Black Cat Alley is an eclectic art experience in Milwaukee. It's what Black Alley calls "an outdoor…read moreart gallery" or simply said a collection of cool murals. I love seeking out new street art, so I added this alley to my Milwaukee itinerary. You can say it was right up my alley. LOCATION: I Uber'ed to the East Side to the Axe Bar (AXE MKE) which is right next to the alley. You'll find the alley behind the historic Oriental Theater at the intersection of North Avenue and Ivanhoe. Entry from Prospect Avenue and Ivanhoe are both available. Personally, I get lost everywhere and found it right away entering from the Prospect Avenue. The locals must not all know about this alley because my Uber driver was unfamiliar with this location. The area has some cool businesses, grab some food nearby! ART: Free and open 24/7. You'll find 21 murals by 24 different artists in the alley. You'll find the stories behind the art on Black Cat Alley's website or via QR codes next to the art. All murals are vibrant and creative. It's an equivalent of a museum where you'll linger by the art and try to find some meaning. The art is by global artists from places like Germany, Colombia, and others. My favorite mural was Catalina Bayona's "We Are All Immigrants" depicting wild animals and migration. It's very powerful when you think about it a little longer. All art is photogenic but be sure to check what releases you'll need for any commercial use. I wish that every city had art alleys. It's such a creative way to beautify cities. I look forward to my next visit to Milwaukee and another visit to the alley. I'll read up more about the art here before my next visit.

[Please keep in mind I travel a lot and hunt graffiti everywhere so this review is a direct…read morecomparison to other graffiti areas.] It's a small alley dedicated to graffiti. Some professional, some tagging. Some look like they were commissioned, some you can tell some were definitely done on the fly. It's not the best graffiti but I appreciate that Milwaukee has a small dedication to one of my favorite things- graffiti. Also- it's a safe alley. We went early in the morning and got donuts nearby. Drove by again a day later and a boba place is right around the corner.

It's so great to see a community of people who work together to help make this event happen year to…read moreyear. Talk about a group people who love celebrating for more than just 24 hours. I had a chance to experience this event on a reservoir rd aka twizzler alley this is an open road event with intersection spotters at a few locations hopefully in the future they could have more volunteers help warn bikers as they approach some of the most heavily traveled sections day and night. it made me nervous watching how fast they go and how easy a collision can occur Riverwest is a community that cares. Roll on Thank you sponsors and community volunteers! 36/2016

RW24 is as good as the soul of a city can breathe out! It is the culmination of good vibes and…read moremasterful planning, uh hum, or at least flying by the seat of your pants. My Milwaukee neighborhood of Riverwest is alive more than usual for a full 24 hours of parties and camaraderie. Anywhere you walk the streets are shut down or at least barricaded off. A buzz is in the air from an event so killer, only a Milwaukee neighborhood nestled on the West side of the river could dare pull it off. All things Riverwest are in full swing, all hands on deck for a truly good time. Most streets are a mayhem of elated pandemonium to show the world or at least Wisconsin how much it means for a neighborhood to come together. Some sleep and others don't. Either way by the time the 24 is up any involved are feeling it. Long live the RW24!

It's changed a lot. This year there were only three stages, one beer vendors, and a few food…read moreoptions. It was crammed with vendors to the point that moving through was a problem. Typically this is our fav festival but this year was really disappointing for the lack of music alone. Meh.

One of Milwaukee's best festivals! It's Riverwest, through and through, and I love it all. See some…read moregreat local bands, the food selection is really good and diverse, as is the crowd. There was a good variety of Lakefront Brewery beers on tap, and I also enjoy spending a little time in Riverwest Public House for WMSE DJs, and conviviality. Make sure to leave some money with the many high-quality DIY makers that sell here. Overall, this is a great summer hang in Milwaukee.

This is a quintessential Italian restaurant. The decor and feel are perfect and we didn't even…read morerealize they had wood fired pizza- so I guess we're heading back since it was a shrimp day for us all! Reservations online were really easy, and they made sure we got to our show on time.

