4 new bars and restaurants opening in Milwaukee in January, including Vier North in the old Vitucci's
Milwaukee has officially entered 2024. With the new year will come many opportunities to wine and dine at new places around the city, and a few openings in January will start it off.
This month will see the revival of the space where Vitucci's was located for 85 years as a new venture, Vier North, plans its soft opening date. The city will also see its first "hybrid" cocktail bar, which has an equal selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. A Wauwatosa authentic Mexican restaurant opened a second spot on the east side, and a Puerto Rican food truck-turned-restaurant plans to open as well.
In order of opening, here are four new bars and restaurants coming to Milwaukee in January.
Agency
Jan 5., 1020 N. Broadway
This new cocktail lounge is coming to the Discourse Coffee space, which will transform into a nighttime spot on the weekends where customers can order both alcoholic and nonalcoholic cocktails.
It will have both a cocktail and mocktail option of each menu item.
The menu has more than a dozen craft cocktails ranging from classics like an aviation, margarita, Negroni and espresso martini to experimental drinks such as the Interstellar, a crystalline milk punch made with rum, sauternes, pandan-infused red tea, raspberry and acidified pineapple.
The bar plans to be open Friday through Sunday starting at 6 p.m. It has not established a set closing time. Stay up-to-date at www.instagram.com/agency.mke.
Mex Avenue
Jan. 8, 2238 N. Farwell Ave.
This Wauwatosa Mexican spot opened in Crossroad Collective on Jan. 8, serving $2 tacos and its various birria dishes, including a birria ramen.
It took over the booth of the former Dia Bom spot after it left in plans to move to a bigger space in the Lincoln Warehouse, 2018 S. 1st St.
Mex Avenue opened its own storefront at 11200 W. Burleigh St. in November 2022.
Vier North
Jan. 11, 1832 E. North Ave.
This east side watering hole will serve patrons once again as Vier North, in the space of the former Vitucci's.
It will be open Thursday through Sunday starting Jan. 11, with plans to expand hours at a later date, along with a grand opening celebration in spring.
The interior was redone, centered around creating a 80-foot-4-inch bar that connects what used to be two rooms at Vitucci's. It is longer than the 76-foot-8-inch bar at the former Buck Bradley's, soon to be reopened as Copper, taking the title of longest bar in Milwaukee, and possibly east of the Mississippi River.
Vier North will have a kitchen, specialty cocktails and more than 20 tap lines. It also plans to host live music.
The bar will be open 4 p.m. to bar close Thursday through Saturday and noon to 1 a.m. Sunday. The kitchen will be open 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Follow Vier North's Facebook or Instagram pages for updates.
Sabor Divino
Third week of January, 3300 W. Lincoln Ave.
This Puerto Rican food truck, which sits at 4001 S. 20th St., will open its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Layton Park neighborhood this month.
The new spot will serve dishes such as mofongo and Puerto Rican rice.
"At the restaurant we can share our family recipes in a calm place," owner Irma Melendez Santiago said.
She plans to open the new restaurant some time during the third week of January. Follow Sabor Divino on Facebook for an announcement on its opening date.
Editor's note: The cocktail lounge at Discourse Coffee originally announced it would open under a different name but later changed its name to Agency.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New bar in Vitucci's space among bars opening in Milwaukee in January
