Author Juan Miguel Martinez

I love a good humid summer afternoon on the north side of Milwaukee, including the drive there. It usually means I am about to experience a part of the city I don't usually get to, because my entire personal an...

It was a cold, dry December night at Wiggle Room when I DJ'd a Metal Monday, super excited about the original Agent Orange by Sodom I had recently picked up. Pedro was coming by, former owner of Rockotlan on Fo...

There have been many times I have tried to have meetings in my district to support local cafes and businesses, only to fall short due to the lack of pleasant spaces that simply serve coffee and let you sit arou...

There is something very special about holding a piece of bakery in your hand that is freshly baked. "A cannoli is a lot like life—you must hold delicately and bite firmly," my friend Clancy once told me. He wou...

The process of making something unique out of something that has been made a million times before is a painstaking one. It requires attention to detail. You have to look at it from every side and experiment. Th...

Milwaukee has been building up its repertoire of Mexican eateries, and new spots sprout up on a regular basis. A lot of them specialize in region-specific dishes, while others include every kind of Mexican cuis...

One of the major sites in Milwaukee when it comes to European immigration is not our beloved life-size dioramas in the Milwaukee Public Museum, but on the intersection of 6th and Lincoln. There is where the tou...

"The Oogum Boogum Song" by Brenton Wood comes to mind upon entering La Bodega (731 W. Historic Mitchell St.) Why? That song evokes a certain type of south side hang out—not a place, mind you, but a type. "Th...

The passion to feed people is a strong one, and it is one that Rafael Ruiz has felt since his early days as a butcher alongside his father, in his hometown of San José Casas Caídas, Jalisco. He, along with Mode...

The aluminum pack is scalding hot, held by brown hands that are somehow impervious to the heat. The pack is then handed to novice hands that bounce it back and forth between palms. Finally, it's dropped into a ...

Sabor Divino is my favorite food truck/restaurant in Milwaukee. There, I said it. I have been to many eateries in my fair city in an attempt to elevate, uplift, and recommend cuisines from all over the world...