My annual article, 52 Restaurants for your Bucket List, was originally created to provide readers with an easy way to explore the wealth of restaurants in the Milwaukee scene over the course of one year (52 weeks). Today, as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, it provides a fun and equally compelling guide for folks who’d like to bring variety to their weekly meals while providing vital support to some of our finest local restaurants.
Here's the featured eating establishment of the day, plus five can’t miss dishes to try.
Zócalo Food Park
636 S. 6th St., (414) 433-9747
zocalomke.com
Want choices? You’ve got them, plus a liberal dose of community, at Zócalo Food Park. Relax with a drink from the tavern while enjoying a variety of dishes from the food park’s collection of food trucks. It’s a casual dining experience unlike any other in the city.
5 dishes to try:
- Vegetarian tacos with seared cheese, guacamole, tomatillo and cilantro ($2.50 each) or al pastor tacos, fiilled with adobo marinated pork that’s cooked on a trompo and crisped on the truck's flat-top grill ($2.75).
- The beef brisket arepa from Anytime Arepa ($11.50).
- The "baller" hot fried chicken sandwich from Foxfire ($9.50). Grab the charred broccoli salad alongside (trust me).
- Rosemary sea salt bagels from Ruby's Bagels (open Friday through Sunday only)
- Scratch ice cream (all their flavors are stellar), available on weekends.
Bonus: Give Modern Maki, the new sushi truck a try!
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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