I took 10 of my family members out for a birthday here last night and loved the ambiance. I've had…read moregreat pizza, and great Italian food before, so I had high expectations for this place. I am pretty adventurous with my food choices, so I got one of the more non traditional foods on the menu - the Quattro gusti (4 flavors, literally) - it was pizza that was mushrooms, prosciutto, olives and artichokes. I didn't find the combination necessarily poor, but not exceptional. The pizza was standard for the Neapolitan style in that it gooey cheesy thin crust and I thought quality was alright. My wife got the Quattro formaggi and thought the olive oil base upset her fragile stomach - so take that as it is. Other than that, the family swore by the food they had - noting favorites like any of the pasta and particularly the chicken Parmesan and spumoni for dessert. Santo, our server was exceptional with our service. Very attentive and informative when need be.

Date of visit: July 28, 2025…read more I stopped in here as I am leading an effort to find local vendors that we can order from as part of a holiday gift effort for some of our customers. I perused the store and selected brittle, taffy, and chocolates as part of a taste testing for the whole team to determine which items were the best to consider as gifts for our customers. Staff was friendly and accomodating, and even offered me a sample after I completed my purchase. Oddly, despite spending about $70 and explaining what I was doing with my purchases, I didn't get a receipt. I dropped an email to the store and received a quick reply and was provided with a picture of the receipt that was quite small and blurry, though thankfully our AP department didn't question it too much and I still got reimbursed for the purchase! And if you were wondering, the taffy was surprisingly good, but wasn't labeled on the package in terms of what flavors were in each bag, so that was a big turn off for our taste testers. The chocolates were a big hit and will be a finalist for our customer gifts!

We love to check out boutique confectionaries. Chocolates can be a tricky business, so finding one…read morethat checks all the boxes is an amazing experience. First time stopping in here. I read about Burke moving in to this Whitefish Bay location, so I wanted to give them a try. I really wanted to give them the highest rating, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Super cute shop. Has a nice old time feel to it. Walking in to the place, you find a large selection of many different confections. The "factory" is at their other location downtown Milwaukee. Got greeted by two friendly staff members. Very helpful at explaining the different items and offered to allow me to sample (I did have one piece of the peanut butter crunch). You can either get individual items from the case, or there are pre-packed items on the other walls. I got a mix of different items. Ones that I have found can be a big tricky to make. Fairy Food, Marshmallow, and Caramel. And to be honest I was a bit disappointed. Summer can be a hard to time to make/keep sponge candy (fairy food), and some places don't even make it this time of year because the humidity can make it sticky. Marshmallow has a short shelf life and can get tough. This was exactly my experience with these two items. The chocolate itself was very good. And the presentation was also very impressive wit the other items. They did wrap up everything in attractive cellophane bags with ribbon, and placed in a gift bag with a custom ribbon. Perfect for gift giving. So overall a good (but not great experience). I would stop back again, but keep away from some of the humidity sensitive items.

This place has good authentic Italian food. Our server Anna was very attentive and answered all of…read moreour questions. She gave us some history of the restaurant, told us about the food, and packed up our leftovers once we were done. I loved the professionalism, but it didn't feel forced.. this is what fine dining should be. It looks like a hidden gem... the inside is calm and homey but gives subtle hints that you are about to get some fantastic food. A smaller menu is always a green flag for me. Kitchens can only do so much and when the menu is short and concise you just know they are putting effort into the food. I ordered the bolognese and I absolutely loved the bolognese. I'm looking forward to coming back and trying more of the menu.

We love the ambiance at this restaurant. The family recipe, red sauce is one of the best. We've…read moreoverlooked the inconsistency in the size of the drinks. $5 up charge for a child-size side Cesar salad, the amount of time it takes to get acknowledged by wait staff and to get drinks however not after our last visit. We had reservations on a Friday night and were greeted by a friendly host and seated immediately. Thank you! We sat for a long time before a waitress approached us. No friendliness or smile. Ordered drinks and as always it took a very long time to receive them. Our group ordered 4 meatballs and angel hair pasta dishes and two of the dishes had very little angel hair pasta, even for small eaters. Both of the Shrimp linguini dishes had very little shrimp for $32 each. After our food was brought to the table we did not see our waitress fora very long time. There was no check in to see how the food was tasting or if we needed more drinks. We finally were able to order wine to drink with our dinners which were mostly gone. Another long wait for drinks. There was a long wait to get the check and to process the credit card. Sadly all of this equated to a poor dining experience for our group of 7. We won't be back.

