Milwaukee, WI

Brisa Do Mar restaurant in Milwaukee’s Third Ward has closed

Published

3 months ago

December 16, 2025

Brisa Do Mar restaurant in Milwaukee’s Third Ward has closed

Brisa Do Mar, a Mediterranean and Italian restaurant along the Milwaukee River, has quietly closed after a year and a half in business.

Chef-owner Ramses Alvarez confirmed that, after a busy summer led to a slow September and October, he decided to close his restaurant in early December.

“It was a difficult decision for a lot of reasons. I didn’t want to close,” Ramses said in a phone interview. “The restaurant was so beautiful and the best thing that happened to me, but it was very temperamental. I did everything possible, but we were not successful with trying to make enough revenue for us to say, ‘OK, it’s worth it.’”

The spacious, 300-seat restaurant, located at 509 E. Erie St. in Milwaukee’s Third Ward neighborhood, was previously home to Riverfront Pizzeria Bar & Grille. That restaurant closed in February 2024 after 20 years in the space.

Alvarez and partner Shannon Rowell opened Brisa Do Mar in its place on May 2, 2024. Just before opening his restaurant, Alvarez, who previously owned Dia Bom in the Crossroads Collective food hall and the Brew’d Burger Shop food truck at Zócalo Food Truck Park, said operating a restaurant in that prime RiverWalk location was an “opportunity of a lifetime.”

He said the restaurant’s proximity to the river and the Henry Maier Festival Park Summerfest grounds made for very busy summers, with multiple festivals drawing visitors who stopped in. Unfortunately, those busy summers did not translate to winter, when Brisa Do Mar struggled to attract repeat customers.

Brisa Do Mar’s varied menu included Mediterranean-inspired salads, pasta dishes, wood-fired entrees and both Neapolitan and brique-style pizzas, utilizing the wood-fired oven left by Riverfront Pizzeria. It also had 12 draft lines for beer, wine and cider, and served a lineup of specialty cocktails.

In summer, the 274-square-foot riverfront patio was an attraction for diners and boaters who could tie up on adjoining boat slips to dine at the restaurant.

Alvarez said he is stepping away from the restaurant business to focus on a new creative endeavor: producing Reels and other user-generated content for a digital marketing agency that creates content for restaurants and hotels worldwide.

“I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of our families, friends and guests that walked through our doors and supported us, to all the media in Milwaukee that have shown us so much love,” Ramses said in a statement. “The city of Milwaukee has been very, very good to me, the people here and their kindness.”

“I have spent 27 years in Milwaukee working in the culinary world, feeding Milwaukee families, supporting nonprofit organizations and giving back to the community that received me with arms wide open,” he concluded. “Adios Milwaukee.”

Renner Architects, developers of the Hansen’s Landing building where Brisa Do Mar is located, is seeking a new tenant for the 6,000-square-foot space. Interested parties should call (414) 273-6637.

This story was updated to add new information.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Weather – Frosty and cold morning, sunny day ahead

Published

6 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

MILWAUKEE – Forecast from FOX6 Meteorologist Lisa Michaels

Frosty Monday morning with temps in the teens inland to low 20s near the lake.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies on Monday. Highs in the mid-40s inland, upper 30s near the lake.
A total lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning, total eclipse from 5-6am. It may be tough to see due to increasing clouds.
Increasing clouds on Tuesday with highs in the low 40s. Chance of rain and storms possible Wednesday through Friday with warming temperatures.

Today: 39 Lake. Mostly sunny.
High: 44°
Wind: SE 5-10

Tonight: Partly cloudy this evening, mostly clear overnight.
Low: 27°
Wind: SE 5

Tuesday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy.
High: 43°
Wind: E 5-10

Wednesday:41 Lake. Chance for scattered showers and t-storms.
AM Low: 32° High: 45°
Wind: E 5-10

Thursday: 39 Lake. Mostly cloudy. Chance storms.
AM Low: 37° High: 42°
Wind: NE 5-10

Friday: Chance for showers and t-storms Warmer. Warming at night.
AM Low: 37° High: 57°
Wind: SE 5-15

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with AM rain showers. Blustery with falling afternoon temperatures.
AM Low: 47° High: 53°
Wind: NE 5-10

6-day planner

FOX6 Weather Extras

Local perspective:

Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:

FOX6 Storm Center app

FOX LOCAL Mobile app

FOX Weather app

FOX Weather

Big picture view:

Maps and radar

We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.

School and business closings

When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.

FOX6 Weather Experts in social media

Daily ForecastWeatherMilwaukee

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Milwaukee, WI

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Published

18 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Four new community-powered fridges open on Milwaukee’s North Side

Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.

The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.

Ald. Russell W. Stamper, II, emceed the ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of four new community-powered fridges.

District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.

“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.

People fill up the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.

This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talks about opening the first community-powered fridge at her cafe.

Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.

“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.

Danell Cross (right), executive director at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Metcalfe Park resident Farina Brooks (left), and other attendees applaud during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.

Residents line up to fill the community-powered fridge with fresh produce.

“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.

Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:

Metcalfe Park Community Bridges

3624 W. North Ave.

Rooted & Rising- Washington Park

3940 W. Lisbon Ave.

Sherman Park Community Association

3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.

Dominican Center

2470 W. Locust St.

Tricklebee Café

4424 W. North Ave.

Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Milwaukee, WI

At the Bar

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

The bar can be “the place” where memories are made, friendships blossom, and stories live forever. This episode of Real Stories MKE features stories from Dasha Kelly, Kristia Wildflower, Shep Crumrine, and Katelyn Nye. Real Stories MKE is hosted by Kim Shine and Joel Dresang with support from producer Jasmine Gonzalez and audio engineer Sam Woods.

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