than ever before.”
The Laughing Tap will host its final shows on June 13 and 14, with the last Laughs on Tap Open Mic set for June 18. After that, the club will close its doors for several months, aiming to welcome guests to its new space in early fall.
Stone Creek Launches Compostable Coffee Pods
Escape Pods have landed at Stone Creek Coffee.
The cafe and roastery debuted a new line of single-use, Keurig-compatible coffee pods on Earth Day, promoting them as not only more flavorful than standard single-serving pods but also more environmentally friendly.
Available in three of Stone Creek’s signature blends, each Escape Pod holds 70% more coffee and comes in a plant-based, commercially compostable shell that fully breaks down at commercial or industrial composting facilities.
New Dunkin’ Planned For Bay View
Dunkin’ is going for a baker’s dozen in Milwaukee.
The popular coffee and doughnut chain, operates 12 locations in the city of Milwaukee, including two airport kiosks. A new addition in Bay View would push the total to 13.
Franchisee Ravi Pandya plans to open a cafe at 3259 S. Chase Ave., located within a multi-tenant retail building that also contains an AT&T store. Dunkin’ would occupy a 1,167-square-foot commercial space on the building’s south end, offering carryout and drive-through services, pending city approval.
A seasoned operator, Pandya has seven Dunkin’ locations throughout the Milwaukee area. He noted this experience in a license application, which was recently submitted to the city alongside an occupancy permit.
Anodyne Union Files For Election After Management Denied Voluntary Recognition
When Anodyne Coffee workers asked their bosses to recognize their union, their bosses said no.
Now, more workers have joined the union and they’re seeking an election.
On Monday, April 14, employees of the local coffee chain requested union recognition from Fairwave Holdings, LLC, the Missouri-based company that purchased Anodyne in 2023. At the time, more than 90% of workers in the proposed 50 person bargaining unit had signed union authorization cards with the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH).
Two days later, Fairwave responded. President Isaac Hodges sent a letter telling employees that unionization “may not be in the best interest of our team or our culture.” Instead of recognition, Hodges informed workers he and others would fly into town next week to meet with employees.
Council Divided Over Nightclub’s Age Restriction
In February, Allure MKE owner Tino Bates appeared before the Milwaukee Common Council’s Licenses Committee with two requests: to renew the nightclub’s license and to lower its age restriction from 25 to 21.
What followed was more than an hour of debate spread across two separate hearings, ultimately ending with no change to the age limit for the business at 789 N. Jefferson St.
But the discussion left the council divided — some members remain firmly opposed to lowering the age limit, while others voiced their approval, even reiterating their positions during Tuesday’s full council meeting.
Bates first proposed the change at a Feb. 19 renewal hearing, during which area alderman Robert Bauman declined to support it.
Yemeni Cafe Opens in Harbor District
Azal Coffee opened its doors in Milwaukee’s Harbor District last Friday, April 18. By the following Monday, the cafe had already welcomed a number of repeat customers.
“It’s been a lot busier than we expected,” a representative of the business told Urban Milwaukee. “So far, everybody seems to be happy.”
Located at 1318 S. 1st St., Azal is the area’s newest Yemeni coffee shop, featuring beans sourced from one of the world’s oldest and most storied coffee regions, along with teas, refreshers and desserts.
Yemeni-style cafes — a growing trend across the country — are perhaps best known for their specialty lattes, which come in unique flavors like pistachio, Biscoff and Nutella. The menu at Azal features all three, along with Turkish coffee and specialty drinks such as adeni tea and qishr, made with coffee husks, ginger and cinnamon.
Latin-Inspired Tavern For Walker’s Point
A new operator is set to take over the former Lost Valley Cider Co. space at 408 W. Florida St., trading apples for agave with the launch of a Latin-inspired tavern.
Tequila, mezcal, sotol and more will take center stage at Banderas, which is expected to open this summer in Walker’s Point.
The new venue, led by Caravan Hospitality Group, would occupy a 1,200-square-foot commercial space on the first floor of Brix Apartment Lofts; Lost Valley operated there for eight years until its closure last October.
Banderas plans to showcase its spirits in tropical cocktails and tasting flights, served with a pour of sour-spicy sangrita. The tomato- and citrus-based drink originated in Jalisco, where it’s traditionally sipped alternately with high-end tequilas.
Goodkind Hosts ‘Korea De Rez’ Pop-Up
Traditional Korean and Ojibwe cuisines are shaped by distinct histories, ingredients and techniques, yet they share key commonalities, particularly in their use of fermentation and preservation.
An upcoming pop-up brings both to the table, blending the unique flavors of each culture for a one-of-a-kind dining experience. Chefs Jenny Lee, owner of Kiuda MKE, and Bryce Stevenson, founder of Mijim, will present Korea de Rez Vol. 2 at Goodkind on May 15.
