Listen: A little over a year ago, the Ponderosa on MLK Jr. Drive was planning to close. The franchise owner at the time, Stella Love, could accept their decision, but she couldn’t accept a vacant building in a strip of developments that have revitalized the Harambee neighborhood. Although she’s never owned a restaurant, she took a chance and started Stella’s, a soulful food restaurant devoted to serving the community: see podcast below.
After our interview, Stella showed me around the restaurant and we discussed the restaurant scene in Milwaukee. A large, uncut chunk of our interview:
Want to learn more about Harambee? You can start at the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative blog. You can also check out the Harambee Connection section of the Riverwest Current.