Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Contributing Author Suzanne Kreuziger: Kletzsch Perk

Suzanne writes:
"The Kletzsch Perk coffee shop, in this repurposed gas station building, closed quite a while ago and the building has yet to be sold.  It was a cute idea.  Sherman Perk, its sister coffee shop, seems to still be open; I used to make a point to stop there when I was on Roosevelt Drive, which is a route I don't take anymore.  This 3/50 project is making me think of local businesses that I like but seem to have a tenuous existence."

Perhaps someone knows exactly when the brief window was in which the shop was open in an otherwise long-vacant building.  (To give you an idea, I'm pretty sure the service station had already closed when I passed this corner every day on the way to and from Glen Hills Middle School.  That would have been 1986!)

Contributing Author Suzanne Kreuziger: Cigarant

I am not a smoker, but I love someone who is, and - this may seem like a double standard - although I do not allow him to smoke in our home, we like to patronize restaurants and cafes that will allow him the enjoyment of a leisurely cigarette or two.

Fuel Café in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood officially declared itself smoke-free on October 1st, 2007.  This came after reducing their late-night hours.  Fuel was our longtime regular haunt.  We courted there.  The new non-smoking rule was a surprise and felt like a slap in the face.  It felt strange to breathe smoke-free air there, particularly with the too-bright fluorescent lights on- it felt like an hour-long “hurry up and leave so I can clean up and lock the door.”