Photo via Facebook / Zocalo
When the pandemic shut down restaurants way back in March, it was clear that restaurateurs were going to have to get creative in order to bring in some revenue. As the situation has dragged on, more and more restaurants are turning to pop-up events and collaborations to foster excitement and reach more customers—and have some fun.
The Hospitality Democracy restaurant group is teaming up with Valentine Cafe to bring their barbecue, Italian fare, wings and burgers to Oak Creek for an extended run through January 2021. Operating on Friday and Saturday evenings, the first pop-up will be Smoke Shack barbecue on November 20-21 and November 27-28. The menu includes a family BBQ platter that can be pre-ordered along with a number of grab-and-go sandwiches, salad and a sampler platter. On December 4-5 and December 11-12, Onesto will be offering modern Italian cuisine and fresh made pasta at the same location. On January 8-9 and 15-16, you'll be able to get smoked and fried chicken wings, and finally January 22-23 and January 29-30 will be an AJ Bombers pop-up with burgers, cheese curds and buffalo chicken eggrolls.
A pop-up of the boozy persuasion will be taking place at Zocalo food park in Walker's Point. Bryant's Cocktail Lounge is going to be serving the traditional hot Tom and Jerry cocktails in heated private greenhouses and at distanced small group seating outdoors since you won't be able to enjoy them in their lounge this season. The fun starts November 25, and reservations for the greenhouses are for 90-minute blocks, with sanitizing between each seating.
And for something even sweeter, head to Bayshore Town Center and get donuts from the Sugar Cube pop-up. The vegan donuts are square and come in varieties like chocolate glazed, pecan pie and red velvet. They'll be available November 20-22 and the November 28.
A Pair of Fires
Sadly, two restaurants suffered fires over the last two weeks, and while a fire is never easy to deal with, it's especially difficult to handle this year. The first was The Cheel in Thiensville, a Nepalese restaurant that's one of the best in the north suburbs. The 1895 Queen Anne-style building it occupied is a total loss, and owners Jesse and Barkha Daily have said they will rebuild. They had been planning on opening a permanent, two-story pavilion this month for outdoor seating, and will still open their new Mexican restaurant, Daily Taco, soon. Many of The Cheel's employees have taken jobs at Daily Taco. A fundraiser has been established and has raised about $23,000 for rebuilding so far.
Less than a week later, a fire also broke out at Hooligan's Super Bar on North Avenue. Most of the damage appears to be on the second floor of the building, but the damage is significant. It took about 45 minutes for firefighters to get the blaze under control. No one was hurt in either of the fires.
Some Good News
In more positive news, the Active Streets for Business program has been officially extended. That means that restaurants and bars that are using public spaces like sidewalks, side streets and parking spaces for extra outdoor seating can continue to do so through March 15 to accommodate customers who prefer to stay outside.
The program, which was started earlier this year in order to provide more safe seating areas during the pandemic, had been set to expire this week, but received much support. Forty-two businesses participate in the program, and they will be required to do their own snow removal around patios and in closed streets.
And in heart-warming feel good news, Riverwest Pizza has announced that they're going to be giving out 500 free Thanksgiving meals. The owners announced that they were going to give out 100 Thanksgiving meals to anyone who needed one, and a number of local businesses have stepped up and donated to provide more meals. Restaurant employees will be volunteering their time to prepare and hand out the meals, which will be available starting at 11 a.m. curbside at the restaurant.
