Frida, one of the inaugural vendors at Crossroads Collective, will be serving up its last soups and sandwiches on Sunday, March 14 at the East Side food hall.
“We had a wonderful run at Crossroads,” notes Mitchell Wakefield, owner of Frida and Tess, “We’re so thankful that the food hall model gave us an opportunity to test out this concept. Ultimately, this has been a tough year for restaurants and we just don’t have the bandwidth to continue operating in two locations.”
Although the restaurant will be passing the torch to a brand new vendor in March, Frida’s last weeks at the food hall will be memorable ones. Customers can look forward to ordering up items from a special “greatest hits” menu, with weekly specials announced every Tuesday via Crossroads Collectives Instagram and Facebook feeds.
Frida pop-ups & catering
Guests can also look forward to monthly Frida pop-ups at Tess, 2499 N. Bartlett Ave., as well as catering services showcasing the same bold flavors experienced at the restaurant. Customers can learn more by reaching out to Tess or following them on social media.
“The opportunity to connect with our customers, other chefs, restaurateurs, and industry contacts has been amazing,” says Wakefield. “Crossroads has a special community that can only happen in a food hall. All of the vendors are here with our own concepts, but we’re also working together and helping each other. I believe in the food hall model. It helped us learn more about our customers and now we’re finding new ways to serve them.”
And while Frida’s current location is closing its doors, all current employees will have the opportunity to either shift to employment at Tess, or remain at Crossroads Collective working for another vendor.
New vendor to come
“We’ve enjoyed having the Frida team as part of our food hall family,” adds GinammGruenewald, general manager of Crossroads Collective. “When a vendor’s time here comes to a close it is always bittersweet, but it is natural, market-fueled turnover and we wish Frida all the best as they make this transition.”
The food hall, which aims to provide a format for chefs and restaurateurs to test out new concepts without the commitment and overhead of a stand-alone restaurant, will be releasing information about a new vendor in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, customers can support the food hall concepts through curbside pickup, takeout, safe and distanced dine-in or heated patio dining. Crossroads also offers its own self-staffed delivery in a limited area surrounding the food hall.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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