Taste of Lindsay Heights Café Showcases Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Neighborhood

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For more than 20 years, Walnut Way Conservation Corp. has been instrumental in restoring health and vitality to the Lindsay Heights neighborhood after decades of racist economic disinvestment. The Taste of Lindsay Heights carryout café (1617 W. North Ave.), which opened this past October and is part of Walnut Way’s Innovations and Wellness Commons, embodies the nonprofit’s mission of bringing wellness, work and wealth to the community.

The café showcases the creativity and skills of neighborhood entrepreneurs building their side hustles while serving as an access point for fresh food, explains Chandra Ellis, manager of Walnut Way’s Community Wealth Building campaign. She manages the café and also has her own business, GLDN HNY (Golden Honey) Juice & Co. She makes fresh-pressed, nutrient-dense juices, sea moss gel and ginger shots.

Ellis led efforts to interview more than 90 Lindsay Heights residents to discuss their side hustles and their ambitions, strengths and skills. “What we found was that there was a common thread of folks with a side hustle where they sold food— cakes, specialty dishes or beverages— and we started meeting with those residents monthly and connected them with resources and opportunities,” she says. “Our group of food entrepreneurs was really strong.”

The goal, Ellis says, is to have the entrepreneurs start at the café and then scale up. “It’s an incubator space, so they get to test things, track what sells and develop strategies to help promote products to sell more. Our goal is to have them develop their products here and move on, either to a retail space or a food truck.”

A Variety of Vendors Offer Healthy, Fresh Options

Vendors include Ellis’ GLDN HNY, along with Rum Cakes by Paula, who crafts classic, coconut or pineapple rum cakes, along with chocolate or red velvet layer cake and banana pudding; Simple Snacks cookies and trail mix; Aunt Manda’s Beverages with ginger beer, pineapple ginger and orange strawberry drinks; and Kyric’s Lemonade, founded by 11-year-old Kyric Burt. She makes fresh-squeezed classic lemonade available in original, pink, blue, orange and pineapple.

The menu features grab-and-go and made-to-order items such as smoothies and smoothie bowls, breakfast egg bites, oatmeal, a baked potato bar, buddha bowls, personal pizzas, salads, soup and Funky Fresh Spring Rolls. Customers can choose their own toppings for pizza and loaded potatoes. Most menu items are less than $10, and there are many satisfying choices for less than $5.

The café is currently operating with a carryout only model. Ellis says they are monitoring ongoing pandemic safety protocols and will likely add in-person dining at a later time. Outdoor dining is on the horizon. “We want to take away any fears of driving down this particular corridor. We want folks to feel as comfortable sitting outside here as they would be on Humboldt and North, or 67th and North.”

Taste of Lindsay Heights partners with other nonprofits in The Commons. They hire employees from United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee, a resource collaborative dedicated to strengthening the lives of Milwaukee’s urban families. Milwaukee Center for Independence shares kitchen space with the café. Ellis credits non-food entrepreneurial partners such Strother Laundry Service, yoga teachers that lead wellness events at the café, and local artists Ras'Ammar Nsoroma, Tasha Smith and Jasmine Hernandez, who did artwork and murals in and around the café.

Ellis wants to see the café become a space where people come to take care of themselves mentally, physically and spiritually, and develop ideas and strategies to build the community while inspiring other neighborhood entrepreneurs to grow their side hustles. “I want it to be a catalyst for growth in Lindsay Heights.”

Taste of Lindsay Heights is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit tasteoflindsayheights.com.