March 2025 Restaurant News

A dog-friendly bar and restaurant is planned for the Bay View neighborhood, and one of the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ bars has closed.

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Eat/Drink

Hot Box Pizza owners Terrell Turner and Suzanne Pham-Banh plan to open doh’p Wod Fired Fare at 2509 E. Oklahoma Ave. The restaurant will serve wood-fired pizzas, appetizers, garlic bread and doughnuts.

Riley’s Bar + Burger, a dog-friendly bar and restaurant, is planned to open at 100 E. Montana St., in the Bay View neighborhood. Riley’s owners Jessica and John Ludwig also own Riley’s Sandwich Co. and Social House in the Third Ward. Riley’s will feature a corner bar and grill vibe, and a doggie socializing area.

Chef Vanessa Rose plans to bring her new restaurant concept, House of Bridges, to the former Company Brewing space, 735 E. Center St. The LGBTQ+-friendly restaurant builds off her popular pop-up, Mother’s, which creatively blends global ingredients with fine dining. Rose is the former sous chef at Ardent restaurant, which closed in December. For more information, visit the NuMarket fundraising campaign, hobmke.com/numarket.

Business partners Shallece Saleen and Dheren Stewart plan to reopen St. Francis Brewery (3825 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., St. Francis) in April. Saleen and Stewart, who have a combined 50 years of experience in the service industry, have hired Tyler Killips (formerly of Enlightened Brewing) as the head brewer. Customers can look forward to the return of craft beer, along with live music and food.

St. Francis Brewery was opened in 2009 by Rick Michalski in a newly constructed, 7,200 square foot building with a brewery, bar, dining area, kitchen and outdoor patio. Shortly after a brief ownership transition, St. Francis Brewery closed in 2019. The brewery sat shuttered for the past five years.

Touch Down Wings & Seafood will open at 3440 W. Fond du Lac Ave., in a former Kentucky Fried Chicken location. The fast-casual restaurant will offer wings, tenders, sauces, and shrimp and seafood dishes.

Mexico Bar & Grill is planned for the former Sobelman’s property at 10352 N. Port Washington Rd., in Mequon.

Style Pop Café, a new coffee shop, will open in the Element building, 934 S. Fifth St. The café will serve coffee, specialty coffee drinks and food such as breakfast egg rolls.

Birch owners Kyle and Meghan Knall are planning to open a French bistro, Cassis, this fall at 333 N. Water St. It will be in the 333 Water apartment building.

This and That

Casablanca (728 E. Brady St.) will partner with the Hanan Refugees Relief Group to host the Night of Giving event in support of refugee resettlement in Milwaukee, 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27. The evening will feature a delicious dinner, inspiring stories from those served by Hanan Refugees Relief Group, and opportunities to contribute to their mission of providing vital resources to refugee families. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-night-of-giving-at-casablanca-tickets-1267419187909?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Odd Duck (939 S. Second St.) made Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants for 2025. The small-plates, seasonal menu restaurant opened more than a decade ago in the Bay View neighborhood and moved to Walker’s Point in 2022.

Crafty Cow will launch a limited-time-only April Fast Foods Day menu that will be available all month long. The “munchies” menu features Taco Bell-inspired Cheese Curds Bell Grande (fried cheese curds topped with cheese sauce, ground beef, tomato and cilantro lime crema) and Animal Style Nachos (potato chips, ground beef, lettuce, tomato, pickles, caramelized onions and a special sauce). The Sandwiches menu consists of more options fashioned from fast-food classics: Panda Express Orange Chicken Burrito (orange chicken, kimchi fried rice, carrots and cilantro lime crema); Chicken Fried McRib (country ribs battered in a chicken breading, Kansas City BBQ sauce, pickles and onions on a cornbread bun); and Arby’s Triple Cheddar & Roast Beef Burger (beef patty topped with cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese and battered onions, served in house cheese sauce).

Marcus Hotels & Restaurants has named chef and restaurateur Barkha Daily as general manager of its flagship restaurant, Mason Street Grill. Daily will be responsible for overseeing all facets of restaurant service, guest engagement, talent development and unique guest experiences. Daily, born and raised in Nepal, had owned the cheel, a Nepalese restaurant that earned over 40 local awards. Daily also owned and managed a beer garden and a second restaurant featuring Mexican cuisine.

Closures:

This Is It!, one of the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ bars, closed March 9. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with an eight-month closure of East Wells Street last year "put the business in a position that we could not ultimately overcome," the bar stated in a Facebook post. June Brehm, who died in 2010, and her son Joseph Brehm, opened the bar in 1968. Both have been recognized by Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, herself the first openly gay senator elected to Congress.

Chicago-based Lou Malnati’s pizza restaurant closed its locations in Oak Creek, Waukesha and Greenfield. The Lou Malnati’s dine-in location at 15795 W. Bluemound Ave., and the carryout-only location at 8799 N. Port Washington Road, Fox Point, remain open. The pizzeria, known for deep-dish pies, expanded into Wisconsin in 2019.