When I was a high school kid, one of our after-school rituals was to stop at Fitzgerald Pharmacy (424 E. Silver Spring Dr.) for candy – stuff like Charleston Chews and Bit-O-Honey. At one point in its history, it also had an ice cream counter but that was gone before my time. Fitzy’s, as it was called, closed in 2019, after 65 years in business. That was a blow to many.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
But new owners were inspired to reopen the Whitefish Bay pharmacy (with an updated look) in 2022. They also brought back the ice cream counter, this time serving locally produced ice cream by Purple Door and Scratch. That is not all. The business also opened Fitzy’s Café inside the space. It serves coffee and tea drinks, pastries and a menu of sweet and savory dishes for breakfast.
More recently Fitzy’s expanded the offerings to serve all day. The sweet breakfast items include bananas foster croissant, Blueberries in Belgium (toasted waffle, blueberry gastrique, lemon curd, Chantilly cream) and almond butter and banana toasted with toasted pumpkin seeds and granola ($9-$14). Savory creations include roasted tomato and soft scramble tartine, avocado and egg sandwich, Pierre quiche and avocado toast ($11-$13).
The lunch/dinner choices are more savory still, with Fitzy’s smoked Whitefish Bay Dip, ancient grain bowl, Mediterranean egg salad tartine, salmon BLT and “horsey” beef Sammy ($12-$19).
The coffee/tea program was created/curated by Discourse Coffee’s Ryan Castelaz, author of recent book The New Art of Coffee. The menu balances a more conventional side (brewed coffee, espresso drinks, teas, chai, etc.) with house specials. For example, there’s The Fitz, with espresso, milk, maple, palo santo bitters, fennel salt and lemon zest. And cascara cherry phosphate, which combines coffee brewed with cascara tea, tart cherry juice, orgeat, cherry bark vanilla bitters, acid phosphate and saline. The menu was designed to “channel all the fun and nostalgia of the old school soda fountain into innovative, thoroughly modern concoctions,” Castelaz said in a press release.
The café space is described as a “modernized luncheonette” that includes the food counter, craft coffee bar and lounge seating.
Café hours: daily 7 a.m.-8 p.m. A grand opening celebration will be held in January, at which time they will roll out a finalized menu, online ordering and delivery.
