Walker’s Point food truck park premieres Saturday
This weekend is the debut of Zócalo, the city’s first food truck park, in Walker’s Point.
It’s at 636 S. Sixth St.; the site for many years was the home of La Fuente restaurant and more recently was a Nomad Nacional soccer-bar pop-up.
The large lot has room for six food trucks, parking for customers and outdoor seating for up to 300. The idea of a food park solves a couple of inherent problems with food trucks, namely seating for customers and locations that don’t require circling for a parking spot and feeding meters.
The building on the property, which will have a bar and more seating, is due to open in about two weeks, according to developer Sean Phelan, who is launching Zócalo with Jesus O. Gonzalez, the founder of Mazorca Tacos.
Mazorca is one of the four permanent food trucks that will be parked at Zócalo. The park also will have an “incubator” food truck and a seasonal truck.
The other food trucks are:
❚ Fontelle’s Eatery, which will sell a variety of one-third-pound burgers, made with ground short rib, brisket and chuck from Wisconsin and Iowa farms, that are garnished with house pickles. It also will have a vegan patty and have a couple of other sandwich options, such as grilled cheese with basil and tomato.
❚ Scratch Ice Cream, a small-batch maker of ice cream that also has a location in the Crossroads Collective food hall on the east side.
❚ Bowl Cut, selling Asian-inspired rice bowls.
❚ The start-up business taking the incubator slot is Ruby’s Bagels, which has been selling bagels and cream cheese in locations such as Pilcrow Coffee and the Mercado Magic weekly popup market on Saturdays in Walker’s Point. Ruby’s also will sell coffee.
The first seasonal truck is to be determined.
Although the tavern in the structure at the site still is under construction, a bar inside the garage at Zócalo will serve beer, cider, hard seltzer and rail drinks.
Zócalo starts its fulltime hours Saturday, and it will be closed Mondays.
Regular hours will be: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays for food, with the bar open until 11 p.m.; 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for food, with the bar open until midnight; and 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays for food, with the bar closing at 8 p.m.
Scratch Ice Cream will open at 11:30 a.m., and Ruby’s Bagels will be open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays for the breakfast crowd.
Thinking Christmas in July
Yes, 2019 is steamrolling along. And some people already are planning for Christmas.
Miracle, the international pop-up Christmas bar that started in New York, announced this week that it was returning to Milwaukee and gin specialist the Tin Widow, 703 S. Second St., in Walker’s Point.
If you want to mark your calendars before you start your Christmas shopping this weekend, Miracle on 2nd Street will take place from Nov. 25 to Dec. 31. Expect holiday music, vintage decorations and cocktails such as the Snowball Old Fashioned, with caramelizedpecan bourbon.