Comet Cafe is reopening on Milwaukee’s east side, now under new ownership
Milwaukee’s east side favorite Comet Cafe is reopening.
Comet Cafe will start serving comfort foods like meatloaf in the new year, the new owners announced in a news release Friday.
The restaurant, which closed indefinitely last year, will return under Valeri Lucks, who runs Honeypie, Palomino and SmallPie. Lucks will run Comet Cafe with business partner Derek Petersen. Lucks’ restaurant group is Pie Inc.
Comet Cafe, at 1947 N. Farwell Ave., closed last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mojofuco Restaurants announced that a temporary closure was indefinite in July of 2020.
The new owners plan to reopen Comet Cafe sometime in winter 2022.
“We will be keeping the food, the drinks — everything very much the same,” Lucks said in the news release. “My late father helped us build the bar, my brother and friends built the booths, counter and tables that are still there. Much of that menu we created in 2005 ourselves. We are excited to return to it.”
Petersen, who is the executive chef of Pie Inc., started his culinary career in 2006 as a dishwasher at Comet Cafe.
Lucks and her brother Adam Lucks operated Comet Cafe from 2005 to 2015.
“Bringing Comet back into our fold is an exciting step in our growth,” Lucks said in the news release. “Comet means a lot to us personally. So many of us in our company got our start there. We have Comet in our DNA.”
When it reopens, Comet Cafe will serve pie from the Honeypie Bakeshop.
Comet Cafe was founded in 1995 by Scott Johnson and Leslie Montemurro as a neighborhood coffee shop. Lucks and her brother partnered with them in 2005 to expand Comet Cafe into a full restaurant and bar.
“Val understands the vibe of Comet, loves it, and was a huge part of evolving Comet from the single storefront cafe to the full service diner and bar that it became,” Montemurro said in an email Friday. “It’s in good hands and it’s awesome that now Comet will be around into the next decade.”
Mojofuco Restaurants group closed Comet Cafe and Fuel Cafe on Center Street at the same time last year.
“This decision was difficult, but necessary, as both restaurants have struggled to remain financially viable during the COVID-19 health crisis,” Montemurro said in an email at the time of the closure. “We are grateful to our customers for their loyalty and support over the years and for our staff who has always worked hard to make these restaurants a welcome gathering place in our communities.”