If you’ve avoided Brady Street because of its reputation in the 70s, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much it has changed … and how much has not changed. The street is alive with restaurants, clubs, coffee houses and chic little shops. It is also still alive with a strong Sicilian flavor evidenced in its grocery, bakery and resident population. That may be one reason the area has survived so well and remained a strong neighborhood community.

Take a tour of Brady Street’s restaurants, history and architecture with Milwaukee Food Tours and you’ll discover more reasons why Milwaukee is a terrific city in which to live, visit and explore.

Started over a year ago, Theresa Nemetz modeled Milwaukee Food Tours after a New York City tour she and her husband had taken. That experience inspired her to begin a food tour in her hometown, highlighting some of Milwaukee’s history and great flavors. She began with the Brady Street area, combining Old World Third Street and its German influence into her tour plan. Nemetz did her homework quite well, drawing from Milwaukee historian John Gurda’s book, The Making of Milwaukee. Setting up a website (milwaukeefoodtours.com) early in 2008, she drew in 1,000 tour participants that first year. Nemetz has expanded to include a walking tour of the Historic Third Ward, with its Irish and German roots. In addition, she can customize a tour with a cooking class, factory tour or “Farm and Table” tour.

Eating Our Way Down Brady Street

Our tour began at Zaffiro’s Pizza on Farwell and Brady with a large pizza on every table for our group. I’ve been a fan of Zaffiro’s for years, but many on our tour had never had the opportunity to try their pizza. It was a hit. Our group, which included people visiting from Germany and Virginia, heard a bit of history about Brady Street before moving down to Peter Sciortino’s Bakery for cannoli and Glorioso Brothers Grocery for some Italian samplings and more historic tidbits. From there we walked through the Brady Street neighborhood, where we admired some of the beautiful homes that you would never see from the main streets. Our 2-1/2 hour walking tour was leisurely and well paced. On Van Buren Street, we stopped in Buca di Beppo’s for a glass of LoDuca wine and Buca’s garlic-cheese bread. From there we moved on toward Old World Third Street.

Enjoying Mader's German Charm

Before concluding our tour at Mader’s, we stopped for samplings at the Wisconsin Cheese Mart and at Usinger’s charming historically sausage shop. Across the street, we enjoyed a cinnamon sampling and seasoning lesson at The Spice House. After touring Mader’s dining rooms, complete with its extensive gallery of uber-famous guests, we settled around the Old World bar for German beer and Reuben wraps. Did you know that Mader’s is home to a $4 million dollar medieval art collection that includes suits of armor, weapons, paintings and stained glass? Mader’s was a charming place to conclude our tour. We then boarded the free Milwaukee Trolley and enjoyed a ride back to the Brady Street area to retrieve our cars. If you do not frequently visit these Milwaukee’s neighborhoods, I highly recommend Milwaukee Food Tours. You’ll discover (or rediscover) the roots and flavors of our ethnic city.