Cory, the Riverwest Sandwich Fixer

Fuel Café’s Cory is slinging tasty sandwiches on Saturday afternoons.

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Let’s Eat!

If you haven’t heard, there’s a guy named Cory slinging sandwiches from his house in Riverwest. I first learned about him on Instagram and have since heard his name a lot amongst my Milwaukee foodie friends. While he’s not an actual restaurant, he’s on to something here, and I suggest you join the journey.

First, follow him on Instagram @corytheriverwestsandwichfixer to find out the next time he’s selling sandwiches. Usually, it’s Saturday afternoons, and a special menu is posted for the upcoming weekend. He offered his full menu on Saturday, March 15, and I decided it was time to pull the trigger.

He’s got about 20 different sandwiches to choose from – meat, vegetarian, vegan (mostly on sub or French rolls), and some paninis. I asked him to sign me up for two of the most popular sandwiches showing a bit of range.

I got The Buttafucco, which is described as The Cheesy Tomato (Fuel’s famous gooey sub with mozzarella, tomato and onion melted with Italian herbs and olive oil, topped with mayo and lettuce on a toasted French roll) with hot Italian giardiniera peppers. I also got The Tacon, which features turkey, bacon, green apple, cucumber, cheddar, leaf lettuce, and sriracha mayo served cold on a French roll. Each sandwich comes with a side of very well-seasoned tortilla chips. The chips barely made it home with me and the sandwiches.

Perfect Textures and Flavors

Both sandwiches were good, but I was surprised how much I liked the vegetarian one. I’m a big meat eater and (as you all well know) love a good turkey sandwich. But the Tacon didn’t feel like it was missing a protein because of the perfect mixture of textures and flavors. It was perfectly toasted and wrapped in foil for the ride home.

So, who is Cory, and why is he fixing sandwiches? He’s an OG of the original Fuel Cafe, mostly managing the Center Street location from 2005 to until 2020 when it closed. Once he moved back to Riverwest in 2022, people kept asking him to make The Buttafucco sandwich. So, one day he did! One thing led to another, and he started selling sandwiches a couple times a month, eventually expanding the menu and doing collabs. What started as a favor to friends has led him to meet and feed more people in Milwaukee. Next time I have a free Saturday afternoon and am looking for a good sandwich, I’ll have to see what Cory is cooking up in Riverwest!