Each week on This Bites, dining critic Ann Christenson from Milwaukee Magazine and Radio Milwaukee’s resident foodie Tarik Moody dig into the city’s culinary and restaurant culture to help you find new spots, old favorites and the best ingestibles around Milwaukee.
Ramadan began earlier this week, and in recent years we’ve seen a growing response from Milwaukee-area eateries (and drinkeries) to serve the Muslim community during a period when they fast from dawn to sunset. March marks the return of two such initiatives, which is where we start this episode of the podcast.
Focusing on the pre-dawn meal called Suhoor, both of these events help create an even more communal atmosphere — starting with a month-long feature called Suhoor Saturdays. Organized by Eat Halal MKE, this now-annual program busts the regular hours of participating local restaurants and gives diners a chance to gather from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. on three separate Saturdays (and the wee hours of Sunday morning):
- March 16 — Pita Palace and Shawarma House (Brookfield)
- March 23 — Dave’s Hot Chicken (Wauwatosa)
- April 6 — Chubby’s Cheesesteaks (East Side) and Cuppa Tosa (Wauwatosa)
A few of those restaurants require you to RSVP if you’re interested in taking them up on this middle-of-the-night feast, so make sure to visit the Eat Halal MKE website for more information and reservation links.
One thing you definitely don’t need to call ahead for is the Suhoor Food Truck Festival scheduled for 10 p.m. Friday, March 29. As of this writing, 15 different food and drink vendors plan to be on hand at the ISM Community Center (815 W. Layton Ave.), in addition to henna stands, games, trivia and a soccer fundraiser for Gaza. Here’s the current list of trucks planning to attend:
- Chik’N Dip
- Fatty Patty
- Hotbox Pizza
- Jandy’s Base Camp Waffles
- Las Virellas Puerto Rican Fusion
- Megawich
- Melt N Dip
- MMSups Smoothies and Boba
- Pedro’s South American
- Qamaria Yemeni Coffee
- Romero’s Taco Truck
- Style Pop Coffee
- Sweetly Baked
- Tots on the Street
- Wilma’s Smokehouse
That’s already a lot of info to digest, and we try to keep things brief around here. So I’ll quickly say we’ve got even more to talk about in this episode: a couple Milwaukee Magazine exclusives about local chefs’ favorite dishes and the history of Brady Street, Uncle Wolfie’s making Nite Wolf ramen and cocktails a permanent occurrence, and Merriment Social hosting a bourbon dinner with … Scottie Pippen?
We may not have any NBA championship rings, but carrying the title of “Milwaukee’s longest-running culinary podcast” isn’t too shabby. Help us keep it going by subscribing to This Bites wherever you listen, leaving us a rating or sharing us with a friend. Thanks.
