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As an unusual year winds to a close, take a break and let our friends at Milwaukee’s local restaurants, caterers and grocers help with the cooking for your December holiday celebrations. Whether you’re planning an intimate holiday dinner for two or a socially distanced gathering, options abound for festive heat-and-serve or to-go meals and desserts for your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s celebrations.
Below are just a few of the area restaurants, caterers and grocers offering to-go or heat-and-serve holiday menus. Servings, prices and order deadlines vary; some establishments didn’t have menus and ordering details finalized by press time, so follow up with your favorite restaurant or grocer to see what they’ll have to offer.
Caterina’s Ristorante
9104 W. Oklahoma Ave.
Caterina’s is open for socially-distanced dining on Christmas Eve at 4 p.m. with its full Italian menu plus specials.
Ethiopian Cottage Restaurant
1824 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee
Ethiopian Cottage’s Taste of Cottage Samplers, in meat or vegetarian options, are available for carryout for all holidays. Choose from three different samplers that include beef, chicken, lamb or veggie wat (a spicy stew), yebeg alicha (a mild lamb stew), kik alicha (a split pea stew), gomen (Ethiopian-style collard greens) and difin misir (seasoned lentils).
Grandma’s Hands
2721 N. Blaine Place, Milwaukee
grandmahands64.wixsite.com/grandmashands
Grandma’s Hands’ soul food kitchen’s holiday menu, available Nov. 26 through New Year’s Eve, features honey ham, turkey (deep fried or baked), mashed potatoes, yams, dressing, dinner rolls and your choice of green beans or corn. Prices are $14 for a single dinner; $60 for a dinner for five people; $120 for a dinner for 10. Special holiday desserts include apple pie and peach cobbler. Dinners can be ordered by calling Grandma's Hands at 414-455-3685.
Hey Puddin
This new dessert business has scratch-made holiday items such as pumpkin spice or eggnog pudding, in addition to main menu items like original banana pudding or custom-made pudding in flavors of your choice. Preorders are taken on the website.
Hannah’s Kitchen catering
Hannah Sattler started Hannah’s Kitchen five years ago. Before that, she ran her synagogue’s kitchen. For Hanukkah, Hannah’s Kitchen is offering scratch-made challah and starters such as baba ganoush; main course choices of fried chicken or honey brisket; chicken soup with matzah balls or autumn carrot and sweet potato soup; and sides such as latkes and spinach kugel. Dessert choices include beignet-style sufganiyot (a round jelly doughnut). Order online, email or by phone by Thursday, Dec. 10, for contactless pickup or delivery.
Honeypie
2643 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee
The Honeypie Bakeshop will offer special holiday pies and treats for preorder throughout December for pickup or delivery in the Milwaukee area.
Movida at Hotel Madrid
600 S. Sixth St., Milwaukee
Stand Eat Drink hospitality group’s Movida event features the chef’s holiday Beef Wellington dinner for four ($125). The meal includes whole Beef Wellington (beef tenderloin, mushroom duxelle, stone ground mustard, rosemary demi-glace); rosemary red potatoes (crispy red potatoes, rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, shallots and chives); roasted carrots (roasted baby carrots, steak seasoning and thyme); chocolate fudge cake; a bottle of hand-selected house red wine; and a $25 holiday gift card. The meal is available for preorder online at exploretock.com/hotelmadridmke. They’ll also have a New Year’s Eve takeout meal.
Jack Pandl’s Whitefish Bay Inn
1319 E. Henry Clay St., Whitefish Bay
The historic Jack Pandl’s Inn is open Christmas Eve from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will offer carryout of its popular prime rib, broiled whitefish or schnitzel dinners. Call ahead to order for curbside pickup.
Mason Street Grill
425 E. Mason St., Milwaukee
Through Mason Street Grill’s “Christmas At Home” program, Christmas dinner carryout meals are $39 per person and include a chopped salad with tomatoes, cucumber, onions, bacon, eggs and house horseradish and mustard dressing; sea salt and herb-crusted prime rib with thyme garlic jus; roasted winter squash with walnuts, sage and goat cheese; garlic mashed potatoes; and sautéed green beans almandine. Additional sides available for purchase include truffle creamed spinach, roasted broccoli or cheddar and smoked gouda macaroni and cheese. Orders must be placed at least 48 hours in advance. Last day to order Christmas carryout is Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Odd Duck
2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee
Odd Duck will offer à la carte mix-and-match holiday meals the week of December 20-26 that will be cold upon pickup and come with assembly and reheating instructions. Additional optional entrées will also be available. In addition, they’ll offer special pickup celebration kits for New Year's Eve at various pricing levels. The holiday menu will go live in early December.
