Self-Guided Coffee Crawl Coming To Milwaukee
Plus: Free school supplies, South Indian food and a remodel at Stone Creek.
Coffee. Photo by Sophie Bolich.
Nearly a dozen local cafes are set to participate in the upcoming Milwaukee Coffee Crawl, taking place in September with the goal of increasing exposure for small businesses and encouraging customers to break out of their typical caffeine routines.
The self-guided event uses a digital pass that provides a map and details on participating cafes, along with a $5 credit to use at each location. It’s part of an ongoing series held in more than 30 cities nationwide, including Charlotte, Austin and Sacramento.
Launched in 2025, Coffee Crawl is operated by WannaGo LLC.
The Milwaukee installment will include Brew-Jas Coffee House, Casera Cafe & Bakery, Dream Lab, Haven Cafe, Rescued Roasters, Style Pop Cafe, Vendetta Coffee Bar and 41Fork Exchange @ Wantable Cafe, South Milwaukee’s Better Together Cafe and Blum Coffee Garden in Greenfield.
Starting Sept. 1, passholders can visit any featured cafe and apply the $5 credit to an order of their choice. Coffee Crawl has not publicly shared the price of a Milwaukee pass, though passes for previous crawls in other cities have cost $25.
Availability is limited. Join the online waitlist for access.
Gordo’s Hosting School Supply Drive
Get bubble waffles and a backpack at Gordo’s, which plans to host a school supply giveaway at each of its Milwaukee-area locations ahead of the upcoming school year.
The dessert shop, which operates at 2301 S. Howell Ave., 1633 W. Wells St. and 17395 W. Bluemound Rd. in Brookfield, will hand out 100 free backpacks at each location on Aug. 19, with each stocked with additional school supplies, including notebooks, folders, pencils and pens.
Items will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 2 p.m.
‘South Indian Tradition Meets Bold Hot Chicken’ at East Side Restaurant
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New Business Poised To Replace Omega Restaurant
A well-known southside restaurant could soon be no more.
A series of building permits and a zoning change request indicate that Omega restaurant, 3473 S. 27th St., would be replaced by a new branch for Bank of America.
The Charlotte-based bank, the nation’s second-largest, is quickly building out a network of branches in the Milwaukee area. The 27th Street branch would be its fourth in the city proper and seventh in the Milwaukee area.
The restaurant building is part of a larger property, Southgate Marketplace, owned by Fox Point-based Midland Management. Multiple outlot buildings are located on the 4.6-acre site.
Opening Date Revealed for New York-Style Italian Restaurant
One of the most anticipated openings of the year will take place Sept. 15, when Il Ponte debuts at 814 E. Mason St., inside Northwestern Mutual North Building, which is nearing the end of a major overhaul.
The New York-style Italian eatery will be the second Milwaukee restaurant from owners Adam Siegel and Daria Aitken-Siegel, who also operate the nearby Lupi & Iris.
Il Ponte promises a more casual approach than its Mediterranean-inspired sibling, serving housemade pastas with red sauce, sandwiches and modern riffs on traditional Italian dishes. Breakfast with bar seating and grab-and-go options will contribute to the restaurant’s “everyday” atmosphere, according to a news release.
The menu, though not yet released in its entirety, will take inspiration from Aitken-Siegel’s New York roots and Neapolitan heritage. She’ll hold dual roles at the restaurant, serving as a co-owner and in-house florist/floral designer.
Owner Shares Plans For Proposed Korean BBQ Restaurant
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3rd Street Market Hall Plans Two In-House Concepts
More than four years after launching as a small-business-focused food court, 3rd Street Market Hall is poised to add two in-house vendors to its lineup.
Green Thumb Salad Spot and Clutch Sandwich Co. are expected to join nearly two dozen independently operated businesses at the market, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave., in mid-September, leadership announced earlier this week.
Two current tenants, Goodland Greens and Criollo Rotisserie Chicken, will leave the market as part of the transition, while Creta Mediterranean Grill will move into Criollo’s space.
The changes will place the incoming concepts in two of the most prominent spaces in the hall, directly in front of the building’s main entrance.
$2.5 Million State Grant Links Wisconsin Farms And Food Pantries
Michael Gutschenritter prides himself on producing what he considers some of the finest eggs in the state at Three Brothers Farm in Oconomowoc. His free-range, organically fed hens lay about 2,500 eggs a day during peak parts of the year.
Together with two other farms, Gutschenritter sells his eggs to grocery stores and restaurants around Wisconsin through his company, Prairie Gold Organics. But he’s always been a little bothered by the fact that most of his customers are people who can afford to pay a premium for their food.
