New apres ski bar and burrito restaurant from Nomad owners opening on Cathedral Square

The owner of Nomad World Pub and Sport Club has opened two new food and drink spots on Cathedral Square: a burrito restaurant, and an apres-ski bar.

Caravan Hospitality Group is opening both concepts, Barrel Burrito Co. and Experts Only Apres Bar, at 782 N. Jefferson St., in the former spaces of The Dogg Haus and Taco Bar MKE.

"I started realizing to keep growing the company we really needed a bigger kitchen," said owner Mike Eitel. "Since COVID there is so much takeout and delivery. Our kitchen was way too small to keep it up."

The kitchen of the new space is large, connecting the two concepts in the back of the house; but out front, each concept is in an individual space with its own entrance.

The burrito restaurant came out of an idea to expand offerings at Nomad Coffee Bar, a cafe that opened in an old storefront next to Nomad World Pub.

"I went in-depth on doing burritos to-go where we're not reliant on weather or whether the Bucks win," Eitel said. "We have such talented people in the kitchen. We wanted to showcase that more."

The cooks at Nomad Coffee Bar made breakfast burritos for early morning soccer viewing parties, and customers began to ask for burritos in the afternoon and at night. It inspired a kitchen competition to come up with the most unique burritos.

The result was Barrel Burrito Co.'s menu of 11 burritos, with some unusual styles, along with five house-made salsas and crema.

Menu items include The Spicoli with house BBQ ribs, andouille sausage, macaroni and cheese, garlic roasted potato and jalapeno ($14); and Korean Chicken with crispy fried chicken, cilantro lime rice, green and red pepper, red onion, jalapeno, Korean sauce and Montreal seasoning ($12).

Next door at Experts Only, themed for apres-ski, or "after ski" parties, there are winter-themed cocktails including a nitro espresso martini and hot drinks. The menu has a variety of comfort foods like ribs, mac and cheese, wings, sliders, charcuterie boards and table-side s'mores and fondue on select nights.

Eitel said part of the inspiration came when traveling to London where there were various ski-themed bars, despite London not being a ski town.

"We don't have anything like this in Milwaukee," Eitel said. "The concept is so fun and we kept getting more and more excited about it."

The decor is "whimsical and cozy," Eitel said, with inspiration from ski lodges of the '70s and '80s with ski run signs and shotskis.

The focus for Experts Only is to attract a happy hour crowd that Eitel believes is returning to downtown.

"I do love the new energy on Cathedral Square. It's getting all the love during happy hour after seeing downtown so empty for so long," he said.

Both are open, with Experts Only's grand opening party on Thursday with live music from 5 to 8 p.m. and a DJ after.

Experts Only is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday for service industry brunch, and 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. It will be open select Saturdays and Sundays, including noon to 5 p.m. this coming Saturday for the Santa Cycle Rampage. It is available to rent for private events on the weekend as well.

Barrel Burrito Co. is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 to 2 a.m. on Saturday.