Hot Dish Pantry , 4125 S. Howell Ave., has announced it will soon close its doors. Its last day of business will be Sept. 28.
The restaurant made the Journal Sentinel's list of best new restaurants in 2023 .
The restaurant, known for its nostalgic comfort food fare with a Midwest flair, such as the fried bologna sandwich, Jucy Lucy burger, Minnesota hot dish and creative twists on pierogi, announced its closure on a social media post Friday morning.
“It is with a mix of emotions that we are announcing the upcoming closure of Hot Dish Pantry,” the post read. “We are so incredibly grateful to everyone that has supported us through this process. Opening a restaurant is not for the faint of heart and we cherish the people we met and those who helped us on this journey.”
Leading up to the closure, the restaurant will have amended hours beginning Monday, Sept. 9, operating on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. You can view the restaurant’s full schedule until its closure online .
All loyalty points and gift cards will be accepted through the last day of business.
From pop-up pierogies to a south side darling
Owners Laura Maigatter and Nathan Heck opened Hot Dish Pantry as a pop-up in 2021, operating from a rented kitchen space in Oak Creek, selling frozen pierogi and hot dish. In 2022, it joined the 3 rd St. Market Hall , building out its menu and attracting a loyal customer base.
In April 2023, Hot Dish Pantry opened its stand-alone space in the former home of Iron Grate BBQ Co., which closed in November 2022.
"I think we’ll have a nice little niche for the neighborhood to come and pick up some cool, well-made items," Heck told the Journal Sentinel just before they opened their space in the Airport Gardens neighborhood.
And in the year-plus since, that’s exactly what it delivered.
“We absolutely love this neighborhood,” Hot Dish Pantry stated in the post. “The welcome we received, the neighbors we met and the community we served means the world to us. We have been so grateful to call Town of Lake and Airport Gardens our home away from home.”
Hot Dish Pantry received praise from diners in the neighborhood and beyond. Last month, The New York Times featured its Lucy Goosey burger in "The Burger Is a Portrait of America," a roundup of distinctive hamburger variations from around the country.
The nostalgic fare, friendly service, cool and kitschy space, and fun touches like toothpicks topped with seasonally changing wooden characters like flamingoes, ghosts, rubber duckies and fall leaves kept things whimsical, and showed a level of care and detail that reflected in the food it served, from its popular aloo chaat pierogi (my absolute must-order on every visit) to its stellar smash burger to its massive fried pork tenderloin sandwich.
A business changeover and potential future for Hot Dish
In the post, Maigatter and Heck said that while the building recently had been been sold, they were not being forced out of the business.
“We had been weighing this decision for some time and the circumstances lined up to make our decision a little easier. We are excited for the new owners to begin this journey and wish them nothing but the best. We know the neighborhood will welcome them with open arms,” it read.
But Maigatter and Heck aren’t completely shutting the door on Hot Dish Pantry. In the post, they said there could be a future that includes pop-ups featuring their bestselling items or revisiting offering frozen items for presale.
Whatever is ahead, they said they are grateful for the support they’ve received and the opportunity to bring their love of Midwest comfort food to their fans.
“We’ve been through four kitchens, served countless pierogi, and introduced the glorious Pork Tendy Sammy to Wisco,” the post concluded. “It has meant the world to us to share this with you. Thank you for everything.”
RELATED: From Karl Ratzsch's to Wolf Peach, these are some Milwaukee restaurants we miss
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: South side Milwaukee comfort-food standout Hot Dish Pantry is closing
Local News
