Beginning next week, there will be a new Walker’s Point spot to grab a bite for lunch or a cocktail after work.
Starting Tuesday, March 3, Blue Jacket, 135 E. National Ave. will offer lunch service Tuesday through Friday. The menu will include warming soups, fresh salads, sandwiches and a few entrees.
Blue Jacket owner, Laura van Heijningen, says the new addition came at the request of customers, who frequently inquired about lunch offerings.
Next week’s lunch menu will include items like flat-iron steak sandwiches with mustard, mayonnaise and arugula will be served on a fresh baguette with the soup of the day. A house burger will feature bacon, blue cheese, pickled jalapenos and onions with tomatoes and sherry vinaigrette. All sandwiches will come with a choice of soup, salad or French fries and will be priced between $4 and $13.
The restaurant will also launch a new happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m., with specials including half price drafts, $5 cocktails and half-price wine pours. Special happy hour bar snacks, created by Chef Justice Neal, will include a pickled plate, brussel sprouts, and beer battered cheese curds. Pricing for happy hour offerings will range from $4 to $8.
Meanwhile, van Heijningen says that the dinner menu will continue to feature fresh, seasonal offerings. Current options include fried chicken with sweet chile and lime ($11), mussels braised in Weis beer with fennel, shallot, sausage and parsley ($15), scallops with carrot puree, fennel, jalapeno and cilantro ($27) and short ribs with sweet potato, market vegetables, apples and lemon ($30).
A new spring menu is expected to launch in April.
Blue Jacket’s hours are Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (with lunch served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m.
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.
