With a zillion dining options blocks from my office, I don't do it as much as I used to, but today's sunshine inspired me to revive an old East Side lunch tradition of mine: take-out from Koppa's and a solitary lunch at Back Bay Park.
It's amazing to me that neighborhood grocery stores like Koppa's can still exist. Fortunately, they do, and the Fulbeli Deli still makes some of the best sandwiches in town. My personal favorite is the Strawkowski. It's shaved chicken breast, mozzarella cheese, red onion, alfalfa sprouts, cranberry mustard, horseradish and a "secret spice" on a grilled pita.
Today, I sat in the lounge and played a little Pitfall on their Atari while they assembled my lunch.
Per tradition, I took my sandwich a few blocks northeast, to the tiny and usually empty Back Bay Park. I walked to my usual bench, and ate my lunch in peace and quiet, watching the birds fly around McKinley Marina.
It's nothing fancy, but every now and then, I like to take a half an hour to eat somewhere that isn't in front of my desk or at Qdoba. Lunches like these are a great way to break up the week -- and they remind me that summer is right around the corner.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
