Sunny dining room/open kitchen where the bill of fare comes in a bowl. The menu features grain-, vegetable- and smoothie-based bowls. Highlights: chocolate peanut-butter smoothie and Green Goddess barley bowl.
Wondering how a vessel full of healthy foods came to be called a “Buddha bowl,” I do what comes naturally in our tech-dominated age: turn to Google. It turns out something so zen-sounding doesn’t just refer to plant-based meals-in-a-bowl but also to superfoods (acai fruit), nuts and grains all nestled in one dish.
Serves a completely plant-based menu in eco-friendly surroundings (bamboo floors, walls painted with nontoxic paint). Wines come from organic, sustainable vineyards. Vegan, raw and gluten-free options available.
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This business – which also has a food truck/catering arm in Chicago – takes a home cooking approach to meatless cooking. BBQ, mac and cheese, greens and pizza are among the options.
Lots of options for plant-based diners. Try the raw taco salad, creamy peanut stew and the UB poke bowl.
The Milwaukee choices for plant-based cuisine seem to be getting better and better. Consider Urban Beets (1401 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.), which opened in 2016 across the street from Manpower Group’s headquarters and near the new Bucks arena. Read more…
Mentioned in: 4 Places to Eat Vegan in Milwaukee
The setting for this counter-service joint (an old 1971 VW bus) draws extra attention to the plant-based activity going on here. Besides making their own seitan for sandwiches, they craft vegan ice creams. Sandwiches range from Jamaican jerk seitan on ciabatta to grilled sun-dried tomato pesto. Try a date shake like the mango zinger or an almond cocoa bowl.
Owner Emily Ware – a partner in the market’s Green Kitchen salad, sandwich, juice bar – restored a 1971 Volkswagen Bus that forms the visual centerpiece of her business (located in the former FORM Fine Goods & Floral, next to Thief Wine Shop & Bar). Read more…
Open for Breakfast, Open For Lunch,
The eco-friendly dining room is often filled with city folk working on their laptops. The main food focus here: crepes, cromelettes (crepe-omelets) and panini. Great mushroom-barley burger.
Mentioned in: 4 Places to Eat Vegan In Milwaukee
At Bombay Sweets, you can build a very respectable meatless meal from the vegetarian platters, curries and rice specialties served at this simple showroom of sit-down-and-carryout foods. It’s also a hub for Indian snacks – salty and sweet, nutty and gooey, gelatinous and creamy and every mouth sensation in between.
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Celesta is the restaurant that evolved out of the Beatrix Foods vegan pop-ups run by Melanie Manuel. Occupying the old Jownai Fouquet (or Abu’s Jerusalem of the Gold, if you have a good memory) at 1978 N. Farwell Ave., Celesta is part of our city’s growing plant-based dining movement. Read more…
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Warm, European-vibed spot for genuinely inspiring plant-based food and wines from naturally operated vineyards. Menu changes are frequent. Highlights include gnocchi con giardiniera, the Sicilian pizza and any of the salads.
The new Strange Town is the latest chapter in a journey, not strange but also not conformist, for owner Andy Noble. The DJ and musician had thought about opening an eating/drinking place, he says, but it was this space – the former Allium (2101 N. Prospect Ave., 414-885-0404) – that acted as a summons. Read more…
Windows frame two sides of this utilitarian dining room, allowing light to spill onto the red patterned booths. A solid choice for breakfast, the cafe is especially friendly to the veg-loving crowd.
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Open for Breakfast, Open For Lunch, Outdoor Dining,
Open for Breakfast, Open For Lunch, Outdoor Dining,
A frequent meeting place for physicians at nearby Froedtert Medical Center, Eddie??s is the place for that Prime Kobe tomahawk rib-eye you??ve always wanted to try. A solid choice for a filet, NY strip or (switching to the fresh catches) ahi tuna and sea scallops.
The motto, “exceptional dining that’s casual,” extends to the idea that we need to respect the land from which our food comes. The menu is organized not by course or by the labels “meat,” “fish” or “vegetable.” It’s organized by price – not outlandish digits, either.
Friday Fish Fry, Late Night Dining, Outdoor Dining, Reservations Taken,
Café Bavaria isn’t doing the Teutonic food of old German grandmas. Bavaria is also the home of “Deceit Free Food.” A page of the menu is devoted to naming the sources of their meats and seafood, cheese and produce. The café is open for brunch, too. Also, it carries an extensive selection of tap beer.
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Belgian beers are No. 1-voted Café Hollander’s claim to fame, but the restaurant’s brew menu is 15 pages long, and is organized by beer style.
Other Locations: Café Hollander – Downer Ave
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A bustling bistro in a restored 100-year-old bank building. Breakfast is simple counter-service fare like quiche and croissant sandwiches. Solve your lunch dilemma with a croque-madame. Come dinner, hit up the bouillabaisse, grilled lamb or steak au poivre. Finish with pastries ?? lots of them (lemon tart, Paris-brest, chocolate raspberry dome, et al).
Visually, this place is relatively unchanged since opening in 1993. The old family photos and unpretentious, tight-fitting dining room make diners feel at home. It’s also helped that head chef Juan Urbieta has helmed this ship for so long. He keeps folks coming back for the fried calamari, brick-style chicken and hand-cut pappardelle with duck ragu.
Related Stories: 8 Chefs Converged on Downtown Kitchen. Deliciousness Ensued.
