Mother's

Mother's opened June 26, 2025.  The restaurant opened with a focus on affordable and accessible cafe fare, cabaret-style entertainment, al fresco garden dining, and collaborative tasting events.  

Founder Vanessa Rose is a long-accomplished chef, who started her career at County Clare and worked her way to Braise, Amilinda, Odd Duck, Balzac, and Ardent.   Growing up with home-cooked meals every night, she became interested in cookbooks, cooking shows, and food preparation at an early age.

"I've looked at this career as my education," said Rose. "This is about me learning what I wanted from a restaurant.

 Rose credits her parents for their "open hearts and minds," which has inspired her to become her best self in life.

"I came out many times. When I was 12, I rejected Catholicism. When I was 16 or 17, I came out as a socialist. I came out as bisexual, polyamorous... I knew I wanted to make a medical transition, (and) I'd already unpacked myself in so many different ways...they gave me nothing but support," she told OnMilwaukee in April 2025.

Rose didn't seek to open "only a restaurant."  She recognized that successful spaces are based in community organizing, diverse representation, and mutual aid.  Her inspiration to open Mother's came after watching Pose on FX, which highlighted the inclusive power of queer-focused third spaces. 

"I realized I wanted to use my privilege to create a space where people felt safe and where they could afford to go and be nourished."

House of Bridges was born as a "space unlike any other," celebrating the diversity of the Milwaukee queer community and platforming underrepresented cuisines, mediums, and demographics. House of Bridges seeks to strengthen the bonds between communities that are increasingly isolated, scapegoated, or underserved, and to build bridges and uplift each other for the challenges and hardships ahead.

The team brought this concept to life with Mother's, a pop-up concept that first launched in 2024.  Mother's prides itself on being intentional and intersectional, with recipes from all corners of the globe remixed, blended and shared to encourage unity.

Mother's was so successful that Rose launched a fundraising campaign to acquire a permanent physical location.  When her plans for a Riverwest property didn't pan out, she set her sights on Bay View.

Mother's carries forward a 130+ year legacy of hospitality at this location.  The Queen Anne style tavern was built in 1893, when William C. Kneisler opened the White House at this site.  It was named "the White House" as it was a favorite stop for traveling politicians.  The Kneisler family operated the White House until 1974.  The building was entirely redecorated to create a new, colorful, and welcoming space for the next generation.

Visit the Mothers website