Author: Juan Miguel Martinez

Cultures come together at Lao BBQ, October 5 at Zócalo Food Truck Park

October 3, 2024

It's been an hour or so and Alex Hanesakda (owner of SapSap) and Chuy Gonzalez (owner of Zócalo Food Truck Park) and I are about one beer and a last word deep at the Zócalo bar. The bartenders present a round o...

Double Dub’s takes flight, brings wings to the people

Juan Miguel Martinez

August 15, 2024

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...

Taqueria Mi Tierra embraces Tejano roots

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 20, 2024

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...

Old-world service meets new-school grocery at Wioletta’s Polish Market

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 13, 2024

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...

Ode to the Friends Groups of Milwaukee County Parks

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 5, 2024

Milwaukee County Parks. A vast collection of parcels of land which, once upon a time, served no purpose other than being parcels of land. One of the earliest examples of building up a park little by little i...

SapSap brings Lao barbecue to new Havenwoods Taproom and Beer Garden

Juan Miguel Martinez

May 16, 2024

broadstreet.zone(160542); Welcome to Food/Drink Week at Milwaukee Record, brought to you by Third Space Brewing. From May 13 through May 20, belly up and enjoy adventurous, odd, and elaborate coverage of all t...

La Bodega on Historic Mitchell Street is a state of mind

Juan Miguel Martinez

March 14, 2024

"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...

South side restaurant Carnitas de Rafa is open on weekends only (and sells out fast)

Juan Miguel Martinez

March 7, 2024

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...

“I put people on to stuff”: The musical universe of DJ Mosh Wah

Juan Miguel Martinez

February 27, 2024

The smell of a record store is like nothing else in the world. It takes you back to a time before cell phones, social media, and Spotify. If you're too young to remember the days when vinyl records were the onl...

“Come Just As You Are”: Latine-run New Life Warming Center offers shelter from bitter cold

Juan Miguel Martinez

January 17, 2024

Wisconsin is a place where the weather is a fickle monster. A 50-degree Christmas every couple of years is quickly followed by a slushy snow storm that gives way to a deep freeze. Twenty-twenty-four has been no...

Milwaukee tamaleras combat the cold with homemade tamales

Juan Miguel Martinez

November 1, 2023

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 ...

Garlic takes center stage at splendid Sabor Divino

Juan Miguel Martinez

September 14, 2023

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...

Vive la Fitness brings different kind of gym experience to south side

Juan Miguel Martinez

August 29, 2023

A long, arduous journey awaited us at birth. We were never warned about trauma, or how to heal from it. Rather, we learn how to deal with it later in life, if we're lucky. Sonia Vernier, owner and trainer at Vi...

Ahead of Puerto Rican Family Fest, Morales Brewery teams with MobCraft for Playa Breeze beer

Juan Miguel Martinez

August 18, 2023

"There was always something missing about micro-brewed beers in Milwaukee. The market was definitely there for Latine-made beers, you know? You go to all these places and they have Mexican-style lagers so you k...

Sypher Lady X talks recent Brady Street Festival performance, Milwaukee’s Latine hip hop scene

Juan Miguel Martinez

August 15, 2023

Brady Street Festival came and went. Summerfest is long gone. Mexican Fiesta is on the horizon (August 25-27), with many banda and cumbia acts sure to fill the stages, as well as many Latine hip hop acts lookin...

Neighbors weigh in on future of Domes, Mitchell Park

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 22, 2023

Monday, June 5 was a very nerve-wracking day for me as County Supervisor of the 12th district. It was 6:54 p.m., and the Mitchell Park Domes input session I had scheduled was starting in six minutes. I paced at...

“We make our birria a little different here.” Romero’s stands out in new Greenfield location

Juan Miguel Martinez

April 18, 2023

Seventy-sixth Street in Greenfield is host to many fast food chains and mini malls that look like they haven't had upgrades since the mid-'80s. Yet there is a strange familiarity that all Milwaukeeans have with...

Urbal Tea Co. is 13th Street’s friendly neighborhood tea joint

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 29, 2022

I consider myself a semi-regular tea drinker, and the things a mind like mine ponders when it comes to tea are "What kind of monkeys picked the oolong? Did they wear little bellhop hats?" and other such nonsens...

“This is my pride and joy”: Chef Tizzy Tazz helms Gotcha Foods truck on city’s north side

Juan Miguel Martinez

June 1, 2022

My visit to the Sherman Park neighborhood on Memorial Day was a memorable one. I finally got an interview with Chef Tizzy Tazz, who I had been trying to track down for a couple of years. During the course of ou...

Pueblo Foods (and its hot deli) reigns supreme on Holton Street

Juan Miguel Martinez

May 26, 2022

The long stretch of Holton between Brady and Capitol is the main vein that bridges downtown, the north side, and Riverwest. It is a storied drag, and one that has a rich Boricua history. All the people who grew...

Author Juan Miguel Martinez