For the ninth straight year, October is Dining Month on OnMilwaukee, presented by the restaurants of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. All month, we're stuffed with restaurant reviews, dining guides, delectable features, chef profiles and unique articles on everything food, as well as voting for your "Best of Dining 2015."
After a ribbon cutting ceremony and jam-packed open house featuring African music and passed appetizers on Saturday, Oct. 31, Irie Zulu in Wauwatosa is now preparing for its official opening later this week.
The restaurant at 7237 W. North Ave., owned by Yollande Deacon of Afro Fusion Cuisine, will officially open for lunch service on Friday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m.
Counter service will be available for both lunch and dinner on weekdays, with seated tableside service on weekends. Lunch options will include soup, salads, wraps and lunch bowls, priced between $6.99 and 12.99.
Dinner items will include small plates like West African beef skewers with peanut sauce and plantains ($11.99) and the Akara sampler ($8.99) featuring a selection of savory fritters with salad and sauces. Soups, priced $6.99-8.99 will include a soup of the day, as well as mushroom tofu pepper and seafood pepper soups. Fresh salads, featuring flavors like mango, shrimp and avocado will also be available.
Meanwhile entrees will include Efo Riro featuring sauteed spinach, caramelized onions, tomatoes, herbs, smoked shrimp and assorted meats served with Jasmine rice ($17.99); Thiou Vegan Heaven with sauteed seasonal vegetables, joloff sauce, plantains and yellow coconut rice ($16.99); Yassa Fish with a tamarind herb marinade, mustard, lemon juice and onions ($20); and grilled curry tomato beef stew with seasonal vegetables and coconut rice ($16.99).
Sides will include tamales, steamed semolina rice bread, fries made from yucca, yam, plantain or cassava, foofoo and fritters ($3.99-5.99). Beer, wine, juices, coffee and tea will also be available.
In addition to dining, the restaurant will also serve as a shop for Afro Fusion Cuisine cooking sauces, spices and sausages. Deacon also plans to hold cooking classes in the space beginning later this year.
Regular hours for Irie Zulu will be Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Watch for more information, including a preview of the space, later this week at OnMilwaukee.
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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