Winter 2022-2023: Guide to domes, greenhouses and huts at Milwaukee bars and restaurants

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Seasonal greenery is in place at the greenhouses at Zocalo Food Truck Park, 636 S. 6th St., which customers can rent for private dining and drinking. Greenhouses and domes outside restaurants and bars have grown in popularity during the pandemic.

Private outdoor dining started before the pandemic, but the structures have continued to be popular even as vaccines have made people more comfortable dining inside again.

The domes, greenhouses and other structures offer a unique dining atmosphere for a night out, whether it's for a special occasion or crowd avoidance.

Most have small heaters, but people still ought to dress warmer than when dining indoors. Some restaurants encourage customers to bring a throw for extra warmth.

Some offer a limited menu — usually with family-style food and drink packages — and most have a reservation fee. The structures usually seat parties from six to eight people, although some structures for two to four are available.

Here are some of the restaurants and bars offering outdoor structures this winter for private dining and drinking:

At Random

The Magic Forest has returned to the midcentury cocktail lounge at 2501 S. Delaware Ave. — that's the patio known as Ice Cream Social in the summertime that's populated with decorated Christmas trees and heated cocktail huts for four to six customers come winter. It also has picnic tables in the open air that are first come, first served.

It's $10 Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, and $25 on Fridays and Saturdays to reserve 90 minutes in the huts, which serve a limited menu of hot drinks, cocktails and ice cream drinks; the patio offers touchless ordering and payment, as well. Reserve the huts online at exploretock.com/atrandom. Carryout drinks to take home still are available; orders are taken until 8:30 p.m.

At Random opens at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The Magic Forest also is open from 3 to 11 p.m. Sunday. The lounge is online at atrandommke.com.

Bass Bay Brewhouse

This restaurant at S79-W15851 Aud Mar Drive, Muskego, has Bubbles on the Bay — private, heated domes that seat up to eight people. A 90-minute reservation includes one charcuterie platter and hot cocoa after 3 p.m., or a six-person brunch platter, mimosas and coffee upon request on Saturdays and Sundays before 3 p.m.

Evening reservations cost $50, with a $100 minimum food and beverage requirement. Brunch reservations cost $150. See bassbaybrewhouse.com.

Belfre Kitchen

The decorated domes at Belfre Kitchen, 606 Genesee St. in Delafield, can seat four to six customers, who can order shareable food and drink packages in advance or individual items from a smaller menu in the dome.

Rentals are for 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's $30 to rent a dome for weekday lunch, $50 for brunch or weekday dinner, and $80 for weekend dinner.

See belfrekitchen.com/domes for more information or exploretock.com/belfrekitchen to make a reservation.

Braise restaurant

A greenhouse for 8 to 12 diners is on the green roof at Braise, 1101 S. 2nd St., and is reservable for the entire evening. The rental fee, separate from the food and drink tabs, is $350, plus a 20% gratuity (with family-style dinner packages starting at $35 a person, ordered in advance). The greenhouse is available to rent beginning at 5, 6 or 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Make reservations at exploretock.com/braise.

Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club

Buckatabon, 7700 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa, is renting out Frank & Larry's Northwoods Shanties, heated ice shanties with seating for eight to 10 people. The $100 reservation fee includes two beverage packages. Guests can order more drink or food packages and supper-club-style food from the restaurant's menu.

Shanties can be reserved for 90 minutes. For more information and reservations, go to thebuckatabon.com/shanties.

Café Benelux has six Lux Domes on its rooftop in Milwaukee's Third Ward that are available for rent in the winter.

Cafe Benelux

Benelux, 346 N. Broadway, has six heated Lux Domes on its rooftop that seat up to eight. Reservations are $150 and include two beverage packages and keepsake mugs for the party. Additional drink and food packages are available. The restaurant also will have a warming tent on its rooftop this winter.

Reservations are for 90 minutes. For more information and to reserve, see cafebenelux.com/lux-domes.

Cafe Centraal

Centraal, 2306 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., has a heated "streetcar" (a refurbished shipping container with windows) with compartments that seat six to eight people, along with a heated courtyard. Streetcar reservations for weekends (from 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday) require a $15 booking fee. For more information, see cafecentraal.com/winter.

