In this installment of our bi-weekly Food/Drink Roundup: Draft & Co. at Vel R. Phillips Plaza in downtown Milwaukee is open, and it’s good.
• Nearly two years after it was first teased, Draft & Co. bar and restaurant has opened at Vel R. Phillips Plaza in downtown Milwaukee, 441 W. Wisconsin Ave. Huzzah!
Okay, if that sentence doesn’t ring any bells, let us help: Remember that big underused parking lot across the street from the Baird Center? That’s been transformed into the wonderful Vel R. Phillips Plaza, named after the iconic Milwaukee and Wisconsin trailblazer. Remember that bar and restaurant space that was built along with the plaza but which sat empty for a long time? Well, it’s empty no longer. Draft & Co. opened there in January. It’s the latest venture from Nat Davauer, owner of the Draft & Vessels in Shorewood and Wauwatosa, plus The Pomeroy and Giving Tree Garage beer garden in Walker’s Point.
We stopped in this week after a long day of writing, editing, riding the bus all over creation and back, and playing pinball at 3rd St. Market Hall. We found an appealingly modern space with 32 beers on draft and a limited (for now) menu of smash burgers ($9) and chicken tenders ($8). Wooden booths lined the space. Large window panels perfect for open-air summers just begged to be opened, especially since it was like, 41 degrees yesterday.
We ordered a burger with all the fixings (lettuce, tomato, and pickles are $.50 each), some fries ($4), and a Riverwest Stein ($7/pint). Like Draft & Co. itself, the burger was straight-down-the-middle good. The lightly toasted bun was a nice touch, and the aioli-like “Draft sauce” was perfectly tangy. Good stuff. No notes. Record Recommended!
• Milwaukee Record was the first to tell you about the possibility of a new Mexican restaurant, Jalisco Cocina y Bar, opening in the old Triple Taproom / Hacienda / BBC space on the East Side. We were the first to tell you that license applications had been filed for the new Jalisco’s. And now we’re the first to show you a Jalisco’s sign hanging outside the building. Opening soon!
• The saga of that Diaspora Sports Bar and Lounge planned for the old Company Brewing space continues: After giving the new business the green light in January, the city’s Licenses Committee voted on Tuesday to send the matter back to committee for further discussion. Why? We didn’t catch the meeting ourselves (it was one of those special meetings right before a full Common Council shindig), but Urban Milwaukee reports that the reason is related to one of the owners, Marvin Bailey. Bailey is a former co-owner of Flame 13 restaurant and lounge, which was shut down for a full year last September due to a mass brawl that occurred during an influencer event the previous July.
Bailey’s involvement in Diaspora has been known since license applications were first filed in September 2025, but a recent change of his status from shareholder to registered agent has caused concern. So yeah, the saga continues. [Urban Milwaukee]
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