When Omar Andrietsch first opened Colour Palate in 2015, his sights were already set on expanding the downtown Milwaukee salad shop to multiple locations.
Four years later, the restaurant is taking a step toward that goal as it prepares to open a second location later this month, in the Wauwatosa Village area.
Colour Palate will occupy a 2,000-square-foot ground floor space in the northwest corner of the State Street Station mixed-use development, located at 7488 W. State St.
The Wauwatosa location will house the same fast-casual, made-to-order concept as that of the restaurant’s 789 N. Water St. location, but because of the surrounding residential neighborhood, its menu will offer kid-friendly items such as mac n cheese, peanut butter and jelly wraps, fruit, and juice and milk, Andrietsch said.
Location was a major factor in the process of opening a second restaurant, and it took two years to nail down the space at State Street Station, he said.
“Part of what we’re looking for is good mix of residential and office tenants,” he said.
He searched the metro Milwaukee area for the right combination of neighborhood demographics and a good landlord, considering areas as far north as Fox Point and Bayside, as far south as Oak Creek and as far west as Pewaukee.
“It’s a great space and great location,” Andrietsch said. “The community supports its local restaurants almost unlike any other community in metro Milwaukee.”
As for a third Colour Palate restaurant, Andrietsch is already on the lookout for available space but, he hopes it won’t take as long as it did to open the second location, he said.
Colour Palate will join Chase Bank, Roots Salon, MOD Pizza, Bentley’s Pet Stuff, Orange Theory Fitness, Jimmy John’s and Rice & Roll Bistro as retail tenants at State Street Station.