This Third Ward restaurant in Milwaukee is closing after less than a year in business
Third Coast Gourmet, a deli in The Renaissance Building, 309 N. Water St., is closing this month after less than a year in business.
Owner Joena Vitale said she didn’t have enough customers. She attributed the slow traffic to parking on Water Street and recent construction.
“It’s just not what it used to be,” she said.
“I’m not feeling good about it at all. It really upsets me. I put everything, my whole life, into this building.”
Joena Vitale overcame severe health problems to open Third Coast Gourmet.
Vitale says that, while she’s disappointed about the closing, she’ll still work on her catering business and is looking to the future for another possible brick-and-mortar, possible investors or buyers.
Vitale dreamed about opening the deli for more than five years. Just as she was working on opening the deli in 2023, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition that occurs when a person’s immune system harms nerves in their body, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.
After months of rehab, she was able to open the deli, where she served sandwiches, soups and other deli products that she sourced from a local Boar’s Head purveyor.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Third Coast Gourmet in Milwaukee’s Third Ward is closing
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