MILWAUKEE — The newest restaurant in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood is a diet-friendly diner with a steampunk and classic cottage feel.
"We're not trying to reinvent food, we're just trying to make it the way it was supposed to be originally," Don Krause, the owner of Wonderland, said.
That means his kitchen will be making a lot of its food from scratch.
We make everything from scratch. We make our biscuits every day. We make all of our own gravies and sauces
The new diner also has plenty of vegan options as well.
It's located on 732 E. Burleigh Street. It shares a wall with Art Bar. Krause is the owner of both. It took him about four years to construct, but the day finally came that Krause could have his soft opening.
"We are still in training mode," said Krause. "We did want to give it to the public as soon as possible, but we also wanted to work out some kinks."
Two days into officially being open, no kinks are visible to the common customer. One thing you will notice is that the menus aren't laminated. That's because Krause is tinkering with some of the recipes and items, so the menu is still a work in progress.
One of the most unique things about this new diner is its eclectic aesthetic design.
"All these items came from old diners throughout the country."
Welcome to the classic cottage X steam punk diner in Riverwest - WONDERLAND. #Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/LrTarueBNQ
— James Groh (@JamesGroh_) October 2, 2019
Not only that, there is a mixture of modern art, bright neon signs and a giant green ivy print.
"Combining things that are classic cottage with steampunk," Krause said.
The red and chrome chairs scream diner, but the other decorations help make the restaurant feel more modern.
"It gives you a fresh urban appeal- a city appeal to the restaurant."
The name Wonderland is homage to an old amusement park that use to be in what is now Shorewood.
"Just four blocks from here was an amusement park over 100 years ago."
The menus feature pictures of the old theme park.
While the restaurant features an eclectic design and food for every diet, there is one thing you won't find on Wonderland's menu - large and crazy food challenges akin to what you would see on Man vs. Food.
"Let's go back to a serving that you finish and you don’t have to go boxes for, or you can’t eat all the hash browns so they go to waste," Krause said.
It's all part of his goal of bringing restaurants back to "the way it was supposed to be."