Café Hollander on Downer Avenue in Milwaukee has private heated domes on its patio that are available to rent in the winter.

Cafe Hollander

Cafe Hollander has winter domes available to rent at each of its five locations (Downer Ave., Wauwatosa, Brookfield, Mequon and Hilldale). The heated domes seat up to six guests (eight at Hilldale). Reservations for 90 minutes cost $50, which includes two drink packages. Additional food and beverage packages and food from the main menu also are available. For more information and for reservations, see cafehollander.com/winter.

Eldr + Rime cabin

Eldr + Rime, 2300 N. Mayfair Road, offers "Hygge in a Stuga." Hygge is about being cozy and in the moment; stuga translates to cabin. In the stuga, which seats up to six, guests can stay warm while ordering food off the restaurant's main menu (shareable items are recommended).

Hygge in a Stuga rents for two hours, with a minimum tab of $200 required (plus a 20% gratuity). Additional items are available for purchase. See eldrandrime.com/stuga-experience.

Hubbard Park Beer Garden

The Hubbard Park Beer Garden, 3565 N. Morris Blvd., Shorewood, will stay open all year thanks to domes they're calling "Winter Camp."

Camp this year will feature a new Hubbard Park Lodge-inspired menu that includes everything from venison roll-up appetizers to steak and walleye main courses, plus brunch on Sunday.

The four heated domes have a seven-person capacity. Two-hour rentals cost $30 with a $150 minimum for food and beverages. The rental fee includes one free drink per person off the Winter Camp menu. The domes are available to rent Wednesday through Sunday. Make reservations at hubbardparklodge.com.

Kegel's Inn yurts

Kegel's, 5901 W. National Ave., West Allis, offers three heated yurts that fit six to 12 people in its year-round beer garden. The 90-minute reservations require a $50 deposit, which is applied to the final bill; a $250 minimum spend is required on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information and reservations, see kegelsinn.com.

South Shore Terrace chalets

This beer garden, 2900 S. Shore Drive, has private heated chalets for up to six people available to rent for 90-minute time slots. Advance reservations are required. The reserved chalets cost $80, which includes a $40 credit toward food and beverages. For more information and reservations, see southshoreterrace.com.

Twisted Fisherman

The waterside tavern on the Menomonee River has Ice Camp, with heated "snow globes" and unheated shanties. Customers in the globes can order appetizers and entrees from the menu, and the bar is also making hot drinks for the season. The globes hold up to seven and can be reserved for two hours. Rental includes a welcome drink.

The three shanties, fashioned from a converted shipping container, seat eight. Although they're unheated, each does have a fire pit. Drinks are served at the shanties.

The rental fee for the globes is $30, and a minimum of $150 must be spent on food and drink. For the shanties, at least $40 must be spent on drinks every hour. Reserve the globes and shanties at twistedfisherman.com/ice-camp.

Twisted Fisherman, 1200 W. Canal St., is open Wednesday through Sunday in the winter. To contact: (414) 384-2722.

Greenhouses on the patio at Zocalo Food Truck Park, 636 S. 6th St., can be rented for fees that vary by day of the week, from $6 on Tuesdays to $26 on weekends. Rentals are for 90 minutes.

Zócalo Food Park

Milwaukee's first food truck park, 636 S. 6th St., has heated greenhouses that seat up to 12 for rent this winter.

Diners have their pick of food vendors, including Mazorca tacos, sandwiches from Meat & Co., Ruby's Bagels, Anytime Arepa, Modern Maki sushi, wood-fired pizzas from Hot Box Pizza MKE, and Scratch Ice Cream. Drinks are available from the park's bar.

Reservation costs are based on party size and vary from $37.25 to $102.25 based on the size of the party and the day of the week.

The park is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; food vendors have different hours of operation, but most are open until 9 p.m. For more information and reservations, see zocalomke.com.

Restaurant and bar owners: To get your outdoor structures for private dining or drinking on this list, send your information to Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com.

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