Expanded Urban Beets will start happy hour, brunch

Table service after 5 p.m., weekend brunch and happy hour all are coming soon to the expanded Urban Beets Cafe downtown.

Owner Dawn Balistreri opened the bigger dining room next door to the original cafe and extended the vegan restaurant’s hours about a month ago.

The tiny original cafe at 1401 N. King Drive opened in early 2016 with 15 seats and became a popular spot for lunch and for customers in search of fresh juices, smoothies, coffee and bagels early in the morning at downtown's northern edge.

Customers still order their food and drinks at the counter, but starting next week, the cafe will have table service after 5 p.m.

With the addition of beer and wine to the menu, Urban Beets also is adding happy hour in the coming weeks, intending to appeal to customers heading to Bucks games at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, five blocks away.

Urban Beets is adding appetizers such as nachos and a vegan take on crabcakes, and will offer discounts on appetizers and drinks from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The bar has craft beers, including two on tap, and organic wines.

(On Thursdays for at least the next three weeks, Urban Beets will hold fundraisers for animal-related charities. Paws & Straws on Oct. 26 will contribute 50% of proceeds from food and beverage sales and 100% of glass-straw sales to Herbivorous Acres animal sanctuary in Minnesota.)

Weekend brunch is due to begin in about a month, with items such as waffles and oatmeal added to the menu.

On the new all-day menu are dishes such as “pulled” barbecue carrot on a pretzel bun ($8) and a buddha bowl ($8.75) with quinoa, spinach, pineapple and chickpeas with jerk seasonings, topped with mango dressing.

Small plates include avocado toast ($3.75) and pumpkin-sage hummus ($5.50).

The contemporary new dining room, which seats 50, appropriately has a lot of greenery for a restaurant serving a plant-based menu; plants grow on a wall, and more grow atop an arbor. Also contributing to the natural feeling of the space: a wooden bar top with a live edge — the bark still attached.

Hours at the expanded Urban Beets are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

To contact: (414) 800-6265. The restaurant is online at urbanbeetscafe.com and on Facebook.