Refuge Smoothie Cafe

Great smoothie if you have 20 minutes to wait. I was really jazzed that this place was right along my morning commute so I threw 10 minutes in the meter, walked in and was the only one in the place. After waiting a few minutes to be created, I ordered. At this point two others had walked in. One ordered. The other was waiting to be acknowledged. I waited 20 minutes for my smoothie to be ready, came out and my meter was expired. I know that it’s on me to fill my meter, but 20 minutes? I won’t be back.

Refugee
Early morning. I missed my routine morning smoothie at home. I needed something so im in Bay View daily and i have seen this place but never stopped because i usually make my own smoothies. I got there not to long after opening. I ordered the smoothie with Kale, Apple, Mint, and Pineapple.
The names for the smoothies is genius never mind the fact I have the slightest idea who they are if they are anyone at all !
The woman who waited on me was really nice and really accommodating. This place is pretty awesome. You buy a large smoothie and you can get your dog a smoothie. Any place you can take your dog and its not looked upon as bad is good with me! The prices were respectable and they even have breakfast sandwiches and wraps for lunch.
The colors are bright and there is a small seating area towards the rear. Its really welcoming and so are the staff. I enjoyed my smoothie and you decided to drop in im more then sure that you would enjoy yours as well.

Recently tried the Seven Day Smoothie challenge. All of the healthy blends have names of Milwaukee community icons. I like the Will Allen with kale and I also choose to mix my own once in a while — plus a multi-​vitamin boost.
The now have a Doggy Smoothie — peanut butter and a treat for our furry friends!

I’ve stopped by here several times since it switched from Wild Flour Bakery to Refuge Smoothie. There is a huge sign on the side where the mural is asking Bay View what they want to see there. How can I nicely tell the place that I would really like it if they kept the Wild Flour mural?
The smoothies here are great. They have two sizes and are moderately priced for what you get, especially considering that they aim to be meal replacements (as told to me by the guy behind the counter). I really love the Will Allen and find it energizing, especially after a work out. They also have something called smoothie week, where you can have one smoothie a day for seven days for a set price (the price itself changes, but I have always found it to be a great deal).
Food wise, I find it hard to justify eating food here when you’ve got Colectivo and Lulu across the street with great breakfast and lunch options. Maybe cold sandwiches are for some people, but I will avoid them when I can. They have a very limited bakery selection and no longer carry loaves of bread, nor the rhubarb muffin I loved so much. The service is a little slow, especially on weekend mornings and I feel that they would benefit from two employees behind the counter during those busier periods instead of just one.
I really do enjoy the smoothies and will continue to come here purely for that enjoyment.

Need some fruits/​veggies, stat? Prefer them in an icy-​cool, delicious blended format? Refuge Smoothie Café’s got yr back, Milwaukee.
This little spot on Lincoln/​KK/​the Bay View nexus is an awesome stop for a smoothie/​something fresh + healthy. With lots of options named for local folks, you can choose from a «Will Allen» (my favorite, w/​spinach, apple, mint, kale) or any number of others.
Prices are reasonable-​ish and smoothies make for a great «I ate lots of Mexican food last night and drank margaritas and now I need breakfast or lunch but I feel kind of gross and should probably have some fruit and veggies» option. It’s quick, convenient, and does the trick.
Lowest sugar content = the Will Allen, just FYI.

my standards are high when it comes to quality, portion size and such. I wasn’t too impressed with this place. Tables were sticky, atmosphere wasn’t great, they didn’t even have napkins when I asked she offered me brown hand towells. They weren’t stocked on bakery. Zero options. Not that I wanted any. The customer B4 me couldn’t have what he ordered cause they were out of mango. And when I ordered mine she had to check first to see if she had all ingredients in stock. The customer service was the only plus to this place. My wrap was fresh and tasty, served with a side of baby carrots which I can’t eat so other options would have been nice. Small portions. Eh, I’d give it another go down the road. They said they no longer had accounts with wild flour bakery and we’re in the process of looking for a new bakery vendor. Just my 2 cents :)

Bought a cherry danish and a cinnamon bun there today. The danish was ok, nothing to write home about… but the cinnamon bun was old and stale/​hard/​dry and I unfortunately only found out when I got home. On closer inspection the wrapper had a sticker with a date from 5 days earlier. Why do they even keep such old pastries in their shop? No one wants a cinnamon bun that’s more than a day, or two old…

Descriptive phrase: fresh, unique café.
Refuge holds down one of the crowded corners of KK/​Lincoln/​Howell, serving up baked goods and wraps and smoothies. We were the only people there on a Saturday afternoon, but it seemed like a nice little café to sit and have a fruity drink. I ordered the Wonderful Wrap ($ 6) and Tom Schiltz smoothie ($ 4.75), both fresh made in front of me. The smoothie, with pineapple, orange, mango, and papaya, was fruity and sugary and tasty. My wrap was made with turkey, pepper jack cheese, red peppers, carrot strips, and chipotle mayo. It all mixed well together and was served with baby carrots. Again, tasty and fresh, but a bit smaller than what you could get nearby.
I liked Refuge Smoothie Café, though I’d probably only come back for a smoothie or a baked good.

I went in thinking that Wild Flower Bakery would still be serving food. No such luck. I got a wrap instead and I have to say it was awful. The avocado was hard and the meat tasted like it came from a packaged box.
I have to say I did have a smoothie and it was really good, just don’t get any food!

