Milwaukee restaurants offer innovative Easter brunch options, take-home meals

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Restaurants in the Milwaukee area are gearing up for a busy weekend of holiday brunches. Some are offering Easter specials where customers can dine in, while others are selling meals customers can enjoy at home.

Goodkind in Bayview is not open for indoor dining, so the restaurant sold Easter Brunch at Home kits. Customers picked up kits Saturday, April 3, which included a five-course meal and a bottle of wine that they could take home and heat up on Sunday. 

"We provide a space for people to gather and come together and share food and beverage, which is what we love to do and that's why we're here," said co-owner Katie Rose. "It's just not entirely safe to do that at this point yet."

Rose said she was overwhelmed with the response to the to-go kits. The restaurant sold out of its kits.

"It feels good to sell out of something. It feels good to put some really quality product out into the community," she said.

Because it will be nice outside, Goodkind's patio will also open for customers to eat the to-go meals.

"It's one of our busiest brunches of the year every year, and I think you can say that for most restaurants," said Paul Zerkel, chef and co-owner of Goodkind. "I think brunch is just one of those gathering points for families, kind of like a goose dinner at Christmas or a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving."

The restaurants in the Lowlands Group, which include Café Hollander, Centraal Grand Café & Tappery and Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club are offering Easter brunch specials as well as "snackuterie" boxes customers can eat at home. 

Some people are still more comfortable being at home so we want to offer options for everyone," said Molly Canan, event director for the Lowlands Group.

Café Hollander's patio was packed on Saturday.

"It's kind of amazing to think back a year ago how different everything was, but we're just so excited to welcome everyone back, whether they're more comfortable on the patio inside in our canal houses or at home with to-go," Canan said.

After a tough year for the restaurant industry, Rose said she looks forward to the day when she's able to gather people together again.

"You want to do right by your community and your staff and your family, your friends," she said.

Rose said she's also grateful Goodkind is now able to sell cocktails-to-go, under a new law in Wisconsin that went into effect on March 28.