Sad news for fans of friendly falafel and/or good food: The owners of Bay View’s Hello Falafel, 2301 S. Howell Ave., have announced they will close their vegetarian lunch spot on Saturday, January 6. The restaurant—opened in 2016—will become a catering and private event space for the owners’ other restaurant, Odd Duck.
According to Milwaukee Magazine, owners Melissa Buchholz and Ross Bachhuber are currently looking for a new location for Hello Falafel, “mentioning the East Side and Third Ward as possibilities” in a press release. Pop-ups may be in the future, too. As for the catering and private event space—tentatively named Little Duck Kitchen—it will reportedly be available for booked parties of 12 to 35 people, and will be able to cater events for up to 150 people.
A Facebook post has more info on Hello Falafel’s last few days in business:
For those of you with Hello Falafel gift certificates—never fear! Those will be honored at Odd Duck if you do not use them up in the last week of business. Just stop in anytime after January 6th to exchange them for an Odd Duck gift card, or present them as payment when dining at Odd Duck. If you are in possession of a full Hello Falafel punch card at the time of closing, those will also be able to be exchanged for an Odd Duck gift card worth the price of a Hello Falafel sandwich ($8). We are making sure that guests feel we have honored our prior commitments, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions at [email protected].
So, goodbye, Hello Falafel. Hopefully you come back to delicious life soon. In the meantime, we look forward to your transformation. Like the song says: they’re always building something.