Odd Duck co-owner Melissa Buchholz emphasizes that offerings will be limited, so people should follow Odd Duck on social media and order early. (Their social media handle is OddDuckMKE).
Sabrosa Café & Gallery
3216 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee
Sabrosa’s Holiday Tamale Sale features scratch-made tamales and sides. Choose from pork or rajas (pickled poblano, onion, carrots and queso fresco). The tamale add-on bundle includes two Sabrosa salsas and a pint of Oaxacan black beans. Pre-order by Saturday, Dec. 12, to pick up the following weekend, Dec. 19 and 20. Call Chef Frankie at 773-485-9975 to place your order.
Troubadour Bakery
2301 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee
Colectivo Coffee’s baking division will again offer scratch-made desserts for pre-order. This year, look for grasshopper pie, yule log or sweet potato galette, available for café pickup on Friday, Dec. 18, and Thursday, Dec. 24. Order deadlines are Tuesday, Dec. 15, and Monday, Dec. 21, respectively. Orders can be placed at shop.troubadourbakery.com.
Ward’s House of Prime
540 E. Mason St., Milwaukee
Ward’s House of Prime confirmed they will offer special holiday meals to-go. Full details weren’t yet available at press time; check the website for the full menu and additional information.
Vegan Options
Celesta
1978 N. Farwell Ave., Milwaukee
Celesta’s December Holiday Packs are $50 and serve two people. The meal includes fresh handmade pasta (comes frozen; drop it in boiling water for three minutes) with seitan chicken breast and mushroom marsala sauce; buttermilk peas and baby potatoes with dill; ratatouille with zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and bell peppers simmered in mild seasoned red sauce; caramelized acorn squash with hazelnuts and roasted lemon; and olive oil cake with mixed berry compote. Order by emailing celestacatering@gmail.com for pickup on Dec. 23. Celesta will be closed Dec. 24-26.
Twisted Plants
4905 S. Packard Ave., Cudahy
At press time, Twisted Plants was working on a December holiday menu. Check the website or facebook.com/twistedplantsmke for updates.
Grocery Stores
Beans & Barley
1901 E. North Ave., Milwaukee
On Dec. 1, Beans & Barley will start taking orders for Christmas cookies. A holiday catering menu is also in the works.
Festival Foods
multiple locations
De Pere-based Festival Foods has 32 stores in Wisconsin, including one at 5600 S 108th St., Hales Corners, and a new location to open in West Allis. Heat-and-serve holiday dinners will be available from the deli department.
Metcalfe’s
6700 W. State St., Wauwatosa
Metcalfe’s Christmas dinner menu includes precooked spiral sliced ham, creamy mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts with bacon, gravy, cranberry range relish, rolls and an Elegant Farmer cherry pie. Servings come in single dinners ($20); 6-8 servings ($129); and 10-12 servings ($159). Additional sides by the pound include scalloped potatoes, Hungarian sausage stuffing and French onion green bean casserole. Order by Dec. 20 for contactless pickup on Dec. 24 from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m. Closed Christmas Day.
Rupena’s Fine Foods
7641 W. Beloit Road, West Allis
This 96-year-old neighborhood grocery store and butcher in West Allis offers several heat-and-serve dinner options for pre-order, such as prime rib, turkey, beef and gravy, ham, or even ham wrapped in rye dough that seals in the ham’s juices during baking. Sides such as stuffing and vegetables dishes are available as part of the meal packages or separately by the pound. On Dec. 24, they’ll do a lamb and pig roast to sell by the pound on a first-come, first-serve basis. They’re open until 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Sendik’s
Multiple locations
Sendik’s “red bag” locations will have a full winter menu of options for December. In addition, they will offer pre-made meals for two or six people, packed in reheatable containers. Customers can start reserving holiday meals in early December at sendiks.com/holiday.
Sheila Julson writes about food and cannabis for the Shepherd Express.
