While visiting Milwaukee, history buffs have long been able to learn about the city via guided tours. Now folks have a great chance to taste the city, too.
Inspired by her great grandparents who immigrated to Milwaukee from Sicily, owner and operator Theresa Nemetz combined her passion for food, tourism and Milwaukee to create Milwaukee Food Tours.
As of May10, 2008, Milwaukee Food Tours has been giving guided and narrated walking food tours that not only teach folks about Milwaukee’s rich history and unique architecture, but also allow guests to sample flavors from ethnic eateries and specialty food shops.
These tours are a great way for visitors and locals alike to stretch their legs, learn some history about the city and visit some on and off-the-beaten path establishments.
The 2.5-hour Brady Street/Old World Third Street Food Tour that Eric and I took showcased Milwaukee’s historic Italian and German neighborhoods through offerings from eight stops at places like Peter Sciortino’s Bakery, Wisconsin Cheese Mart, Usinger’s and Mader’s Restaurant.
The day of the tour Eric and I woke up to the sounds of rain pelting the bedroom windowpane. “It said on the tickets that tours are held rain, shine, or snow,” I sighed as I wiped the sleep from my eyes.
After a half hour of franticly rummaging through closets and drawers, we gathered our belongings, double checked that we had our tickets, and made a quick run to the pharmacy to grab a cheap umbrella because I apparently don’t own one anymore. The selection was pretty scanty, but we were able to find something that would suffice, and then we made a beeline for the Starbucks across the street.
After a few sips of my Pumpkin Spice Latte, we headed over to the meeting place in front of Zaffiro’s Pizza on the corner of Farwell Avenue and Brady Street. Outside and under the awning of the little brick eatery was a small group of other umbrella-toting locals. Our group was a nice, intimate size of about 16 people, which easily allowed for questions to be asked and conversations to be had.
At 11:15 on the dot, our tour guide emerged from the bunch and introduced herself over some lingering chatter. Terri was a friendly 20-something who resides in Milwaukee. She had a genuine love for the city and was very well versed in the local food scene, as well as its history and architecture. She took time to talk to each of us and to learn our names and where we were from – that also made the tour more personal.
I was a little surprised to learn, however, that most of the tour guests so far haven’t come very far. On our tour, most of the people were locals – the furthest coming from Waukesha.
Within moments, we were escorted inside the two-room pizzeria and led into the crammed dining room where several tables were joined in the center of the room, creating one long banquet-like table to accommodate the entire tour group. My eyes widened in delight when I entered the room and noticed that on top of the red and white checkerboard table cloths were three large pizzas cut tavern-style and loaded with gooey mozzarella, sweet red sauce and sprinkled with oregano.
The pizzas taunted us as one by one we slid into a seat, trying to restrain our urge to dive right into the pizza. “Feel free to start eating, guys,” Terri encouraged.
Without further delay, everyone grabbed a piece of the beloved Milwaukee-style, cracker crust pizza and talked among themselves. Zaffiro’s pizza is arguably the BEST pizza in Milwaukee – I’d be glad to take this outside if anyone begs to differ. Seriously though, if you haven’t been there, you must. It’s my favorite pizzeria in all of southeastern Wisconsin!
Naturally, there was one square of pizza left on each pan as that’s the polite thing to do, I guess. Eric leaned over and whispered, “How much do you wanna bet no one eats those last three pieces?” I emitted a little chuckled; I knew it was probably true.
“We can’t take any of the food with us, so eat up!” Terri egged on.
At that point, everyone threw their reservations out the window and literally lunged for the last piece. This was the continuing trend for the rest of the afternoon. No longer did we have to be pushed to eat the free food. Instead, we had to fight off those going back for thirds!
This was evident on our second stop at Peter Sciortino’s Bakery where several people pawed at the scrumptious mini cannoli waiting for us, and then instantaneously scarfing it down.
Next, we dropped in at Glorioso Brothers Grocery, a quaint Italian food store and specialty shop on Brady Street. While Terri went in to get our sample, Eric and I decided to take a gander inside the shop, as well. The "mom and pop" store was brimming with folks buying everything from fresh olive salad and real caponata to authentic mortadella and steaming meatball sandwiches. Shelves were fully stocked with quarts of family-secret marinara and lupine beans, crisp sesame breadsticks and canned, smoked seafoods. The coolers were also chock-full of Italian sausages packaged by the pound and fresh cheeses to accommodate the daily mass of shoppers.
Terri quickly exited with two tubs of olives – one filled with green and the other with black – along with a handful of freshly sliced prosciutto, wrapped up in deli paper. Then, like vultures folks began to hover over her as she set the food on the patio table and explain what Glorioso had ready for us.
As soon as we were given the OK, everyone swooped down and gathered up their taste. Because Eric and I decided to wait for the crowd to calm, I didn’t get to try any of the perfectly carved prosciutto. Lesson learned: Get your samples fast! Heck, throw and elbow if you must!
I did, however, get both kinds of olives, but since I don’t actually like olives – I thought I should give them a second chance – they ended up in the garbage can. Those who did enjoy them were allowed to take the leftovers home, though.
