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 Forest Home. He has been a longstanding figure of metal and food in my life, and lifelong Mexico City resident. We went outside so I could smoke, where we continued our conversations about flautas and Candlemass. We got on the subject of restaurants and he told me there is one place in Milwaukee that truly reminds him of Mexico City and all the boroughs beneath it, where “real DF (Distrito Federal) food” begins. Where? He pointed southeast, to the corner that houses Axolotl Café. There.
Axolotl Café (3001 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; 414-800-4321) is one of the newest brunch spots in Milwaukee, owned and operated by Jorge Trejo and Gerardo Jimenez, two longtime friends and business partners from Mexico City. The pride for their city is displayed all over the walls, décor, and recipes. Axolotl is usually very busy, with a 30-minute wait minimum to get a table. It is a testament to the burst of popularity the restaurant has gotten since it opened in 2025. The space is small, but the staff is attentive and the food is made expertly and efficiently.
What makes this place so DF, according to Pedro’s endorsement? The simple fact that you will not find pinto beans on the menu anywhere, only black beans. “Pinto beans are a northern thing, beans for people that have never been south of Guanajuato,” Pedro tells me. “I can’t tell you how excited it made me when I tasted something that reminded me of home so dearly.”
The black beans are truly the stars at Axolotl, in the way they compliment all of the dishes that range between classic struggle meals and brunch standards to concoctions of fanciful imaginations. The struggle meals consist of molletes—toasted bolillos smeared with mashed black beans and Manchego cheese, topped with pico de gallo and a protein of your choice.
There are also chilaquiles, which are fried tortillas smothered in red or green chile with a side of (you guessed it) black beans and topped with an egg. (I suggest over hard for this dish.)
Another one is the Avo’lotl Toast, which is avocado toast with poached eggs, pico de gallo, and a roasted corn salsa.
Then there are dishes like horchata pancakes, which are pancakes topped with a creamy RumChata reduction, cinnamon, and an edible orchid.
The Birria Omelette is also in this canon, something born out of the birria fad that has swept the nation, rested upon the crown of utilitarian meals that always hold true.
The drinks at Axolotl compliment meals you would have on a brunch-y morning—the Mexican standard michelada is available, but the tamarind mimosa and guava mimosa are truly tastes to experience. The imagination runs wild here, but I truly feel the normal, non-alcoholic horchata is my favorite. You can taste that it is not a powdered mix; the real process of making horchata can be tasted in its robust creaminess.
While there are many brunch spots in Milwaukee—and a lot of business have come and gone at 3001 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.—Axolotl Café has shown it is truly one that will remain strong, and will continue to fly its original culinary flag. After all, guayaba pancakes might have once been a mere thought, but here they are made.
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