Chicago’s Avli Inspired Greek opens restaurant in Milwaukee

Modern Greek restaurant Avli opened its doors this week in Milwaukee’s Brewer’s Hill neighborhood, taking over a highly coveted, newly renovated space overlooking the Milwaukee River and downtown skyline.

The restaurant at 1818 N. Hubbard St. — formerly home to View MKE and earlier to Wolf Peach — is the first location outside of the Chicago area for Avli Inspired Greek. The group was founded in 2009 by chief executive officer Louie Alexakis and has since grown to five Avli locations in Chicagoland as well as a downtown event venue, Morgan’s on Fulton.

“Avli’s decision to come to Milwaukee was easy, as we feel there has never been a better time to eat and drink here,” said Alexakis. “We are thrilled to join Milwaukee’s hospitality community, and to bring our contemporary, yet approachable Greek cuisine out-of-state for the first time.”

Avli Inspired Greek is known for its contemporary, Greek-inspired dishes, including favorites like kataifi prawns with shredded filo and spicy aioli, spanakopita with house-made filo, oven-baked Greek-style chicken with sautéed spinach, and grilled lamb chops. Its beverage program features a selection of Greek-imported wines and signature cocktails such as the “Teach Me To Dance,” with Greek wild mountain tea-infused vodka, bergamot orange, thyme, honey and lemon.

Heading up Avli Milwaukee’s culinary program is executive chef Babis Tsotras, formerly of the renowned Grand Resort Lagonissi in Athens, Greece, and Avli on The Park in Chicago. The menu focuses on scratch-made dishes, including Greek mezes ( small, shareable plates), a selection of spreads, salads, vegetarian-friendly options, authentic Greek entrees and rotating desserts.

The newly redesigned Brewer’s Hill restaurant features “clean and contemporary” decor with whites, wood and earth tones that “evoke the experience of summer in Greece with a fun and festive atmosphere,” according to a news release.

Dining areas on the upper and lower floors together seat 90 people, with bar seating on both levels for six to 10 guests each. Offering views of the city’s skyline, the restaurant’s outdoor deck and terrace seat an additional 155 people.

Initially, the restaurant will offer dinner service daily from 5 p.m. to close, with plans to add lunch, weekend brunch, happy hour and private event rentals in the coming months.

“Avli Inspired Greek aims to be a fun neighborhood restaurant and dining destination for friends, families, and colleagues to gather for everyday meals, celebrate life moments, or just hang out at the bar and get to know our staff,” said Alexakis. “The community greeted us with such a warm welcome as we approached opening and we can’t wait to offer an environment where even those new to Greek cuisine can have an exceptional introduction to it.”

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is part owner of the new restaurant, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. 

The 6,920-square-foot restaurant building on North Hubbard Street has experienced its fair share of turnover since it was built in the early 2000s by local real estate developer Tim Dixon. The building’s first occupant was a restaurant called Roots, which opened in 2004, followed by Wolf Peach, which operated from 2012 to 2018. The property was then sold to Carl Tomich, owner of the now-shuttered Stonefire Pizza Co. in New Berlin, who opened View MKE in 2019. That restaurant closed in November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tomich still owns the building through his LLC, 1818 Ventures, according to city property records.