Here are 6 restaurant and bar concepts we wish Milwaukee had

Milwaukee has long outgrown its reputation for being a city whose dining scene revolves around cheese and sausage or whose bar scene equates to oversized steins of beer. More than 50 restaurants and bars opened in the city last year alone, with a few introducing new concepts to the city. Third Street Market Hall’s City Fountain brought self-service tap beer to the scene. Seven Swans Creperie proved a crepe cafe can bring in crowds. And Avli finally brought upscale Greek dining to the city.

But with all the new additions it's seen in recent years, Milwaukee still has plenty of concepts missing in its dining and bar scene. While we love how far the city has come, here are a few of the things on our staffers’ wish lists that we’d love to see come to Milwaukee.

A new Polish restaurant

With the closing of Polonez in St. Francis in 2022, the Milwaukee area has been without an authentic Polish restaurant for more than a year. That baffles me, considering about 10% of Milwaukeeans identify as being Polish, and with Wisconsin boasting one of the largest percentages of Polish Americans in the U.S., according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

We need a restaurant that strongly ties the city’s rich Polish heritage to its dining scene.

I’d love to settle into a cozy restaurant with all the Old-World charm of a Polish busia’s kitchen, the table buckled under the weight of bowls and platters brimming with cool and creamy mizeria (cucumber salad), hearty hunter’s stew, tender golabki (cabbage rolls), crispy krokiety (rolled croquettes) and, of course, piles of steamy pierogi.

I’m yearning to take little sips of krupnik (a spiced honey liqueur) from an ornate cordial glass while tucking into a sugar-dusted plum cake or a sweet cheese-filled crepe topped with berry sauce while a soundtrack of jaunty polka music flitters in the background.

Naturally, I’d love to see an authentic Polish restaurant of this kind tucked into a cozy neighborhood on Milwaukee’s south side, where so many Polish immigrants first settled here. If we want to go super authentic, put it in the neighborhood of Polonia, itself. Or anywhere the little restaurant can bask in the glow of Milwaukee's own “Polish Moon” (for the uninitiated, that's the affectionate nickname for the Rockwell Automation clocktower).

OK, it might sound like I’m describing Three Brothers, here, and while I adore that restaurant, it serves Serbian food. I’d love a similar feel and presentation with a little Polish pluck.

And while I’m happy to eat my way through Polish Fest or pop into the new and fabulous Wioletta’s Polish Market to grab some kolaczki or brothy rosat soup to go, I want the comfort of a dining room of folks — with Polish heritage or not — coming together around the food that one of Milwaukee’s largest group of immigrants brought here generations ago.

— Rachel Bernhard, dining critic

A proper dim sum parlor

For years, even before I began my job as a dining critic in Milwaukee, this has been my go-to, gut-reaction answer to the question, “What kind of restaurant do you think Milwaukee’s missing?”

I’m so thirsty for an authentic, roving-cart, served-with-tea, choose-your-own-taste adventure, Chinese dim sum restaurant in this city.

Dim sum are small dishes — about three to four pieces each — typically served from steamer baskets that get pushed around on metal trays so diners can see the dishes before ordering. You choose from the cart as you go and watch the little plates pile high as your group mows through puffy pork buns, steamed shrimp dumplings, slippery rolled rice noodles, scalding soup dumplings, saucy pork ribs and dozens more traditional Chinese dishes.

Dim sum is as much about the experience as it is about the food. Traditionally, it’s a midday meal, served with endless tea, with friends and family gathered around the table, passing and sharing the dishes as the meal goes on. But I could see a late-night dim sum spot resonating in Milwaukee, too.

It’s the kind of restaurant that thrives in cities with a centralized Chinatown, which doesn’t exist here, either. But it does just down the road in Chicago, where the opulent Cai and the popular Phoenix Restaurant have become Chinatown staples.

While we don’t have a proper Chinatown, I do think Milwaukee could support a dim sum restaurant. The closest thing we have, to my knowledge, is J. J. Chen’s in West Allis, but it’s more of a catch-all Chinese restaurant with a sizeable dim sum selection. Dandan devotes a small portion of their menu to dim sum-style plates (and frequently hosts a dim sum special on New Year’s Day), and Momo Mee serves a few dim sum specialties, too (those soup dumplings ... IYKYK).

But I’m looking for the whole experience. A spot truly devoted to dim sum. Hole-in-the-wall strip-mall joint or blinged-out banquet hall, I’d take either.

I’m dying for a new way to brunch, too, and I can’t think of a better Sunday than one spent around a table with tea, friends, and seemingly limitless dumplings to leave in my wake.