“We produce some of the highest quality protein in Wisconsin, and we’ve always believed that everyone should have access to it,” Gutschenritter told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
A new program created by Hunger Task Force — a Milwaukee food bank — is making Gutschenritter’s eggs available to people who can’t afford high quality, organic eggs. Using a $2.5 million grant from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Hunger Task Force created the Connecting Farms to Families program this year.
Bartolotta Offers Sneak Peak of New Cocktail Lounge
A new downtown venture from The Bartolotta Restaurants will invite visitors to “see and be seen,” much like the bird it is named for.
Peacock Lounge is set to open later this summer as a cocktail-focused counterpart to High Stakes by Bartolotta. Both concepts will occupy a space at 1030 N. Water St., which formerly housed The Rumpus Room.
While High Stakes aims to offer a fine-dining experience, Peacock Lounge is designed as a more flexible stop for pre- and post-show drinks, business meetings, small plates or a nightcap.
“We wanted to create an inviting, bespoke space where people can come to ‘see and be seen,'” said Paul Bartolotta, owner and co-founder of The Bartolotta Restaurants, in a statement. “We recognize all the positive change happening in downtown Milwaukee, and Peacock Lounge is our way of doubling down on our commitment to the community and serving as a catalyst for the city’s continued social growth.”
Stone Creek Renovating Factory Cafe
Stone Creek Coffee‘s factory cafe at 422 N. 5th St. is temporarily closed for renovations.
The project, which began July 1, marks the first major overhaul of the 137-year-old building since the cafe opened to the public in 2012. It is expected to reopen by the end of summer with a new kitchen and updated bakery, office and learning areas.
“The goal isn’t to become something different,” leadership wrote in an online post in late June. “It’s to create a better space for gathering, learning, asking coffee questions, sharing a meal, and building community together.”
While the factory has long housed Stone Creek’s roastery and bakery, its new commercial kitchen will expand the in-house food program through Project EAT, which is currently in place at the Downer Avenue and Whitefish Bay cafes.
Japanese Coffee Shop Opening First U.S. Location in Milwaukee
This article is available only to Urban Milwaukee members.
At Emperor of China, The Leftovers Are Part of The Plan
For 40 years Emperor of China has served Milwaukee with its Chinese cuisine.
The menu overwhelms with its selection of about 100 entrees and includes a variety of pork, duck, beef, seafood, chicken, and vegetarian dishes. On top of that, you can add five kinds of soup, half a dozen appetizers, six varieties of fried rice and a medley of egg foo young. This is a complicated menu requiring some serious study.
After two lunches, my companions and I barely scratched the surface of this multi-layered menu, but here is what we ate and what we thought about what we ate: An appetizer, the fried vegetable spring roll, burst with vegetables. It was stuffed, fat and delivered to the table still sizzling from the fryer. Its served with a hot mustard sauce and a classic sweet and sour sauce. If you dine in, you need to order a spring roll separately, but when you order a takeout combo box, the spring roll comes with your meal along with one crab rangoon and vegetable fried rice.
Instead of a spring roll and a crab rangoon, when you dine-in, your meal includes a large cup of egg drop soup topped with crisp strips of fried wonton. As my companion noted, the soup was “very eggy.” It was thick and needed soy sauce to build in more flavor.
Kehr’s Equipment Headed to Auction
Kehr’s Candies is closed and clearing out its Washington Park kitchen.
The shop, which shut down earlier this year, is auctioning off its remaining equipment, including commercial mixers, deep fryers, a chocolate melter and nearly 100 other items.
Badger Corporation is hosting the online auction, which began Aug. 4. Bidding will end Aug. 18 at 10:30 a.m., with viewing available Aug. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Checkout will take place Aug. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In addition to industrial kitchen supplies, the online catalog lists cookware — some brand new — along with storage containers, coffee dispensers and miscellaneous items such as a nut butter grinder and a popcorn machine.
Pub Proposed For Vacant Northwest Side Building
A Milwaukee entrepreneur is looking to expand his portfolio with a new business on the city’s Northwest Side.
Humphrey Nangah, the longtime owner of Diamonds Pub & Grill at 7607 W. Hampton Ave., recently submitted plans to open Jana’s Pub and Grill at 10433 W. Appleton Ave.
The proposed bar and restaurant would bring alcoholic beverages, entertainment and a casual food menu to a standalone building that long housed Mitchell’s Tavern (previously Jim Mitchell’s Tavern). Nangah purchased the location as a turnkey operation in early 2025 after the previous establishment closed.
If approved, Jana’s Pub and Grill would reactivate the commercial space, which includes a wraparound bar, table seating and an outdoor patio. According to the license application, Nangah also plans to add an outdoor bar and grilling area.
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