The Third Ward When the Market Opens Its Doors

The Third Ward When the Market Opens Its Doors

Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward was a warehouse district before it was anything else, and the brick buildings along Broadway and St. Paul Avenue still carry the proportions of their industrial past — wide bays, tall windows, the muscular geometry of buildings that were designed to hold things rather than impress people. The neighborhood's reinvention — galleries, boutiques, loft apartments — has been gentle enough that the buildings still look like they remember what they used to do.

The Milwaukee Public Market at 400 North Water Street is the neighborhood's anchor — a year-round indoor market with vendors selling smoked fish, artisan cheese, spices, fresh pasta, and the kind of prepared food that makes lunch a decision with fifteen correct answers. St. Paul Fish Company has a raw bar and a fried perch sandwich that is the platonic ideal of the form — crispy, generous, served on rye with tartar sauce and the unstated confidence of a fish counter that has been doing this one thing perfectly for years.

The galleries along Broadway and the surrounding blocks reward wandering. MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) has a student gallery that rotates monthly and consistently surprises with work that makes you reconsider the idea that art school is where people go to find themselves rather than make something.

Insider tip: Walk the Riverwalk south from the Market along the Milwaukee River. The path passes under bridges, past the Public Market's back patio, and toward the confluence where the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic rivers meet — three rivers in one city, and the walking path connects them all.