Strange Town restaurant will join 3rd Street Market Hall with a natural wine bar and shop
Strange Town, the plant-based restaurant with a focus on natural wine, will open a wine bar and bottle shop in the new 3rd Street Market Hall downtown.
The market hall announced its newest vendor Monday. The hall, 275 W. Wisconsin Ave., has not set an opening date but is expected to open in the coming weeks.
Owner Mia LeTendre said a custom bar where wine by the glass will be poured is being built by Christopher Brooks, and license applications are wending through city departments. She expects Strange Town Bottle Shop could open in late winter or early spring.
“We will have an interesting little selection by the glass, comparable to what we offer at the restaurant,” LeTendre said by text. Strange Town opened in 2017 at 2101 N. Prospect Ave. Besides its vegan menu, it’s known for its all-natural wine selection and craft cocktails.
Strange Town Bottle Shop will, of course, also sell wine by the bottle to take home. All wines that it sells are made with low intervention, and the grapes are grown sustainably.
LeTendre, a Wisconsin native, lived for a time in South Africa, where she began to appreciate the world’s diverse wine-growing regions. The wines she sells come predominantly from small vineyards around the world, including Eastern European countries such as Croatia, Slovenia and Georgia.
Besides wine, the Strange Town stall will sell some favorite menu items packaged to go, such as its tapenade, salad dressings and desserts.
Other 3rd Street Market Hall vendors will include Anytime Arepa, Amano Pan, Dawg City, Dairyland Old-Fashioned Hamburgers, Greenhouse, Hot Dish Pantry, Kawa Sushi & Ramen, Make Waves, Middle East Side, MidWay Bakery, Paper Plane Pizza, Strega, Supernova and Valor Aquaponics.
The hall is inside The Avenue, a mix of retail space, offices and apartments in the former Grand Avenue Mall. Besides food and wine vendors, 3rd Street will have a 50-seat full bar plus activities such as Topgolf Swing Suite, shuffleboard and billiard soccer.