West Allis could soon become home to a new food truck park, planned for a parking lot at the corner of West Cleveland Avenue and South 84th Street.
The outdoor food truck park is being proposed by the owners of Michael’s Family Restaurant, who want to develop the lot just west of their restaurant building at 8417 W. Cleveland Ave. The concept would have space for six food trucks along the perimeter of the property, and an enclosed “three-season” bar area, according to West Allis Plan Commission documents.
Plans also show an area of green space (astroturf) with picnic table seating, yard games and landscaping. The target completion date for the project is April 1, with a tentative opening in mid-April.
Michael’s Family Restaurant in West Allis has been around since 1985 but the eatery is under fairly new ownership. Samuel Speaker and Lee Gonzalez purchased the business and property in June. The duo, each with extensive backgrounds in the hospitality industry, met while working at DOC’S Smokehouse in downtown Milwaukee and eventually decided to go into business together, they said in a recent episode of the Hellocounty podcast, hosted by Wes Rosenberg.
Drawn to West Allis’s business community, Speaker and Gonzalez were on the lookout for opportunities to open their own concept when they were introduced to Michael’s Family Restaurant. They “fell in love with the staff” and “saw the potential” in taking over the longstanding neighborhood establishment, Speaker said.
An existing three-car garage on proposed project site — utilized now as storage space for the adjacent restaurant — would be expanded to house the three-season bar area, which would include table seating and a temporary coffee vendor stall.
The project will be considered by the West Allis Plan Commission on Dec. 14. It would be the second food truck park to open in the Milwaukee area, joining Zócalo in Walker’s Point.
