Last week, Milwaukee at large finally got a taste of “America’s oldest brewery” when Yuengling hit local draft lines for the first time. Feel however you want to about Yuengling, but the nearly-200-year-old brewery’s newfound availability in Milwaukee got us thinking about some other things we’d love to see come to our fair city. Admittedly, some of these are pretty unrealistic, but a writer can dream!
Jollibee
Though we typically try focus the bulk of our food coverage on local purveyors, we have to admit that we’ve been rooting for Jollibee to finally cross into the Wisconsin/Milwaukee market. The Filipino chain restaurant, which started way back in 1978, offers an eclectic menu that includes fried chicken, burgers and fries, mango and peach pie, “burger steak” (think Salisbury steak), spaghetti, hot dogs, a savory noodle dish called Palabok, ice cream, and flavored coffee drinks. Doesn’t it sound awesome?!
It must be pretty great, given how much the chain has grown since its late-’70s origin in the Philippines. There are currently more than 1,700 Jollibee locations worldwide, but exactly zero in Wisconsin. The nearest Jollibee us Milwaukeeans can enjoy would require a drive to Chicago or the Chicagoland suburbs of Bloomingdale or Skokie.
An NHL franchise
Milwaukee is already a hockey town. Though the Admirals—our longtime professional hockey team in the AHL—rule and seem to be widely enjoyed by locals, it’s still a shame the NHL hasn’t come calling aside from a few exhibition games (all of which instantly sold out). Some reference a seemingly unsubstantiated radius clause the Chicago Blackhawks purportedly have with the league. Others recognize our mini metro’s size and stagnant population growth as factors. At the end of the day, the reason the National Hockey League is not—and likely will never—wind up here is probably a mixture of Milwaukee’s size and its proximity to Chicago. It makes sense, but that won’t make it sting any less when the league probably gives Atlanta its third try at professional hockey in a few years.
A WNBA franchise
Sticking with sports, how great would it be if Milwaukee became the home to a WNBA franchise? As the league—and women’s basketball at large—are currently enjoying never-before-seen levels of popularity and talent, the WNBA is wisely expanding by bringing new teams into new cities (and former WNBA cities in the case of Detroit).
Hoping/assuming the current collective bargaining reaches a resolution and there will actually be a season, this year will bring two new teams—the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire—into the league. Expansion teams will come to Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. Yes, if expansion continues, it’s far more likely there will be squads added in places like Nashville, any of Florida’s four major markets, Denver, Vancouver, and/or New Orleans. And while any of those do make much more sense as expansion destinations on paper, maybe this argument will persuade league executives: C’MON! Just do it. Pleeeeeeeeaaase!!! (Now we play the waiting game.)
Legalized marijuana
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Wisconsin is leaving billions of dollars in revenue on the table annually by not legalizing marijuana. In fact, by withholding access, the state is willfully sending revenue to three neighboring states. It’s time that changed.
Bonchon Chicken
“Didn’t you already mention a fried chicken restaurant chain with origins in Asia?” We’ll answer that question with two other questions: So what? Can you ever have enough fried chicken options? Bonchon is a South Korean-born chicken concept with roughly 500 locations worldwide, including about 150 in America. It looks tremendous and, by all accounts from people we’ve heard from, it is. Much like Jollibee, its closest location to Milwaukee is in the Chicagoland suburbs.
A professional (outdoor) soccer club
Hey, what ever happened to that USL Championship soccer club that was supposed to be coming to Milwaukee to play in a brand new 8,000-seat stadium that would be the entertainment epicenter of the so-called (and yet to be built) Iron District? Seems like that fizzled out, but it’d be cool if something like that, you know, actually materialized someday.
Increased film and TV production
Last year, Governor Evers signed a new state budget that reestablished the Wisconsin Film Office and offers up to $5 million in film credits to filmmakers. So let’s call “Action!” and start shooting some movies and TV shows here. Not only will utilizing Wisconsin (and Milwaukee, specifically) for filming cast a great light on the region, it will also provide increased opportunities for Wisconsin residents in the film industry. Imagine if Song Sung Blue was filmed in Milwaukee and relied upon a local crew? Something of that scale (and beyond) seems to actually be possible now.
Expanded public transit
Not to turn this article rooted in wishful thinking into a goddamn Facebook comment thread, but transit in Milwaukee is far from perfect. MCTS just upped its fares and is reducing its services. And though The Hop is a great start, the street car simply doesn’t service a large enough area to be something locals regularly use. In a perfect world, you’d be able to take a street car down to Bay View, out to West Allis, and up to Shorewood or Riverwest. But it’s far from a perfect world, so this might remain just a dream. More realistically, maybe Mitchell Airport could add direct flights to Portland (Oregon AND Maine) sometime or even a cheap seasonal flight to Traverse City or something.
Another obscure or hyper-specific museum/hall of fame
As we count down the days of the Milwaukee Public Museum as we know it (and incessantly complain about its new location), we think it’s high time the city gets another museum and/or hall of fame in its midst. We have a beer museum and a bobblehead hall of fame, so why not, like, a Wisconsin Fish Fry Hall Of Fame? We’d help curate it. Aren’t we weirdly into model trains in Milwaukee, too? The weirder or more specialized, the better!
Arthur Treacher’s
Okay, this one is for our older readers. Read any Facebook page that specializes in Milwaukee nostalgia for long enough and you’re bound to see someone reminiscing about Arthur Treacher’s. The national fish and chips chain was in its heyday in the 1970s and ’80s, including locations in and around Milwaukee. Over time, the restaurant’s footprint has receded considerably…including an exodus from Milwaukee and Wisconsin entirely. At one point, there was just one Arthur Treacher’s left in the world, a location in Cleveland. However, it’s slowly bouncing back of late. The chain currently stands at a total of three locations now. All of them are in the Cleveland area, but who knows what the future holds?