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Milwaukee

Welcome to a place with lakefront views, a beautiful riverwalk, a great food scene including lots of vegan options, many fitness options, and a great balance of culture and nature!



I lived in Milwaukee for a month this past summer while doing an away rotation there, and loved it! It is such a unique city with so much to do and a great balance of city action with nature and a relaxed Midwest atmosphere! I loved exploring the food, fitness, dance, arts and culture, and outdoors and am excited to share it all with you!


In the spirit of healing, I acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of all Indigenous peoples whose ancestral homeland Milwaukee now sits on. This land holds significant historical, cultural, and spiritual meaning for the Peoria, Potawatomi, Myaami, Ho-Chunk, Kickapoo, and Menominee people (you can check out this wonderful interactive website that maps Indigenous lands learn more about where you live). It is critical to recognize and advocate for the sovereignty and equity of Native nations here and everywhere.


Travel Logistics

In terms of transportation, it is definitely easiest to have a car, especially if you want to go to Wauwatosa or places nearby that aren’t directly downtown. But if you are just visiting for a weekend and are staying downtown, there are buses and it is pretty walkable!


There are also city bikes called Bublr Bikes spread around downtown that are easy to use and a fun way to get around and explore. You download the app, and then pick them up and drop off at various locations, and one person can check out up to 4 bikes at a time, so if you are with a group, you don’t all need to get the app - you can get a discount for students or healthcare workers!

Some food spots even give you a discount if you bike there, which is cool - you have to pay $5 and signup at bicyclebenefits.org/ and then put the sticker on your helmet and show it, so if you are going to be in Milwaukee for a while, you could consider this!


If you are driving, parking is pretty easy to find and often free during evenings and weekends! Click here for more information on street parking and you can sign up for temporary free overnight parking for up to 3 nights here and Saturday nights have free parking overnight. You can get an overnight parking pass for $20 that lasts up to 4 months. There are specific rules about which side of the street you can park on overnight if you are street parking (generally it is even street number sides on even dates and vice versa), so just be sure to check online to be up to date on this in case anything changes.


Alright, now let’s get into the fun things!


Food

Lots of great brunch options in Milwaukee!

It’s not all just beer and cheese, despite what people classically think of as Milwaukee food!


Markets

There are a lot of cool markets, many of which are quite new, in Milwaukee, which is a fun way to explore a lot of food variety in one place and great for a group outing so everyone can find something they like.


This is the most well-known market, and is right in the Third Ward, which is the main area of restaurants and shopping just off the river! It has a wide variety of food, grocery, snack, and souvenir shops. My favorite there would be On The Bus, a vegan food stand made with the front of an old VW bus! They also have a lot of events, including cooking classes that sound really fun! I like The Spice House (which also has a stand-alone location in the Old World Third Street German area) for many unique spices (I got lemon, lime, and orange dried zest there, which I was very excited about as it saves a lot of time when making a recipe that needs zest).


A cool newer market with a lot of food options, including Make Waves, a sandwich, salad, and smoothie spot with tasty options that are mostly, if not all, vegan. They also have a mini wine shop from Strange Town (see info on this restaurant laer) and food from cuisine styles around the world. They also have some games and other activities there as well.


A food court with a colorful mural outside I walked by, but didn’t have a chance to eat at, that has a cafe, Indian food, pasta bar, ice cream, and more.


Farmers' Markets

There are many farmers' markets in the Milwaukee area (click here for a guide), which are fun to check out during the summer! I went to the Wauwatosa one, which was lovely and had a lot of tasty free samples as well as outdoor yoga! I also stopped by the market in Cathedral Square, which was small but nice - on Thursday evenings they have free live jazz at this park too with food trucks!


Jazz in Cathedral Square park

If you can go to downtown Wauwatosa (driving or by bus), I would definitely recommend it - it is very cute and a quick excursion with lots of great food and fun shops, especially if you go during their Tosa Fest or Farmer's Market. Then you can check out the food places I mention that are there too!


Wisconsin is of course famous for cheese, so if that is something you enjoy, the Wisconsin Cheese Mart in the Old World Third Street German Area is a good choice! They have many free samples and a wide variety of cheeses and cheese-themed souvenirs (for example, if you need a Wisconsin cheesehead haha).


Casual/quick food spots

*in addition to the markets and places mentioned above



This was the place I went to the most during my time in Milwaukee - it was very close to the clinic I was at (technically in Wauwatosa), and so tasty with so many amazing options so I wanted to be able to try multiple dishes! It was a great, bright, plant-filled place to study and do work as well. It is all vegan and has creative dishes, such as a poke bowl with lox made from carrots. They have a weekly rotating French toast flavor, and many smoothies and non-coffee lattes (like matcha, beet, spirulina, etc), as well as coffees. They have grab-and-go options as well and a great mix of sweet and savory options. They have yoga once a month on the weekend followed by juice, which sounds fun!



Colectivo is a chain of coffee shops that started in Milwaukee and is now in Chicago as well. There are many locations, and they have a big menu including vegan and vegetarian options for food and drinks! My favorite location in Milwaukee is the lakefront location - it is such a great spot with lakefront views and a lovely patio!



This is a great salad and juice bar near Third Ward. You can build your own meal as well as ordering from their menu, and their ingredients are very fresh and healthy. Great for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free offerings!



