Sports bar Izzy Hops hopes to score on east side El Tenampa to open
A new sports bar serving craft beer and bourbon on the east side, Izzy Hops Swig & Nosh, will make its debut to the public on Tuesday.
Izzy Hops, 2311 N. Murray Ave., will open with 30 taps, 30 bourbons and an innovative arrangement — it’s sharing a kitchen next door with Divino Wine & Dine, and it’s sharing Divino’s chef, Tyler Cutsforth.
Bar patrons will find appetizers such as nachos and house potato chips sprinkled with Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses with giardiniera mayonnaise for dipping. Prices range from $6.95 to $11.95 for appetizers.
Burgers are a third-pound and charbroiled; they’re $9.95 and $10.95. Sandwiches such as eggplant Parmesan and Italian beef are $8.95 and $9.95, and 8and 12-inch pizzas start at $8 to $11.
The bar also serves soups ($5), jumbo chicken wings ($14.95) and sliders ($14.95 for a sampler of five, including pulled pork, fried cod and Italian sausage).
The site, which was Rascal’s bar until April, was gutted down to the brick walls, said Izzy Hops owner Michael Vitucci. In finishing the restaurant, he sought out 100-year-old walnut for the 3inch-thick bartop and for the tabletops and shelving.
The space has handmade fixtures inside, overhead doors to open in warm weather and a patio that seats 25 behind the building. A parklet in front of the building is planned for spring.
Inside the bar, which has four big-screen TVs, is seating for 80. That includes eight seats at a communal table.
Vitucci also owns Whiskey Bar and the Belmont Tavern downtown and Caffrey’s and Murphy’s pubs near the Marquette University campus. Besides Izzy Hops, he also owns the building it’s in, at 2311-2325 N. Murray Ave.
Hours at Izzy Hops will be 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday to Thursday, 3 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday.
The regular menu will be served until 10 p.m., and a briefer late-night menu will be served until midnight. Brunch will be served 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Izzy Hops is online at izzyhops.com and on Facebook.
Kawa Ramen & Sushi
Meanwhile, Kawa Ramen & Sushi will open in the same building on Murray Ave. on Monday.
It’s the second restaurant for Kawa’s owner, who opened Kawa Japanese Restaurant at 325 E. Silver Spring Drive in Whitefish Bay in 2015, serving sushi and Japanese main dishes in a modern dining room.
Besides sushi, the restaurant at 2321 N. Murray will serve several kinds of ramen based on slow-cooked pork broth. Ramen will be $12 and $13.
Kawa’s hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
To contact: (414) 800-7979.
Beer garden in works
The owners of the Cheel, the Nepalese-American restaurant in Thiensville, are planning a beer garden in the spacious, tree-shaded yard next door to the restaurant, plus a room for private parties that will be a novelty in the Milwaukee area.
It will be called the Bari, Nepalese for garden. It will be at 107 Buntrock Ave.; the Cheel is at the corner, at 105 S. Main St.
Barkha Daily, who owns the Cheel with her husband, Jesse, and the property on Buntrock, said the couple are just beginning to plan the menu and other details after deciding to put in a beer garden.
“We always wanted to utilize (the yard) because we both love the outdoors, Jesse and I,” Barkha Daily said.
The beer garden will have brews on tap, she said, and the food likely will include sandwiches and sausages. The food would still have the Cheel’s take on menu items, she said, and prices would be lower than at the restaurant.
Besides the outdoor beer garden, the Dailys are planning a three- or four-season room in a shipping container. The containers have become popular as small settings for restaurants and other businesses across the country and around the world, but it’s a trend that hasn’t yet caught on in the Milwaukee area.
El Tenampa Mexican Grill & Cantina is ready to give new life to the building that was the Black Kettle restaurant for five decades. El Tenampa is due to open Oct. 1 at 8660 N. 107th St., said owner Victor Ramirez.
The restaurant will have drink specials that day and more specials at the grand opening on Oct. 7, such as discounted appetizers.
The restaurant will serve a mix of Mexican and American dishes on the menu, with appetizers from shrimp in lime juice and Mexican corn salad to nachos and wings. Appetizer prices are $5.25 to $11.95.
Main dishes include fajitas ($15.95 to $17.95), all-day breakfast plates including eggs with chorizo ($7.50), burritos ($10.95 to $12.95) and house specialties such as pambasos, the sandwiches dipped in mild salsa ($10.50) and pozole, the pork and hominy soup ($11.99), served on Saturdays only.
Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with happy hour and daily specials.
To contact: (414) 206-0790. The restaurant’s menu is online at eltenampawi .com.
Brady Street market
A farmers market will debut Saturday on Arlington Place just north of E. Brady St., with produce, prepared foods and other hand-made items.
The market, sponsored by Balzac Wine Bar, will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a half-block stretch of Arlington in front of the restaurant.
A second market will be Oct. 21. Balzac intends to make the market a weekly one, starting in spring.
Some of the vendors scheduled for the market this week are Balzac beignets and coffee, La Masa empanadas, Bittercube bitters, Chillwaukee ice pops, Teens Grow Greens handmade products, Elegant Farmer apples, cider and gourds, Mr. Dye’s Pies, Freese's candy, Fern & Nettle soaps, AnnKat Designs jewelry and Lorganix vegetables.
Vendors scheduled for the Oct. 21 market include That Salsa Lady, Big City Greens mushrooms and vegetables, 5 Lilies jams and preserves, Clock Shadow Creamery cheese and Tippecanoe Herbs tonics, teas and salves.