Pass the Snacks Adventures

1. Overview
2. Zócalo Food Park
3. Great Lakes Distillery
4. Purple Door Ice Cream
5. National Bobblehead Hall of Fame
6. Historic Third Ward
7. Kimpton Journeyman Hotel
8. Milwaukee Public Market

This self-guided walking tour is for all you foodies. There are also a couple of unique, quirky stops thrown in to add some digestion time to the experience. 🙂

➜ Be sure to check out our other Milwaukee walking tour itinerary, which is centered around art and history (but includes plenty of food, too, of course!)

Overview

Start	End	Walking Time
Zócalo Food Park, 636 S 6th Street	Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N Water Street	~ 35 minutes

Click here to open this map in a new window!

Zócalo Food Park

📍636 S 6th Street

Zócalo Food Park is the first stop in this walking tour, and we hope you’ll be hungry! This pod of food trucks boasts a rotating selection of vendors and provides food entrepreneurs with starter food trucks and business support. It also hosts community events.

As of late 2025, SapSap prepares Lao food, Las Virella’s Puerto Rican fare sells a mofongo that’s to die for, and Anytime Arepas serves the Venezuelan staple with customizable stuffings. You can also find bagels, tacos, ice cream, sushi, wood-fired pizza, and shawarma at Zócalo.

Settle in and enjoy your snack or meal indoors or outdoors before the next stop in this walking tour.

Great Lakes Distillery

📍616 West Virginia Street

Next, take a tour at Great Lakes Distillery to learn about the distillation process and sample some unique spirits.

A personal favorite is Roaring Dan’s Rum, named after a real-life pirate who once terrorized Lake Michigan, commandeering a ship by getting the captain and crew drunk. (Fun fact: Dan was the only person ever arrested for piracy on the Great Lakes.)

A word of advice, though…If you’re anything like Laura, be careful at the tasting! Those small samples of liquor can add up, and it’s easy to get a little silly. (Ask her about “Edna” making prank phone calls…)

You can book a tour here; they last 1 hour and cost $17.08 for drinkers and $8.05 for non-drinkers. Some walk-in tickets are also held each day.

Purple Door Ice Cream

📍205 South 2nd Street

Image: Galileo Giglio, Pexels

We’re major fans of the cinnamon and spiced pear sorbet, and there are always a few surprises in the store. We’ve seen (but haven’t tried) bacon, cranberry, and garlic ice cream! Order a flight to try a variety of flavors.

National Bobblehead Hall of Fame

📍170 South 1st Street

It all began when two friends with a massive bobblehead collection decided to expand it even further and open a museum. (Maybe Alex could establish a guitar museum someday?!) In 2019, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame opened. Today, the general public can view over 6,500 bobbleheads for just $5 a…head. However, only the best of the best bobbleheads are inducted into the Hall of Fame, and members vote on which ones deserve this elevated status.

You can learn more (and design your own bobblehead) here. Now nod your noggin if you’re ready for the next stop on this walking tour!

Historic Third Ward

📍525 East Chicago Street

Just a short walk away is the heart of the Third Ward business district adjacent to the Summerfest grounds, where the annual national music festival and a series of other festivals take place.

This area, once an industrial center, has a rich history. In 1883, developers began to construct warehouses over marshland, relying heavily on the labor of Irish immigrants. In 1892, the Union Oil and Paint Co. building spontaneously combusted, spreading a fire across 20 city blocks and leaving 2,500 people homeless. Reconstruction happened gradually, and a wave of Italian immigrants settled in the neighborhood. In the 1970s, gentrification began, as old factories and warehouses were converted to galleries, boutiques, theaters, and restaurants (including the lively Cafe Benelux and DanDan, co-owned by Dan Jacobs of Top Chef fame).

Image: Mike Rohde, Flickr

Kimpton Journeyman Hotel

📍310 East Chicago Street

The next stop, the Kimpton Journeyman Hotel, is right across the river. Head up to the rooftop terrace for an excellent view of the city and to enjoy a craft cocktail or mocktail. Heat lamps are available on chillier days!

Milwaukee Public Market

📍400 N Water Street

Wrap up the walking tour at the Milwaukee Public Market, where you can buy meals, artisan groceries, and Milwaukee merch from 19 vendors. If you feel the need to wake up a bit, we recommend grabbing coffee at the locally owned Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. You can also get a bite to eat at Forage Kitchen.

If you’re feeling fancy, sample artisan olive oils and vinegars at ORO di Oliva. We like the blood orange, Persian lime, and jalapeño olive oils and the blackberry ginger and espresso dark balsamic vinegars.

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Have you done this walking tour, or a version of it? Exactly how full were you when you finished it?! Let us know!