From there we walked along Brady Street and learned about the area and how it had changed over time. Brady Street was first a Polish neighborhood. When the Polish immigrants started moving into the back streets, the Italian immigrants began to migrate there and eventually took over the entire strip, creating Milwaukee’s Little Italy.
As we strolled by an old Polish church and the firehouse, we were told that the sidewalks have etchings of images pertaining to the businesses that were there. The firehouse has an etching of a hose and the old tower while Mima’s Cafe is represented by a picture of Italy.
With places such as these, indubitably steeped in history, I really wish that the owners of the establishments would have taken a moment to share their stories such that we could ask them a few questions and learn a bit more.
We continued on, taking the predetermined path at a leisurely pace. Although it wasn’t a brisk speed by any means, I enjoyed the idea of gorging ourselves and then walking it off.
On the way to Old World Third Street, our tour guide took us on a detour down Knapp Street. She showed us some of the typical homes of the Polish immigrants and the address where Laverne and Shirley would have lived, as well as distinct homes built from light yellow-colored slabs called Cream City bricks. These bricks became the most common building materials used in Milwaukee during the mid and late 1800s and gave Milwaukee its nickname “Cream City” years later, she explained.
Moving on, we came upon Buca di Beppo on Van Buren Street and we were immediately engulfed by the aromas of garlic bread, Parmesan cheese and pizza crust wafting from the entranceway and enticing us to come in and eat. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try any foods at Buca, but we did have a wine tasting.
Although Buca is a chain restaurant with many locations throughout the United States, the Milwaukee restaurant still carries several wines made right here in Wisconsin, so we got to sample a Lambrusco from a local winery as we took a tour of the highly fascinating eatery. The sparkling red wine’s light and fruity taste was very refreshing as the rain had cleared up and the day was getting very humid.
From here we walked past Water Street and into the Old World Third Street district. This neighborhood used to be considered “little Germany” because it was entirely populated by, you guessed it, Germans. Store and restaurant owners in this borough actually had to put up signs that acknowledged “we speak English” because people were apparently too intimidated to go into the area because it was so heavily German.
As the last remaining portion of the original German retail district in Milwaukee, Old World Third Street is rich in historical flavor, architectural contrasts and diverse ethnic culture. While we walked on the cobblestone paths, images of the past came to life and echoed of yesteryear, but proprietors of Old World Third Street shops and restaurants continue to pamper tourists and local patrons with warm European hospitality and continental cuisine to this day.
Of course, our first stop was the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. What’s a Milwaukee food tour without some cheese, right? Wisconsin Cheese Mart has been part of the cheese making tradition for almost 60 years. The Mart carries over 150 types of cheese in their display cases and sells many by the pound in the store, plus they’ll ship cheese anywhere in the world if you ask them to. Here we had a tasting of a white wine paired with two types of Wisconsin cheeses.
Once everyone perused the gift shop for a bit, we moved next door to Usinger’s Famous Sausage, America’s oldest German sausage maker. Here we learned why elves are so important to German folk-lore and we sampled some fresh German-style wursts and authentic bratwursts out of the near 70 varieties found in the display cases.
After that, we crossed the street to a nationally renowned German eatery. Mader’s Restaurant served up their famous pretzel rolls, rueben rolls and some Wisconsin brewed beer. The waitresses also accidentally gave us some enormous soft pretzels with mustard and cheese for dipping. Hey, I’m not complaining though; that was my favorite dish!
We ended the tour at The Chocolate Tree, a fudge and confectioner specialty shop where we sampled a piece of Ambrosia chocolate that was made at the shop and would normally be shipped to other companies around the world.
At this point, Terri thanked all of us for attending and offered to answer some final questions. Most people stayed and browsed the shop, and then everyone went on their way.
The tour is not a loop and therefore you need to take a cab or walk back to your car. We were provided with detailed return directions for those of us interested in walking back versus coughing up the $6 for a cab ride to Zaffiro’s. I suggest parking in the middle of the route because this allows you to return to your favorite locations and stores afterward.
We learned and sampled so much that it'd be impossible to fit my entire experience into this one post without writing a novel about each of the shops and restaurants and their foods and beverages, history and architecture.
After the pizzas, cannoli, olives, prosciutto, sausage, cheese, rueben rolls, pretzel bread, chocolate, and beer and wine, we devoured enough food that we canceled our lunch plans and didn’t need to eat again until dinner time.
Eric and I took a couple of photos as we began our walk back to the East Side, our stomachs full and our pride for Milwaukee even greater.
The response from the public has been so good that the Milwaukee Food Tours added a Third Ward Walking Food Tour late in the summer. I hope that with the growing success, Milwaukee Food Tours expands their walking tours to other sections of the city like Walker’s Point or the RiverWalk. I look forward to taking another tour next spring!
The Milwaukee Food Tours run from May through October, so it’s in the final weeks now. Head over here for the tour schedule. Remember, spots fill up fast, so make sure you buy your tickets in advance.
Bon appétit!
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Milwaukee Food Tours
Tour Offering #1: Brady Street/Old World Third Street $35
Tour Offering #2: The Third Ward $40
Start times and dates vary, so head over here for more details.
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