Photo courtesy of Dairyland Old Fashioned Hamburgers
Despite the pandemic, restaurants continue to open in Milwaukee. This month, there's been a lot of new food trucks hitting the streets, or food truck owners opening permanent spots.
Dairyland Old Fashioned Hamburgers: A new burger joint in Oak Creek has an all-star team of owners with years of experience at Bartolotta and SURG restaurants, among others. The custard stand-inspired food is prepared in a shared kitchen and can be picked up drive-thru style. The standard cheeseburger has double 3-ounce patties and American cheese, while a fried chicken sandwich can be spruced up with bacon and honey mustard. Fries, curds, onion rings, cookies and caramel brownies are also available.
Heirloom Mke: The owners of this food truck were planning to open a restaurant, but then the pandemic hit, so they switched gears to a food truck. That’s why they serve some unique un-foodtruck-like options, including white wine steamed mussels, housemade burrata, and crab cakes. There's also a number of sandwiches, plus fries with dipping sauces like roasted jalapeno ranch. You can often find them at the West Allis Farmers Market and outside The Fermentorium.
Havana Cafe: The folks from the Little Havana Express food truck just opened a permanent location in Franklin in the former Rounding Third Pizzeria on 76th Street. The brief menu is similar to what was served on the truck, including the popular Cubano made with roasted pork and a homemade lime sauce. Other items include a tropical chicken plate, beef picadillo, empanadas, smoothies, Cuban coffee, and pastries.
Chuy's Red Tacos: A new food truck has launched to take advantage of the popular birria taco trend. It's parked outside of the owner's other business, Farmhouse Paint & Sip, on 6th Street near Layton Avenue. The menu includes tacos, mulitas, burritos and quesadillas made with beef, chicken, or vegetarian birria, a chile-heavy stew that stains the tortillas red. Cups of consome, the broth the meat cooks in, are available on the side for dipping.
Explorium Brewpub: The Explorium Brewpub, located in Southridge Mall, has opened a second location in the Third Ward. It's located in the Pritzlaff Building, and is much more spacious than the original location, including a patio and covered tunnel bar that utilizes an old rail tunnel. There's a new 10-barrel brew system to supplement the facilities at Southridge. The food menu is similar to the first location, including fried meatloaf, homemade pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and salads.
In other restaurant news this month, Daddy's Soul Food & Grille reopened on North 27th Street in the SoHi building after an expansion and renovation. The space is now double the size it used to be and takes up the entire first floor of the building. Also reopened for dine-in are Amilinda, The Packing House, EsterEv and DanDan.
This month there were sadly a number of permanent closures. Ferch's Malt Shoppe in Greendale will be closing October 10 after operating since 1987. The owner has decided to retire, however, Ferch’s Beachside Grill and Ferch's Crafthouse Grille will continue to operate.
Also closed are the Trysting Place Pub in Menomonee Falls, and the Up & Under Pub on Brady Street, which opened in 1977. The future is also uncertain for the Riverwest Public House, the only co-op run bar in Milwaukee. They originally posted that they would have to close at the end of September, but some funding came through via a GoFundMe that will allow them to remain open through October.
To read more New Restaurant Reality columns by Lacey Muszynski, click here.
