The highly anticipated Cute Robot Japanese Kitchen quietly opened its doors on Tuesday evening at 704 S. 2nd St. in Walker’s Point, offering guests a first taste of their diverse menu of comforting Japanese dishes.
Behind the family-owned restaurant is Janet Boettner, an industry veteran and former owner of Konohana Japanese Restaurant, whose family worked at Izumi under both the original owners and later with Fujiko Yamauchi.
Boettner’s husband Marc is a partner in the restaurant and her son Quinn, whose experience includes work with restaurants including Lowlands Group and Mason Street Grill, heads up the kitchen. Meanwhile, her brother, Michael Oboyle, manages front-of-house operations.
Boettner’s son Ian is behind the “cute robot” character that appears on the restaurant’s menu and other printed materials. He created the design in collaboration with Kevin, a friend of his who lives in Las Vegas.
The restaurant is still in its soft opening stage, so grace from customers is appreciated as the staff works out its kinks and achieves its stride. But Boettner says she is excited to welcome guests and showcase her truly unique concept.
“We’re casual and we’re fun,” she says.”We want people to stop by, eat and hang out. When they do, we’ll treat them like a member of our family.”
Casual, hip & fun
Step into the two-story space, which formerly housed The Noble, and you’ll experience a transformed ambiance that’s bright and filled with color and nods to Japanese pop-culture.
On the first floor, guests can take a seat at the “curry bar”, Cute Robot’s version of a sushi or ramen bar. There are also a few two-tops and a cozy window-side booth.
All are surrounded by fun, retro decor, including a retro-70s-crafty-chic floral shadow box that Boettner's mother made when she was a child.
“In my 20s I hated it," she says. "But now it’s a great memory for me.”
Head to the second floor and you’ll encounter a cartoonesque mural painted on the wall along the stairs depicting godzilla and his atomic breath, geisha and Mothra. It was created by MIAD graduate and local art teacher Charlie Christman, who has been a longtime friend of Marc. [Head to my Instagram feed for a video tour, including a peek at the mural]
“Janet and I had a lot of fun putting this place together,” notes Marc. “It was great to work together. And I had a great time working with Charlie on the mural. When we were younger, we used to collaborate regularly on drawings, so it took me back.”
The upstairs showcases two-top tables, along with a full bar featuring a curated selection of wine, both Asian and domestic beer, ciders, sake, Japanese whiskey and a variety of Japanese-inspired house cocktails and mocktails.
A raised platform showcases low tables (built and stained by the Boettners) with tatami-style seating (zashiki) for guests who’d like a classic Japanese restaurant type environs.
“When my mother passed away, I realized that I never really got to talk to her about a lot of things,” says Boettner. “But I know that she had confidence in me, and I think she would really like what we’ve created here.”
Yoshoku cuisine
The restaurant is an homage to Boettner’s mother, a native of Okinawa, Japan, who passed away in 2014. In fact, it’s her mother’s cooking that forms the inspiration for the menu, which is filled with yoshoku-style dishes.
Yoshoku, a style of Japanese cooking that fuses Western dishes with Japanese flavors. It’s a distinctive cuisine that dates back to the late 19th century when swift modernization changed the face of Japanese culture. Over time, it flourished and evolved, begetting dishes like Japanese curry, tonkatsu, omurice (omelet rice) and other fusion dishes with a distinctly Japanese flavor profile.
Appetizers include Onigiri (rice balls filled with marinated shiitake mushrooms or spicy tuna, $3.25 each); housemade vegetable or pork Gyoza ($9.25); and Chicken Karaage ($12.75).
There’s also Japanese potato salad (made with Kewpie mayo, carrots, cucumbers and onions, $5); hiyashi wakame (seaweed salad, $6) and soups like Tonijiru, a popular Japanese soup that features pork cooked in dashi and enhanced with miso broth and vegetables (carrots, potatoes, daikon, wakame, tofu). It can be enjoyed as-is for $7 or as a meal with rice and Japanese pickles for an additional $5.
Japanese sandos include pork, chicken or housemade ebi katsu (a panko fried shrimp patty) on authentic Japanese milk bread from the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Each sandwich is topped with cabbage salad and a choice of tonkatsu or yoshoku sauce (or both) and served with fries for $14.50-$18 (depending on the protein choice).
And yes, there are burgers. “Burgers are popular in Japan and Cute Robot loves them too!” reads the menu, which lists both a Godzilla (beef) and Mothra (meatless) burger for $16 (includes fries).
There are also Japanese curries. Introduced by the British, curry in Japan is more of a stew than soup with a flavor profile that’s complex with spices, but not heat. Curries are available with pork, beef or vegetables and served with rice and Japanese pickles ($14-$17). Guests can also up the textural ante with katsu curry featuring curry served over rice with a katsu patty on top (chicken, pork or ebi, $18-$23).
Meanwhile, entrees include classics like Omelet Rice (Omurice) featuring tangy tomato-infused chicken fried rice wrapped in a thin omelet ($17); or Saikoro Steak featuring cubed tenderloin stir-fried in butter with garlic, scallions and soy sauce and served with goma-ae (Japanese spinach salad) and a choice of sides (rice, potato salad or macaroni salad), $26.
Chef Ian's specialties include Shoyu Butter Noodles, an umami-filled comfort food dish featuring bucatini with butter, soy sauce, garlic, mushrooms, carrots and spinach ($16) and Brown Butter Salmon showcasing wasabi-rubbed salmon cooked in brown butter and served with rice, miso soup, sunomono (cucumber) salad and Japanese pickles ($24).
View the full menu, which is available for dine-in or carry-out, online. Guests can also watch for weekly or monthly specials introducing new inventive dishes.
Beverages include standard soft drinks plus selections like Ramune, a Japanese sparkling beverage available in flavors like original (subtle citrus), strawberry and melon; Calpico, a milky fruity beverage; Pocari Sweat, the Japanese version of Gatorade; and Yakult, a yogurt-based drink.
Before you go
Boettner says that, after starting off serving both lunch and dinner service for a few days, she has decided to reel things back a bit. So, beginning Friday, Aug. 16, Cute Robot will be open for dinner service only, with lunch service to be added down the road.
Cute Robot’s hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.
Guests can also look forward to Cute Robot’s presence at Sabbatic’s upcoming block party on Sunday, Sept. 22.
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 each and every dish. She’s had the privilege of chronicling these tales via numerous media, including OnMilwaukee and in her book “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 recording the FoodCrush podcast, 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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