Rooftop domes will be coming to Cafe Benelux
Each will seat up to 8, be outfitted with a heater
What does a restaurant do with its rooftop patio in winter in Milwaukee? Cafe Benelux in the Historic Third Ward has come up with the answer: Put private weatherproof domes on it.
Restaurant owner Lowlands Group said it would open the Lux Domes in late November. There will be six of them on the roof, each seating up to eight people and outfitted with a heater.
Customers will be able to reserve a dome for 11⁄2 hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
The base price is $200, which includes a mug for each person to keep plus a beverage package — mulled wine, hot toddies, hot cocoa or beer. Other food and beverage packages will be available and would be ordered in advance, then dropped off at the start of the reservation.
Food packages, for instance, range from platters of pickled vegetables and deviled eggs for $20 to a seafood platter of smoked trout, spiced shrimp, seared tuna and accompaniments for $46. Reservations can be made online at
luxdomes.com starting later in November. Those subscribing to the Lowlands newsletter will be notified when Cafe Benelux begins taking reservations.
“We wanted to create a way for Milwaukeeans to enjoy the city during our cold and dark winter evenings that was
an experience unlike any other in the city,” Dan Herwig, director of brand and marketing for Lowlands Group, said in a written statement announcing the domes.
“We’ve seen similar rooftop experiences in London and Boston add life to those cities in their harsh winters, so we figured Milwaukee would be a great fit for something similar.”
The domes reportedly are waterproof, bear up to 90 pounds of snow and withstand winds up to 38 mph. Which sounds like a typical Wisconsin winter, making the domes sort of lifesize snow globes, but with the snow on the outside.