— Rachel Bernhard, dining critic

A women's sports bar

As someone who has spent many nights scouring YouTube TV trying to find the game I want to watch, just to purchase a Big Ten or SEC Network subscription to be canceled two hours later, I can say I would much rather spend that time and money at a sports bar.

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any place that would be willing to put on an NCAA women's basketball game over Thursday Night Football.

In the past, when my friends and I were bold enough to ask that the television behind the bar be changed to a Wisconsin women's volleyball game, it was met by scoffs from a few Brewers fans who couldn't be bothered to turn their chairs to look at the two other TVs in the room.

I'm not saying I can't handle an eyeroll here and there, or that every bar should have women's sports on their TVs all the time, but I would love to go somewhere I know the women's game will be on, and be able to watch it with others just as into the game as I am.

Also, money talks, and there is evidence that women's sports fans are a lucrative and underserved market.

In 2022 The Sports Bra in Portland, touted as the nation’s first all-women’s-sports bar, reported an impressive $1 million sales in eight months, according to CNBC.

Bars in other cities are following suit. A Bar Of Their Own plans to open in Minneapolis in 2024 and Rough and Tumble opened in Seattle at the end of 2023.

Wisconsin is still awaiting its first professional women’s sports team (looking at you, Iron District, to bring in a National Woman’s Soccer League team). That doesn’t mean Wisconsinites wouldn't watch impressive women athletes who play for out-of-state or college teams.

In December, the Kohl Center sold-out to those wanting to see Iowa’s Caitlin Clark play against the Wisconsin Badgers women's basketball team.

When fans can’t attend a game in-person, the viewing experience can at least be enhanced by surrounding themselves with fellow fans and watching the game with the sound on. Every Green Bay Packers fan who has watched a game at a local sports bar knows how fun that can be.

The fans of women’s sports rarely get that experience, but we would enjoy it just as much.

—Jordyn Noennig, nightlife and brewery reporter

Sports bars: Here are 9 Milwaukee sports bars to watch Packers, Bucks, Badgers and more

A greenhouse cocktail bar

Wisconsin winters are long, and when the flora outside has been dead for months, a little greenery could do us some good.

When it's early spring but still feels like winter, a walk around Kellner’s in Riverwest always gives me a mood boost. I’m usually just looking for a reason to stay once I’m past the browsing stage.

So why not incorporate one of Wisconsin’s favorite winter pastimes, and enjoy a drink in a greenhouse?

It would kind of be like visiting the Milwaukee domes, but on a smaller scale and with a spot you can grab a craft cocktail while sitting at a bar with friends.

The Commissary in Los Angeles made headlines for its dining experience inside a KoreanTown greenhouse. Patrons could dine in the same space where some ingredients were grown, and poured their own water from a garden house. That space ultimately closed, but maybe because sitting outside in L.A. is almost always an option.

More climate comparable is Nashville (although still definitely warmer than Milwaukee), where The Food Company, an environmentally conscious food vendor, has built a plant paradise with multiple covered patios and The GreenHouse Bar, a cocktail lounge inside a greenhouse.

If not a real greenhouse, then take a bar like Celeste in Chicago, where the top floor cocktail lounge has a glass ceiling and is filled with plants. The bar has couches and other comfy spots to sip on a cocktail among ivy and aloe.

Milwaukee Brewing Company made a strong attempt at this when it owned and operated the space at 1128 N. Ninth St., but the brewery closed, and for reasons beyond an expensive plant-watering bill. The space is now home to Pilot Project Brewing, which does not have all of the plant decor of its predecessor.

Either way, the taproom isn't as quaint and cozy as what I’d want for this concept, and I think the cocktail aspect pairs better than a beer, giving more sweet, summery flavors.

And in the middle of February, we all need a reminder of what summer feels like.

-Jordyn Noennig, nightlife and brewery reporter

The beloved Wisconsin businesses that are Culver's and Kwik Trip

Think of a beloved Wisconsin business.

Tell me why it was Culver’s or Kwik Trip.

Despite how immensely popular both of these are, however, they’re nowhere to be found in downtown Milwaukee.

The suburbs, on the other hand? Riddled with ‘em.

But you can't stop a downtown dweller from dreaming.

There was that Culver’s in The Shops of Grand Avenue food court back when that was a thing. The fast-food chain's current Milwaukee locations include:

• One not too far from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport: 575 W. Layton Ave.

• A couple on the northwest side: 5501 W. Fond du Lac Ave. and 7515 W. Good Hope Road.

• One in West Milwaukee at 1641 Miller Park Way, which is down the street from American Family Field.

Culver's, which got its start in Sauk City in 1984, has over 940 locations in 26 states.