The multi-course menu features Korean staples like bibimbap and ssam—the latter being more of a technique than a dish, referring to the practice of wrapping meat and vegetables in leafy greens as a bite-sized morsel—with Ojibwe influences such as marinated venison, maple syrup and wild rice.
“Ojibwe and Korean foodways share a strong connection to rice, fermentation, and seasonal preservation,” Stevenson said in a statement. “This dinner is a way to showcase our shared values, and also celebrate where our cultures and ingredients diverge.”
New Tenant Announced For Crossroads Collective
Nadi Plates, a Waukesha-based food truck and catering business, is preparing to open its first full-service restaurant on Milwaukee’s East Side, replacing the soon-to-close Crossroads Collective at 2238 N. Farwell Ave.
The new location could be active as soon as late May, just weeks after the food hall’s final day, serving initially as a base for the company’s mobile and catering arms, as well as its vendor stall at American Family Field.
The restaurant is tentatively set to open this fall, following extensive renovations to the current space, which is currently set up to host multiple counter-service concepts.
Nadia Santaniello Bucholtz, owner and executive chef at Nadi Plates, is a first-generation Italian-American and the daughter of two restaurateurs. She said the future restaurant will feature Italian small plates, cocktails and wine, with an emphasis on plant-based and gluten-free options.The concept also includes a European-style espresso bar and cafe, which would operate during the daytime.
Vietnamese Restaurant For East Side
Customers filled the dining room on a recent weeknight at Pho Ever in Hales Corners, spooning chili oil over lemongrass pork skewers and slurping bowls of steaming noodles — the kinds of comforting Vietnamese dishes owner Hai Le has been serving for years.
Soon, Le plans to introduce his recipes to a wider audience with Saigon Baguette, a fast-casual restaurant planned to open this spring on Milwaukee’s East Side.
Le plans to offer a similar menu at the new location, 2338 N. Farwell Ave., with specialties including banh mi, pho and vermicelli noodles. Due to its limited capacity, Saigon Baguette will operate as a counter-service restaurant, serving meals in to-go containers, he said.
The 1,138-square-foot space was previously occupied by Erbert and Gerbert’s, a fast-casual chain.
Nessun Dorma Is a Riverwest Classic
Nessun Dorma, named for a famous aria in Puccini’s opera Turandot, lived up to its name when a companion and I came for dinner on a Wednesday. We noticed a keyboard in the corner of the bar and to our surprise, at exactly 7:30, a young woman with blue hair dressed in jeans, a sweater, and boots, stepped up and began singing an aria. She had a beautiful voice that carried to the back where we were sitting. That delightful and serendipitous discovery was how we learned there will be opera to accompany your dinner every second and fourth Wednesday in this small Riverwest bar.
This was the beginning of a delightful rainy evening filled with good food and Italian opera. A basic menu offered bruschetta, salad, soup, antipasti, and nine paninis. We each ordered two different daily soups, spinach-squash and bacon-potato. Spinach and squash together suggested an odd combination but why not combine green and gold and then puree them to make a healthful broth to retain the flavors of both? Unlike the subtle spinach-squash soup, the potato soup was bold, thick, rich, filled with chunks of bacon and lots of melted cheese.
We followed our soup with a Puccini panini and an entrée-size beet and goat cheese salad. For the Puccini, the chef combined 6 oz. of sliced tenderloin with olive tapenade, grilled onions, peppers, and melted provolone. The thinly sliced tenderloin was delicate, beefy, and fork-tender as it should be. The spicy tapenade added a zesty flavor to the beef and the cheese. The sandwich came with a side salad dressed with the house balsamic vinaigrette, the same dressing the chef used on my beet and goat cheese salad.
The roasted beets in the salad were sliced and retained enough of their firm texture to intensify their earthy flavor. Dabs of creamy goat cheese, toasted walnuts, and very fresh greens dressed with the balsamic created a beet salad that you will want to repeat or perhaps, try to replicate at home.
Wantable Cafe Has New Operators
Tune in, coffee lovers: the team behind Experience Milwaukee, a local podcast, is set to take over operations at Wantable Cafe.
Steve Glynn, founder and co-host of Experience Milwaukee, and Jalem Getz, founder and CEO of Wantable, announced the news in a joint press release Thursday, with the transition set to take effect May 1.
Under its new leadership, Wantable Cafe, 123 E. Walker St., will continue to serve coffee and espresso while also offering a welcoming space for coworking, meetings and community, according to the release.
Meanwhile, Glynn and co-host Adam Derus said they plan to gradually refine the cafe’s overall experience, with an emphasis on attracting creators, innovators and entrepreneurs.
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
-
Zocalo Hosting Inaugural Miche Fest
Apr 20th, 2025 by Sophie Bolich
-
Stack’d Equipment Will Be Auctioned
Apr 13th, 2025 by Sophie Bolich
-
Popular Brewery Tour Returns
Apr 6th, 2025 by Sophie Bolich
