Home   >   Travel   >   Being Vegan in Milwaukee

Being Vegan in Milwaukee

By on August 8, 2014
Vegan In Milwaukee

Having grown up in the Milwaukee area, I can say that being a vegan there is not easy. You cannot walk into a restaurant and expect the servers or kitchen staff to know what you mean when you say “vegan”. You can only hope that they don’t hand you a fish filet with  cream sauce. This was my first impression of all things Wisconsin when I initially became a vegan. Going to all of my old favorites became an uncomfortable mess of sending the server back and forth to double check with the kitchen about every menu item.

But that was before I looked into restaurants that actually “got it”. Ones that labeled vegan items on their menus and made an effort to provide interesting options beyond the typical vegetable stir fries and veggie sandwiches (vegan sans cheese). The restaurants I am going to recommend here are interesting, comfortable, and most importantly, delicious.

The Riverwest Co-op and Café

The Riverwest Co-op and Café

While the Milwaukee area does not contain any all-vegan restaurants, there are a few all-vegetarian ones with extensive vegan options that I highly recommend. One is a staple of the Riverwest community, The Riverwest Co-op and Café. All of their items are vegan by default unless you specifically order egg or cheese. I recommend ordering their chili- people rave about this chili- it has a great kick at the end of each bite and the portion size is generous. Additionally, I have loved the Port-O-Milly and the Philly Cheesesteak. Regardless of what you end up ordering, the food is bound to be fantastic.  This small café is adjacent to a small grocery store for all of your specialty food needs, the store is small but selection is huge. They also have a weekend brunch menu featuring vegan French toast that is worth checking out. If you’re looking for something a bit more upscale, head out to Brookfield and go to Café Manna. This all-vegetarian restaurant labels all items that are raw, vegan, and gluten free. Depending on what you order, the prices can be a little high, but you get what you pay for- in the best possible way. When I was there last I ordered the Raw Thai Rolls, Raw Nachos, and Raw Cheesecake. I highly recommend every single one of those menu items. If gourmet raw foods aren’t your thing, their Peace Bowl, Guacamole Potato Skins, and Pho are also excellent choices. Service is always very friendly and you get complimentary hummus and pita chips with every order!

Café Manna

Café Manna

Moving away from all-vegetarian but no less delicious restaurants, I am going to send you to Comet Café. This place is on top of interesting vegan foods. My favorite item is the Tofu Scramble Platter on their brunch menu. They also have amazing Vegan BBQ Ribs and some good quality and interesting sandwiches. The Leghorn Sandwich and Walnut Burger (both veganized) are pretty great. What makes this café stand out most, though, is their desserts. They offer at least three vegan flavors of cupcakes daily and their fruit pies are generally always vegan. Last summer, no matter where my mother and I went for dinner, we would end the night with cupcakes at Comet. They’re open until 2am every night so it made coming for late-night indulgence very easy.

Comet Café

Comet Café

The last (but not least) place I recommend is called Alem Ethiopian Village. It is in Eastown and on Wisconsin Avenue. Go for lunch on Tuesday through Friday-they offer an all-vegan buffet! This is the perfect opportunity to try Ethiopian food if you haven’t. It was my first experience with Ethiopian cuisine and it was definitely not my last. Plus, buffets where you can have everything on the table are incredibly rare and exciting.

Alem Ethiopian Village

Alem Ethiopian Village

This is by no means a list of every restaurant worth visiting as a vegan in Milwaukee, it is simple a list of my personal favorites. Explore what you like! There are great restaurants all over the city with vegan options- let me know which are your favorites.

Have you visited or live in the Milwaukee area and know of any good vegan restaurants, let us know in the comments below.

Being Vegan in Milwaukee

Click To Tweet

About Brianna Krejci

Brianna is a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania studying sociology and philosophy. She is the current Co-President and Dining Liaison of the Penn Vegan Society. Her hometown is Port Washington, Wisconsin, where she lived up until moving to Philadelphia in August of 2013. Brianna has been a vegetarian for six years and a vegan for 15 months. In addition to her work with the Penn Vegan Society, Brianna is on the board of the Penn Consortium of Undergraduate Women and Penn Running Club, a co-founder and president of Penn Poised, a body image positivity group on Penn's campus, and involved in Amnesty International. She is interning for the Historic Germantown Society as well as Amrita Health Foods this summer. She has a strong passion for good coffee and finding new, interesting, vegan foods, products, and restaurant locations.