Brewers Hill site getting modern Greek restaurant

Avlí, a Chicago restaurant group specializing in regional Greek cuisine, will take over the vacant View MKE building in Brewers Hill, with plans to open there in the spring.

Avlí has five restaurants in Chicago, one of which the Chicago Tribune called “an important addition to the River North dining scene” and another that Michelin named a Bib Gourmand restaurant in 2019 and 2021.

The two-story Brewers Hill restaurant with upper and lower patios, at 1818 N. Hubbard St., would be the group’s first outside the Chicago area.

That’s the former site of View MKE, a restaurant that opened in 2018, closed for the winter in late 2020 and never reopened. Owner Carl Tomich put it up for sale in spring 2021 but took it off the market; he still owns the property.

Previously, the building — well known for its view of downtown Milwaukee’s skyline — was home to Wolf Peach restaurant and, before that, Roots.

The setting and structure of the building are what sold the restaurant group on the site.

“Avlí means so all of our restaurants have an outdoor element,” said Louie Alexakis, a founding partner of the group.

“Outdoor dining is very Greek,” he said.

The building’s two levels will allow the restaurant to hold private events, such as parties or wine dinners, he said.

Equipment will be added to the kitchen to reflect the grilled items that will be served. Alexakis, who formerly was the group’s culinary director, said he hopes the building’s wood-burning oven can be used to finish some dishes or bake some of the pita.

The chef of each of the group’s restaurants has creative control of the menu, he said, so the menus all differ. The

Milwaukee menu likely will have some dishes in common, however, that are popular at the other restaurants.

Those could include kataifi prawns — wrapped with shredded phyllo dough and served with spicy mayonnaise and herb oil — and saganaki.

The bar will feature Greek wines, and it will have spirits such as masticha of Chios and other liquors and liqueurs less widely known than ouzo. They’ll be incorporated into cocktails, as well.

And, Alexakis said, “We will try to get Milwaukeeans to drink Greek beer.”

In addition to in-person dining, the restaurant will have takeout.

The Brewers Hill restaurant doesn’t yet have a name. Alexakis pointed out that all of the group’s restaurants have slightly different names, and each is distinct in its focus, but he characterized all of them as approachable and casual.

Alexakis’ partners in the restaurants are Chicago sportscaster Lou Canellis and investor William V. Glastris Jr.

ANGELA PETERSON / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL The building at 1818 N. Hubbard St., which has housed restaurants View MKE, Wolf Peach and Roots, will get a modern Greek restaurant in spring. The building has been closed for about two years.