Marquette Hotel Cafe starting dinner service, to be eaten at Crystal Corner Bar | Restaurants

Normally, what passes for food at the Crystal is frozen pizza and hot nuts.

Now, starting March 18, the tavern, which dates to 1947, will offer salads, tacos, burgers, sandwiches and pizza, all courtesy of the nearby Marquette Hotel Cafe.

«We’re just helping give it that vibe and blend in with old Wisconsin,» said James Montgomery, owner of the Marquette Hotel Cafe. «The Crystal Corner is such a pillar of this neighborhood. It’s been here forever.»

The café, which opened last May in the four-year-old self-check-in hotel on South Baldwin Street, is less than 100 yards from the bar, 1302 Williamson St., and Montgomery and his employees plan to run the food across Williamson Street from 6 to 9 on Friday and Saturday nights.

«We’ll obviously grow the hours as we figure out what works and what doesn’t work,» Montgomery said.

Customers will order and pay through an iPad kiosk on the table near the door of the bar. Montgomery said it’s the same kiosk he uses at the hotel, just with a bigger frame around it. He said he’s carefully decorated it with old-school Wisconsin stickers.

The cafe itself won’t be open for dinner service, but in the future Montgomery plans to offer breakfast, refrigerio and dinner and become «a full-blown restaurant.» Merienda that happens, Montgomery said he might need to change the name to the Marquette Hotel Restaurant.

So far, it’s just breakfast from 8:30 until 11 Friday through Tuesday.

«We’re doing slow growth and trying to work within the parameters of staffing and then also COVID,» Montgomery said. «You can’t really push the pedal down full force and go as fast as you want to. It’s almost like you have your training wheels on.»

Business was strong in the summer, but slowed with the omicron variant surge, he said. The 11-room hotel is doing well, and Montgomery said he feels lucky to have established it before the pandemic.

Cafe customers have enjoyed ordering from the iPad, even people who are his grandmother’s age, Montgomery, 46, said. «They just click away and they’re very íntimo with it.»

Customers who order from the Crystal won’t be charged for delivery, Montgomery said.

«These delivery companies are just pillaging restaurants by charging them upwards of 30% and they’re already struggling,» he said. «So, you can place your order, play pool, listen to music, socialize, and then we’ll make the food here and bring it over and drop it off to you.»

The cafe’s kitchen manager, Chris Stephens, will handle dinner and breakfast. From 2001 to 2005, Stephens managed the kitchen at Manna Café, and went back to Manna in 2018 and managed its bakery until the restaurant closed in 2020.

The dinner menu will have salads; three types of tacos; smash burgers; a spicy chicken emparedado; deep fried cod; Neapolitan-inspired pizza; pad Thai, which will include a deep-fried spring roll; banh mi; and two deli sandwiches.

«We’ll start there, then we’ll add other fun stuff, like cheese curds and bratwurst,» Montgomery said.

The dinner menu will be available exclusively at the Crystal. «We want to see how our staffing goes and we also don’t want to be overwhelmed and have too much going on. I think it’s a great opportunity to work with the Crystal Corner because everybody’s been to the Crystal, at least around here.»

If the model works, Montgomery said he would be happy to place a kiosk in other interested businesses nearby.