May 2024 Restaurant News

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The North Avenue Market (5900 W. North Ave.) has transitioned to Christopher’s Southern Kitchen & Bar, a new restaurant and event venue. The restaurant will host an open house June 4–9 for guests to see the enhanced event center and experience a Southern-influenced menu featuring fried pickles, deviled eggs, collard greens, fried green tomatoes, vegan gumbo, catfish, banana pudding and more. Guests will receive a 20% discount on food purchases during the open house dates.

“We are excited to continue providing an amazing space for our community to come together, eat, fellowship, and grow,” states North Avenue Market owner and founder Chris Harris Morse in a press release. Bittercube will stay involved with the North Avenue Market space and will curate the cocktail menu for the new restaurant. They operate Mosler’s Vault on the Garden Level of the building.

Brisa Do Mar opened in the former Riverfront Pizzeria Bar & Grill space at 509 E. Erie St. The restaurant features an array of Mediterranean dishes along with wood-fired pizzas.

After five years of selling her popular bagels at pop-ups and at Zocalo Food Truck Park, Daniela Varela of Ruby’s Bagels will open a brick-and-mortar location this summer at 5513 W. North Ave.

The owners of Indian Village Restaurant (locations in Greenfield and Waukesha) are planning a new restaurant, IVR Bar, that will fuse Indian-inspired ingredients with pizza and Mexican cuisine. 

Havenwoods Taproom and Beer Garden opened at 5840 N. 60th St., next to Havenwoods State Forest, Wisconsin’s only urban state forest. The new venue features several beers on tap, food from pop-ups including SapSap Lao-inspired cuisine, and five acres of scenic woods with a walking trail.

Lava Grill and Wings is planning to open a hibachi grill and chicken wings restaurant in a former Buffalo Wild Wings location at 2635 N. Mayfair Rd.

Nevada-based Wing Zone has returned to the Milwaukee market with a new location at 138 E. Capitol Dr. This location is the first of four planned restaurants in Milwaukee.

Judy's On North will move to a new location at 2124 N. Farwell Ave. and change its name to Judy’s Mexican Restaurant. A fire in December had damaged the restaurant’s previous space on North Avenue.

Himalayan Yak, a North Dakota-based Indian and Nepalese restaurant, is planning to open a location in the Bay View neighborhood at 2321 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., in the former Riviera Maya space.

Restaurant veteran James Phong Kue will open Thai City Cuisine this summer at the Mequon Public Market, 6300 W. Mequon Rd. Kue’s family had previously owned restaurants in Michigan, and later two Thai Bangkok locations in Milwaukee. Thai City Cuisine will feature pad Thai, pad see ew, curries and other Thai specialties.

Mochi doughnut chain Mochinut is planning a new location on the ground floor of KinetiK Apartments, 2144-2146 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Mochinut currently has a location at Bayshore. 

Thai Boat Noodles, Bayshore’s new authentic Thai restaurant, will open early summer 2024. The newly developed 2,168 square foot space will sit on the first level of the Silver Spring Building at 430 W. Silver Spring Drive. This will mark the first location in Wisconsin.

This and That

The Commodore – A Bartolotta Restaurant, named Justin Crowe as general manager, and Chef Jesse Kloskey as executive chef of their newest venture located on the shores of Nagawicka Lake.

The Bartolotta Restaurants also celebrated the seasonal reopening of the Roundhouse Beer Garden at McKinley Marina. Beer options include styles from Central Waters Brewery, along with eight additional beers from local breweries.

Junior’s Smoked BBQ is moving from its space at Sherman Phoenix (3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave.) to kitchen space at Amaranth Bakery, 3329 W. Lisbon Ave. Junior’s will offer catering and appear at pop-ups during Locust Street Days, Cedarburg’s Strawberry Festival, Brady Street Fest and other events.

Nomad World Pub (1401 E. Brady St.) will soon operate under a new partnership between current owner Mike Eitel of Caravan Hospitality, and Water Street bar owners Drew Deuster and JJ Kovacovich of Wild Planet Hospitality. Nomad will still host its signature soccer tournament watch parties and stay involved with local festivals.

Ardent (1751 N. Farwell) restaurant and lounge, which took a hiatus in January to reevaluate its focus, has reopened with a casual neighborhood concept. The lounge, open from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday, will also feature Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lounge guests can also find elevated burgers, pasta dishes, small plates, appetizers and Friday fish fry. Ardent will soon launch a finer-dining tasting menu on weekends in the restaurant space.

CC’s Elbow Room (2850 N. Brookfield Road, Brookfield) has been purchased by Sydra Group, who will reopen the venue this June as The Elbow Room. Jake Dehne of Sydra Group also owns several downtown Milwaukee businesses including RWB and The Lucky Clover Irish Pub, located next to Fiserv Forum.

Closures

Company Brewing (925 E. Center St.) brewery and restaurant abruptly closed on May 28. Company Brewing opened in the Riverwest neighborhood in 2015 and was known for its approachable yet bold craft beers, burgers and Friday fish fry. Company Brewing made the announcement via social media, stating, “After nine incredible years, we have made the decision to close our doors, effective immediately. Operating our little business on the corner of Center and Fratney has been an incredibly rewarding experience, and we are thankful for every minute of it.”

Hatched, makers of pies, tarts and assorted baked goods, has ceased operations. Products from Hatched were found at Venture Brewing Company, Canary Coffee Bar, 1848 Coffee, and at farmers markets and online sales.

Red Lobster’s Wauwatosa location on Mayfair Road is among the first casualties of the seafood chain’s recent bankruptcy filing. The chain also closed a location in La Crosse, Wis. As of press time, Red Lobster’s location at 4645 S 76th St, Greenfield, remains open.

In Memoriam

Cousins Subs co-founder William Specht died May 9, 2024, at the age of 80. Sprecht, who was born in New Jersey and is a U.S. Navy veteran, envisioned bringing East Coast-style sub sandwiches to Milwaukee. He partnered with his cousin, James Sheppard, in 1972 and formed Cousins Subs. The fast-casual sandwich shop has grown to almost 100 locations primarily throughout Wisconsin, with some stores in Indiana.