In April 2025, we shared the news that Nadi Plates would be taking over a significant portion of the former Crossroads Collective and establishing its first brick-and-mortar Italian restaurant there.
At the time, Nadia Santaniello Bucholtz, who operates the business alongside her partner Dave Brown and their children Austin, Zachary and Bianca, said the opportunity to establish their first restaurant in the iconic East Side space felt like a dream come true.
“As a first-generation Italian-American who has always hoped to open a restaurant on the East Side, where we call home, I truly feel blessed by how this came together,” she said. “This business grew from conversations our family had around our kitchen table, and it’s been our dream to share it with our neighbors on the East Side.”
That dream remains intact. But the plan has changed.
Moving forward in a new space
Santaniello Bucholtz and family will no longer open inside the former food hall at 2238 N. Farwell Ave., having amicably parted ways with New Land Enterprises.
Instead, they’ve decided to establish their flagship restaurant at 2163 N. Farwell Ave., in the former home of Pomona Cider Co., which closed in December of 2025.
The lease was signed June 10, according to Austin Santaniello, who says many of the elements planned for the original location will carry over into the new space.
“We will offer both daytime and nighttime service there, just as we hoped to do,” he says. “We just have to rework our plans for the new space.”
He says there are multiple reasons to be excited about the shift, including the fact that the renovations required for the new location are significantly less extensive than those needed at the former food hall.
“To a degree, the kitchen here will be an open concept,” he says. “That means the home-cooking concept will translate in this space in a way that wouldn’t have been possible. We love that. And we are so excited to be staying here on the East Side, in our own backyard, and to still be building a really special place to welcome our neighbors into.”
More details will be shared as plans move forward. For now, the family is focused on settling into the new space and adjusting plans accordingly.
In the meantime, the Nadi Plates truck continues to operate seven days a week at Zócalo Food Truck Park, where it has been serving since April, and at American Family Field during every Brewers home game. The business also maintains a full summer catering schedule.
Santaniello says the family hopes to be fully moved into the new Farwell Avenue location by the end of summer and to open as soon as possible.
Watch for additional details on OnMilwaukee as they become available.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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