December 2025 was not a merry month for Milwaukee’s dining scene. It started on Dec. 3 with Beans & Barley, an East Side fixture since 1973, announcing its plans to close permanently at the end of January.
Three days later, Strange Town, a 9-year-old vegan restaurant a half-mile away, posted a plea on social media. “The last few weeks have been our slowest weeks since 2020,” the post read. “We won’t survive another 2 weeks like that.”
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The “we need your support now more than ever” message struck a nerve – commenters promised to visit (“Scheduling a sitter, be there this week!”). A few of the responses were from other restaurant owners who said they were struggling, too.
Then came more heartbreak: The National Cafe, a breakfast/lunch spot in business 17 years, announced it had called it quits. But the worst was hearing that the end had come for Bavette la Boucherie, whose star had shined for 13 years in the Third Ward. The reasons for the closings were all different (economic, personal or a combination thereof) but the timing made them feel connected and ominous.
And, in some capacity, restaurants across the board – casual to fine dining and everything in between – have felt the squeeze in the past several months on two critical fronts. Their own costs are rising rapidly, just as they sense customers pulling back from spending, even on modest indulgences like a night out.
People don’t typically open an independent restaurant thinking they’re going to make a lot of money. But they also don’t expect to be fighting just to keep their heads above water.
At Strange Town, owner Mia LeTendre has been trying to get on track since a lackluster summer, when construction on Prospect Avenue “killed” her patio business. She’s paying more for goods – staple ingredients (sugar, flour and oil), produce, alcohol, paper products, cleaning supplies.
The rent for the building Strange Town occupies went up. LeTendre’s CPA raised her monthly fee. She estimates her overall spending has increased at least 15%. “We are frequently out of menu items now because I can’t afford to meet order minimums [for ingredients]. We’ve had to downsize our wine menu, which hurts.”
This year, Lulu Cafe & Bar – a Bay View monument of casual dining – has a milestone birthday: 25 years in business. Early 2026 brought the kind of cold that keeps diners at home and energy bills high; Lulu’s January bill was $1,000 higher than a year ago, co-owner Cameryne Roberts says.
Wine prices are up due to tariffs and wildfires on the West Coast. People are drinking less alcohol, too – a trend many other restaurant owners report. Lulu hasn’t borne the full brunt of rising beef prices – some 15% higher in 2025, according to Consumer Price Index data – because it’s switched purveyors to save on costs. Roberts says they’ve tried not to raise menu prices but did pass on some of the increased costs with an 8%-10% hike last summer – after a smaller increase in 2024.
On the flip side, almost every restaurant owner interviewed for this story says customers have tightened their belts, too, whether responding to actual or perceived economic events. They are “just being a little bit more frugal,” LeTendre says.
Says Jess Ignatiev, who runs the cozy Heirloom MKE in Bay View with her husband and head chef, Pete: “We always have narrow margins, so we rely on filling our restaurant [and] turning tables. This year – specifically, this fall – has been a lot quieter than it has in the past, and I know from speaking with our vendors and restaurants, we’re not alone in that.”
Heirloom’s culinary ethos is to support local farms (for produce, eggs, meat) that “align with our values,” which Jess says they “knew would cost more.” But now it’s a lot of the other stuff (compostable containers, coconut milk and other kitchen essentials) and general operating fees (marketing software, payment processing) that are hitting them hard.
When the cost of living goes up, and non-negotiables like groceries go up, the natural reaction is to cut back on what you don’t need – e.g., restaurant meals. And consumers are spending more on groceries: According to the USDA, food prices rose 23.6% between 2020 and 2024, and continued to rise more modestly in 2025.
In January, the USDA projected grocery prices to increase a moderate 1.7% for 2026. Still, it’s been enough to move the needle on restaurant demand.
“Even though inflation is relatively low, folks are still not feeling great about the economy because of what they’re spending in the grocery store, or not really sure what’s going to happen long term,” says Kristine Hillmer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association. “So they’re naturally contracting. It’s what society does when there’s that uncertainty.”
The hospitality industry also simply hasn’t come back to the pre-COVID “normal.” Paul Bartolotta, co-founder of The Bartolotta Restaurants, is seeing this manifest in continued staffing issues across the sector, although he’s happy with levels at his properties. Since the pandemic, “everyone sort of decided maybe they’d rather work in a different industry than hospitality,” he says.
Despite the rising cost of ingredients, Bartolotta says he’s “very reluctant” to raise menu prices. He describes the increases his restaurants have made as “nominal” – “because we simply could not not do it.” Certain fresh seafood, he says, is now wildly expensive. “Crab legs at $81 a pound! Scallops at $41 a pound,” he says, still astounded.
The impact of supporting a restaurant is almost unquantifiable, both for individual diners and the wider community, restaurateurs noted. It’s more than the person cooking or the server who brings you your food. It’s the vendors, the delivery drivers, etc.
It’s also, more intangibly, the memories you make in them, notes Dane Baldwin, chef and co-owner of The Diplomat on Brady Street. “These are gathering spots, places of community,” Baldwin says. “Restaurants are full of storytelling – people meet and get married and start families.”
Resilience and adaptability are as important now as they’ve ever been. Since her plea for support back in December, LeTendre has made a few changes at Strange Town to help keep the momentum going. She hopes to avoid raising menu prices by incorporating items that don’t cost as much to make. And she’s begun offering takeout – which she was slow to embrace.
“I really like in-house dining. I love people to enjoy the ambiance – we curate your music and create this environment. But I can’t defend that hill much longer,” she says.
Despite the city having a relatively tight restaurant community, LeTendre says, it wasn’t until other owners reached out as the result of her post that she realized she wasn’t alone. “It’s sad but also encouraging to know that it’s not just us,” she says. “It’s everybody. But I mean, that also makes it worse.”
How to Best Support Local Restaurants
It’s a simple equation: Without customers, restaurants cannot survive. And by supporting a local eatery, you’re also benefiting an entire network of workers, including its vendors, delivery drivers, maintenance workers, the landlord and more.
Another, perhaps less quantifiable plus: Local restaurants add to the vibrancy of a community. Heirloom recently posted a little guide on how to best support businesses like it. Inspired by that example, here’s what you can do:
Plan it out. Include at least two meals at a locally owned restaurant in your monthly budget. Alternate between places you already love and places you have never tried. Try not to look at it as an indulgence; rather, consider it caring for your mental, emotional and social well-being.
Be flexible. Restaurants’ busiest times are typically Friday and Saturday between the hours of 6 and 8 p.m. They need your support during slower times – before 6, after 8, or on a weeknight.
Gift your friends. Purchasing gift cards gives a restaurant a little infusion of cash. And if you give them to someone who has not tried a particular place before, you’re helping the restaurant expand its clientele.
