The inconspicuous new occupant on the block across from Bradley Tech, the Dream Lab (327 W. National Ave.), is a hybrid coffee shop/craft beer bar/gallery space.
Opened last month by Shawn DeKay, the rehabbed former barbershop (the poll is still up) serves Counter Culture Coffee and East Side Ovens bakery along with brews by Third Space Brewing, Milwaukee Brewing Company and Eagle Park Brewing (plus that old Milwaukee fave, PBR).
Currently, work by local artists Clayton Haggerty, Jeremy Kirk, Roseanna Lazcano and Katie Ryan is displayed along one wall. A splashy urban mural by Chacho Lopez of the Walker’s Point Creative Collective covers a second wall.
“I wanted a comfortable space where you can pull out your paints,” DeKay says. “A safe place to create art”—and have an inspiring conversation along with a muffin, an espresso or a beer.