Everything is always consistently good every time we visit! For Mother's Day we decided to…read morecelebrate it here, we tried the vodka pasta, and it did not disappoint, it was incredibly flavorful, very cheesy, and the portion size was good. We added crispy chicken to it, which was the perfect addition. We also ordered the alla vodka sandwich, which is a staple for us. It's a usual for a reason, the bread is always so soft and it's delicious. For our appetizer, we went with the fried calamari; but the portion did seem a bit less than what it usually is. We ended the meal with the tiramisu, which is always a solid, dessert choice here. Beyond the food, we love coming back because the atmosphere is really pleasant and the staff are always so welcoming and kind. Highly recommend

I've had Lisa's quite a few times by delivery and my BF and we really enjoy their pizza. They have…read moresome interesting toppings on offer and fun pizzas and plenty of choices for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. I have not tried any of their non-pizza menu items yet, so I can't speak to them. I also can't vouch for their restaurant space, since we just get delivery. They do a great Milwaukee cracker tavern crust. The whipped ricotta topping is yummy and novel. We are fans overall, but I do think the prices are a little high. I love to support a small business but our delivered order ends up costing us as much as a fine dining evening out. Still, this is one of two or three pizza places we regularly order from in Milwaukee and it always hits the spot.

Centro cafe is a great little hidden gem in Riverwest. The prices are a little higher than other…read morevenues in the area, but the food is well worth it. The flavors, the layers, the searing, the fresh ingredients, all fantastic. And with an exposed hot kitchen in the dining area, you can watch it all come together. The ambiance is nice, making it a great date spot. And the service is attentive without being too much. The craft cocktails and NA spritzes are fantastic, with unique and well balanced flavors. And the attached speakeasy (Bar Centro) makes for a perfect after dinner stop for another cocktail and live music 3 nights a week.

A hidden gem in River West. Probably one of those places I love going if I had more time. Next…read moredoor they have a waiting area which by the way have live band on some nights Food is always good never disappoints. Love the open kitchen concept Loved the home made pepperoni pizza the sauce was not overwhelming to much love the fact that it had a lot of cheese. The bolognese in every bite you can taste that braise beef You can never go wrong with share the Caesar

This festival is going on my unique and awesome list for Milwaukee because Rockerbox is rad. All…read morekinds of bikes on display - old ones, new ones, mods, harleys, crazy concoctions, whatever (!) - vendors come in from all over, there are bands, and all kinds of fun stuff going on. Def worth checking out.

Pizza Man has been shuffled around the last few years, location wise. Pretty sure this Downer spot…read morewas closed for a bit? They opened in the Beerline area, and now they're back here? Either way, I'm glad this one is open here again because it's definitely a favorite. Seems as though they've made a few changes and modernized it a bit. I was a fan of the most rustic-version personally, but still great nonetheless. Came in with a group of 7 for a recent Saturday night dinner and had a great experience. We did make a reservation in advance, but were surprised it wasn't as busy as we figured it would be. Our server was super sweet and attentive. We a bottle of wine for the table, among a handful of beers ordered, and I also had the holiday-themed tom collins cocktail which came with cranberry and rosemary. Very tasty! We couldn't help but order both truffle fries and eggplant fries to start. Both were so damn good. What is it about truffle that's addicting!? Perfect size-amount of both to share with the table. For mains we decided to split a couple of pizzas. Can I recall which ones they all were? No. Can I recall how they tasted? Yes - SO good! I love their pizza. The thin crust is everything! My favorite was the one that was on special that night. Really though, I don't think you can go wrong with any pick of their pies. Ended the meal with two shared desserts: cannoli and tiramisu. Both delicious. All in all, it was a nice night out!

Had dinner at Pizza Man on Downer tonight. Walked in a little after 4:30 pm (skipped lunch) and was…read moreseated immediately. However, as the evening progressed having a reservation is suggested especially if they have a party in the upstairs space. Dinner was excellent, spaghetti and meatballs (veal and pork) was steamy hot and delicious. Ordered a salad with goat cheese, dark cherries, apple slices, walnuts and vinaigrette dressing. It was huge able to share it with my partner. Ended the meal by sharing Tiramisu. Loved the vibe (linen napkins) and energy of the place. Live music was set up for the musicians to appear but it was too early. However, the soundtrack was fun to dine by. A little pricey but loved that they served more than pizza. Give it a try . . . you will like dining in an upscale setting.