September Restaurant News

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Openings

Curry & Momo House Himalayan Restaurant (6969 N. Port Washington Rd., Glendale) opened to a flurry of guests eager to try authentic home style recipes from the Himalayan Region of Nepal and India. Specialties include the MoMo, a Nepali dumpling. According to a post on the restaurant’s website, it serves dinner Tuesday through Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. and will expand service when they hire more staff.

MilTexKitchen, located inside the Paper Table Co. virtual food hall (733 N. Milwaukee St.), touts it is “where Milwaukee meets big Texas flavor.” Menu items include big brisket burgers alongside Wisconsin staples like fried cheese curds. There’s also Friday fish fry and Soul Food Sundays. Owner and chef Raven Bivens Gee was born and raised in Milwaukee and lived in Houston, where she started a catering business.

Paper Table Co.’s concept is similar to a ghost kitchen that supports foodie start-ups. Customers can order through GrubHub, UberEats and Door Dash.

Discourse, the experimental coffee purveyor founded in Door County, has opened a second Milwaukee location within the Milwaukee Art Museum. Look for drinks such as the Beetnik, a sous vide coffee featuring candied pistachio milk, apple-beet powder and edible flowers, and In Bloom’ Crenn, a jasmine tea based drink with lemon juice, lavender and cured sumac.

Donut Monster will open a third location at W62 N634 Washington Ave., in Cedarburg. The restaurant features scratch-made doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

Maggio’s Wood-Fired Pizza will open at 7212 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa, in the former Tosa Bowl and Bun and Venturi's Market. Owner Jeremy Maggio started the business in a wood-fired pizza trailer in 2017.

The Associated Bank River Center (111 E. Kilbourn Ave.) will partner with F Street Hospitality to open a bar, several quick-service dining options and a coffee shop in their riverfront office tower behind the Saint Kate Arts Hotel. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2023.

Reopening

Palomino (2491 S. Superior St.) has reopened for drinks, scratch-made bar snacks and treats, with service each Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The full kitchen remains temporarily closed.

This and That

Robots continue to help fill staffing shortages in the service industry. Among the latest Milwaukee area eateries to bring a Servi robotic server/busser on board is State Street Pizza Pub. The staff at State Street Pizza Pub would like to rename Servi and is taking suggestions from customers. Submit an idea with your pizza order; if your suggestion is chosen, you’ll receive free pizza for one month.

A new a bimonthly dinner series called Chef Paul Funk: Unframed debuts at Saint Kate on Oct. 20. The series showcases Chef Funk’s tastes and culinary skills to provide one-of-a-kind experiences to guests. The first dinner, Angels & Cowboys—A Wine Dinner, will feature a five-course meal with wines from Angels & Cowboys winery, in Sonoma County. A Farm to Table dinner follows Dec. 2, and the Valentine’s Day-themed Love in the Dark rounds out the series Feb. 10.

Wisconsin’s oldest restaurant, Red Circle Inn (N44 W33013 Watertown Plank Road, Nashotah), has been acquired by Geronimo Hospitality Group. The restaurant and event venue, founded in 1848, has has been owned by the likes of Fredrick Pabst and Aat Groenevelt, the owner and founder of Provimi Veal. Geronimo owns other businesses in the Lake Country area, along with hospitality brands in Beloit., Boise and Indianapolis.

Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro has brought back its widely popular à la carte menu with classic favorites such as Soupe a l’Oignon (classic French onion soup), Moules Marinières (steamed mussels in white-wine cream broth), Escargots à la Bourguignonne (Burgundy snails with Pernod garlic-parsley butter under flaky puff pastry crust) and Pâté de Campagne (country pork pate served with cornichons, Meaux mustard and warm baguette).

Jackson Grill has won a 2022 Experts’ Choice Award, an accolade based on professional reviews from more than 100 publications such as travel guides, magazines and newspapers.

Benson’s Restaurant Group has named Rik Acken as general manager and Steve Gustafson as executive chef of The Bridgewater Modern Grill, which will open in October along the Kinnickinnic River at 2011 S. 1st St., in the Harbor District.

Closures

Polonez Polish restaurant (4016 S. Packard Ave., St. Francis) served their last pierogi Sept. 28. The Milwaukee area’s last remaining Polish restaurant, known for potato pancakes, Polish sausage, cabbage rolls and other Polish and Eastern European cuisines, first launched nearly four decades ago in the shadow of the Basilica of St. Josaphat, in the old Polish South Side neighborhood, before relocating to St. Francis in 2001. Owners George and Aleksandra Burzynski plan to retire.

After nine years in business, Riverwest Filling Station (701 E. Keefe Ave.) closed. The venue was known for its craft beer selection, along with a menu of pub staples and globally influenced cuisine.