I don’t drink or like beer (and still thrived in Milwaukee, so if you also don’t like beer, it’s ok!), but Milwaukee is famous for beer and breweries, so when I heard that they had an all-vegan brewery, I figured I should at least check out the food there! It is a cool spot to hangout with arcade machines inside and a nice patio, and non-vegans will enjoy it as well! They host a vegan night market the first Thursday night of each month with some local vegan vendors. I tried their carrot street tacos, and thought they were tasty!



Beerline Cafe is an all-vegetarian cafe in the Beerline section of the Milwaukee Riverwalk, with many vegan and gluten-free options! It has a great patio, and the inside is really cool too - there is a whole wall of real vines hanging down from the ceiling and it’s decorated with local artwork. They focus on sustainability and minimizing their environmental impact, and carry locally made baked goods, coffee, and beer. It has won awards for Best Green Business and Best Vegan Restaurant in Milwaukee! They have a great variety of sweet and savory foods with both healthy and indulgent options. I got their vegan cinnamon roll pancakes, which were incredible!



This is a cute blend of a sit-down restaurant, grab-and-go market/cafe, and a gift shop! And it’s all vegetarian with plenty of vegan options! Their ingredients are locally sourced and I had a great brunch here and got some fun gifts for friends and family too. They have composting in the restaurant for any food bits left over, which is great!



This is in downtown Wauwatosa and is a great French cafe and bakery! They have sit-down meals, or you can just enjoy a delicious and beautiful pastry! It is a very nice atmosphere and you can pretend you are in France while enjoying tasty food.


Just Desserts



This is in Wauwatosa but their chocolate is sold at shops throughout the city (such as at Beans and Barley) and it is an all-vegan chocolate shop with creative flavors. They also do chocolate-making classes, and sell cacao butter and vegan gelato! Their chocolate was delicious, and you can sample flavors to help decide what to get.



This place was AMAZING, I got so many delicious desserts here! They are an all-vegan, all-gluten-free bakery that uses healthier, unprocessed ingredients to bake delicious creations. They have breads, muffins, scones, cookies, cupcakes, tiramisu (so good), cakes, and more! They often do sales of their frozen baked goods too. We got a lot of things here for my sister and she said they were the best gluten-free baked goods she had ever had!



Purple Door ice cream is a nationally-awarded ice cream shop in Milwaukee that has a ton of rotating flavors, including many vegan options. I tried their dark chocolate and purple moon flavors with my boyfriend, and both were delicious! Purple moon is a popular flavor in Wisconsin (I’d never heard of it before!), which is citrus, almond, and berries. Their shop also makes an effort to be sustainable and reduce waste in the design and operations, and they donate a portion of their proceeds towards homeless shelters in the city.



A popsicle shop that is very cute and has many unique, creative flavors! The flavors rotate but they always include dairy-free and vegan options. If you scroll down to sign up for their newsletter on their website, you can get a free pop! They have a storefront, but it is far from downtown, and they also pop up at the Public Market and other locations.


Sit-down restaurants



The coolest spot! Great for a date night or fancy dinner, even if your dining buddies aren’t vegan (my parents loved it). This was number one on my list to go to for unique vegan food in Milwaukee and it exceeded my expectations! Strange Town is a woman-owned, all-vegan natural wine bar with creative seasonal small plates (perfect for sharing). My mom loves wine, and thought the wine here was wonderful and they had very cool options. The atmosphere is so pretty, with tons of plants in a beautiful old building, and outdoor seating in the shade of trees not far from the lakefront. They are very social-justice-oriented as well as being focused on sustainability and all-vegan, natural, local foods. Their menu changes seasonally and is always full of unique and tasty options, and I hope to go back again someday! I also hope they start serving brunch someday because I am sure it would be incredible!



Sweet Diner is a delicious brunch spot in Third Ward with creative dishes such as cinnamon roll French toast! They don’t take reservations, so be prepared to put your name down and wait, but you can wander around the streets and shops or riverwalk nearby while waiting and there’s lots of explore. They have gluten-free options available and their pancakes and waffles can be made vegan or gluten-free upon request. It is very cute and much bigger inside than it looks from the outside.



An all-vegan brunch spot with a cute atmosphere! They have tons of delicious options, both sweet and savory, and it is on a cozy little corner with fun artwork inside and nice outdoor seating.



I love the charming quirky but elegant atmosphere here - it is a fancy restaurant but full of duck decorations, so it isn’t too serious! They were so allergy-conscious - they even prepared an annotated menu ahead of time for my boyfriend (who has allergies to some nuts but not all) to share which dishes contained the nuts he is allergic to, which could be modified, and which he could order as is. I have never seen another restaurant do that, so it was so nice and unexpected, and made it a lot easier for us to order. Many of their dishes are vegan or can be modified to be vegan as well. The food was delicious and one of our favorite dinners we have had!



Near the riverwalk and a very pretty spot! I had a great dinner here and it is often recommended by locals! Their menu is smaller than some other restaurants, but they really perfect each dish. We ordered the same pasta twice because it was so good! It has a nice atmosphere for a date night.


Other restaurants that I heard great things about but did not go to are: Cafe Hollander, Wicked Hop, Dorsia (some vegan options), The Diplomat, Benelux (often recommended for brunch, but didn’t seem to have vegan options), Centro Cafe (has vegan pasta options). There are of course many more, especially in the Third Ward area. For famous German food options, see the section below about the Old World Third Street.


Fitness/Activity