Downtown Snack Shop Reopens
Jr's Treats returns with a shortened menu and a promise of 'delicious' additions.
Jr’s Treats snack shop, 628 N. Water St. Photo taken Jan. 15, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.
After a two-week closure due to a license lapse, Jr’s Treats reopened Wednesday with limited hours and a shortened menu.
Owner Nerilyn Cruz-Colon announced the return in an online post Tuesday night, calling the hiatus “unfortunate.”
“We are still committed to our growth as a small business and have made necessary changes in order to continue to serve you all the best that we can,” she wrote.
Among a host of menu changes, Jr’s Treats, 624 N. Water St., will no longer sell its baked, bone-in chicken wings. The decision follows complaints from Cruz-Colon’s landlord and a resident tenant of the building, discussed publicly during a July 2025 license hearing.
According to Alderman Robert Bauman, the city received “intense” and “relentless” objections to the smell of food cooking at Jr’s Treats.
Cruz-Colon told committee members her kitchen meets regulations and has been inspected by the Milwaukee Health Department. The location doesn’t require a hood, she said, because menu items like fries and wings are baked in an approved commercial convection oven.
Committee members unanimously approved the food dealer’s license transfer application, allowing Cruz-Colon to serve hot food and revise her menu. However, the hearing did not act as a license renewal, and the underlying permit expired Jan. 7, according to a License Division representative.
A new license application was filed March 9.
Jr’s Treats opened in January 2025 between Bodega and the now-closed ELMNT Lounge, specializing in ice cream treats, mini pancakes and hot dogs. The business later expanded its menu with baked chicken wings and personal pizzas.
The snack shop has not yet shared an updated menu, though Cruz-Colon promises it will be “just as delicious.”
Jr’s Treats will open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, with additional hours and updates shared via Facebook and Instagram.
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