So will it be making its downtown return in the foreseeable future? Doesn’t sound like it.

“While we will never say ‘never,’ there are no current plans for a Culver's in that area,” Eric Skrum, Culver’s director of public relations and communications, said in a Dec. 21 email.

Culver’s, you’re lucky your ButterBurgers, Buffalo chicken tenders, custard and cheese curds are worth the drive.

To be named the best gas station in the country, you have to be known for much more than just your fuel. And, Kwik Trip sure is, from its Glazer donuts and Hot Spot eats to Big Buddys and milk in a bag.

The La Crosse-based convenience store chain operates 506 stores in Wisconsin (and another 349 elsewhere), according to a recent Journal Sentinel report.

But, none of those are in Milwaukee proper. And that won’t be changing anytime soon, according to the company.

“We don’t have any plans to come to Milwaukee and the reason for that is Real Estate,” Ben Leibl, Kwik Trip public relations specialist, said in a Dec. 21 email. “We need 2-3 acres for our new stores that we are building. That is probably the equivalent of 2-3 city blocks, and we wouldn’t be able to find reasonably priced real estate to build new stores on.”

Here’s a list of Kwik Trip's closest locations:

• Kwik Trip #1047: 10923 W. Lapham St., West Allis

• Kwik Trip #892: N56W14150 Silver Spring Drive, Menomonee Falls

• Kwik Trip #244: N88W15476 Main St., Menomonee Falls

• Kwik Trip #976: 6300 S. 27th St., Oak Creek

• Kwik Trip #290: 7880 S. 10th St., Oak Creek

• Kwik Trip #576: 2040 W. Ryan Road, Oak Creek

• Kwik Trip #422: 9535 S. 13th Street, Oak Creek

• Kwik Trip #534: 13975 W. Cleveland Ave., New Berlin

• Kwik Trip #971: 2101 S. Moorland Road, New Berlin

• Kwik Trip #977: 15075 W. National Ave., New Berlin

• Kwik Trip #499: 15700 W. Small Road, New Berlin

• Kwik Trip #325: 10360 N. Cedarburg Road, Mequon

• Kwik Trip #287: 5040 W. Rawson Ave., Franklin

• Kwik Trip #857: 10750 W. Speedway Drive, Franklin

• Kwik Trip #968: 2302 E. Moreland Blvd., Waukesha

• Kwik Trip #969: 21980 Watertown Road, Waukesha

• Kwik Trip #1080: S63W13510 Janesville Road, Muskego

And a few more Culver’s:

• 1325 E. Capitol Drive, Shorewood

• 300 West Bayside Drive, Glendale

• 1672 S. 108th St., West Allis

• 6031 W. Layton Ave., Greenfield

• 15280 W. Bluemound Road, Elm Grove

• 3705 N. 124th St., Brookfield

• W186N9581 Bancroft Drive, Menomonee Falls

• 4327 W. Schroeder Drive, Brown Deer

• 7841 S. Howell Ave., Oak Creek

• 14855 W. National Ave., New Berlin

• 11150 N. Port Washington Road, Mequon

• 6101 S. 108th St., Hales Corners

• 4220 W. Oakwood Park Court, Franklin

• 1650 E. Main St., Waukesha

• 21300 W. Capitol Drive, Pewaukee

• W187S7959 Racine Ave., Muskego

— Hannah Kirby, entertainment/pop culture reporter

Latin Caribbean cuisine

I dream of the day I can enjoy a taste of home while listening to the sweet sounds of Celia Cruz or Hector Lavoe in downtown Milwaukee.

Having moved from Miami in 2020, I’ve struggled to find a spot downtown where I can enjoy Latin Caribbean cuisine with the option to dance the night away to salsa, merengue or bachata music.

While Cubanita’s downtown can help me get my ham croquettes or tostones fix, and Sabor Tropical in Bay View offers a variety of Latin dishes, we’re missing a place that merges Latin food and dancing. Think Freight 38’s Latin nights with the option to order a Cuban sandwich before hitting the dance floor.

It’s not impossible to create the perfect Latin Caribbean plate in Milwaukee, you just need to go to several places. I go to Immy’s African Cuisine for the best fried sweet plantains. For mofongo or any traditional Puerto Rican or Dominican dishes, I make my way to La Caribeña on the south side. For my favorite Puerto Rican meal, I hit Las Virellas at Zócalo Food Truck Park.

The 2020 census showed Milwaukee’s Hispanic population increased despite an overall population decline. And while we have many options for Mexican cuisine, I’d love more Caribbean representation in the dining scene.

—Jessica Rodriguez , trending food and dining reporter

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 6 restaurant and bar concepts we wish would open in Milwaukee