I was first introduced to their bread through a farmers market. If you weren’t early enough, they often ran out. My favorite bread is their olive bread. So savory and delightful.
This bakery also offers fresh sandwiches (full or half portions). I love their tuna salad. It has thick chunks of pickles in it, not usually my favorite, but it tastes great with the tuna!

This was one of the only local places in the neighborhood when I moved to Bayview many years ago. And it’s gone through a few different identities over the years, the most recent being only a couple of months old.
And I’m hoping my frequent morning visits are indicative that they are on a very good track.
The most significant improvement, other than the fantastic and much needed cosmetic upgrades, is the addition of Refuge Smoothies to their menu. Mere words cannot do these tasty concoctions justice. And nothing you can make at home is most likely going to be as flavorful and delish. I’m working my way through the menu and so far I like what I’ve had, and am excited to try the rest before I crown a favorite. They are certainly a great way to start your day.
And if you are a more traditional breakfast eater, their sandwich menu is bound to have something for you. My preference is the B.E.L.T: Bacon, eggs. lettuce, tomato, and avocado on toasted multigrain. Their house made bread makes for a great base that just gets better with fresh, quality ingredients.
If it’s lunch you are in the market for, there are many traditional sandwiches to choose from. And I never go wrong when mine is a grilled cheese with tomato and avocado.
There are also a few standard salads that I have yet to try. And soups are pretty fantastic too. The website indicates the daily offerings which are served by the cup, bowl or a cup and half sandwich combo.
I was also very happy to see they are are serving up some local love by adding Rishi Teas to their menu, there is never a bad choice in that repertoire.
With so many food and beverage options within a mere 100 or so yards of their front door, I’m really happy to see Wild Flour roll up their proverbial sleeves and fight for a place in this very competitive market.

Gettin down with locally owned establishments.

I work near Wildflower and have been eating there occasionally for the past 5 years. It has gone slowly down hill. Today was the worst yet. For starters it looks run down and dirty. They still have St Patty’s day cookies in the case and it’s the 28^th. Gross. And how does it take 10 minutes to make a cold sandwich with no one in the place. My sandwich was fine. But for $ 7 you don’t even get a bag of chips. Unfortunately there are so many better options in the area, they have not kept up the place and don’t seem to care.

The food was yum! The service could of been a bit more live but overall the prices and the taste was delish!

I’ll pass.
I was hungry and in the area, so I thought I’d give them a shot. I ordered an egg salad sandwich, an almond bear claw and a coffee.
I’ll give them points for the bear claw. It was just a little too sweet, but the texture was great. Flaky on the outside, soft on the inside and the perfect amount of almond. Not the best bear claw I’ve had, but pretty good regardless.
I wish I would have gone to the gas station and picked up coffee. It’s better there.
And the egg salad sandwich, that thing is a mess, and I don’t mean falling out of the sandwich mess. The bread? Decent. The egg salad? Not good. It has to be the blandest, most tasteless egg salad I have ever eaten. Try adding some mustard, or some celery salt, heck, even a little regular salt will do wonders. I’ve had better egg salad from vending machines.
The lady working the counter was nice, but my order did take almost ten minutes for three things that didn’t need heating. I could be a lot quicker.
I probably won’t be back for anything outside of maybe picking up some bakery, and even that might be a stretch.

:) I had the best HoneyBee latte ever here. Its just a lattee with honey but she went above and beyond and hooked me up with delicious whipped crème and spices. Yum! I had lunch here today the sandwich was what you expect from a bakery/​café it was good no complaints. They are always low staffed though so dont expect super speedy service. Good thing the atmosphere is chill enough to sit and stay awhile. :) im sure i would go back no problems with this place.

Are you in the market for a really cool bakery with dudes who will say «are you sure?» when you are grabbing a loaf for a dinner party? If so this is your place. I walked in here looking for a loaf for a dinner party, and almost ordered the wrong thing. The server guy was polite and helpful, and took the time to talk to me about what sort of loaf I wanted to bring as a guest. How cool is that? Professional.
Great sweets, amazing people, and a real Bay View gem.

I’ve heard good things about Wild Flour, but we stopped for lunch on a Saturday and after waiting close to five minutes before an employee even acknowledged us, a guy comes in, plops his sandwich down on the counter and says it was wrong, but doesn’t have time to wait for a new one. Not a great start…
The food was good, but we ate in a bit of a hurry, probably because it was a good 25 minutes between ordering and getting our food. This was on a day where the place was more than half empty.
I’m going to chalk it up to a «bad day» and maybe there were understaffed, or there was some other issue, so I’d be willing to give it another chance. Like I said, the food was good, but the waiting was the hardest part.

This place is decent, the bakery is always super flavorful and they have a great selection of… everything.
However, I’m only giving three stars because THERE ARE ALWAYS FLIES EVERYWHERE!
In summer, in the dead of winter… on the tables, in the bathroom, IN THE BAKERY CASE, for crying out loud– that’s disgusting! Maybe try a little harder to be a little more sanitary and I’ll come back.

Totally meh.
Stopped in last week for a quick bite. Didn’t get it. Bite, yeah. Quick, no. Dude at the counter kept jaw jackin’ with somebody who must be a friend of his while myself and other visibly frustrated customers shared the «WTF?» look on our faces. Simple cold sandwich took 10 or 12 minutes with only 1 or 2 other orders in front of mine. Got the Herbivore, which promised hummus. They were out of hummus. Bummer. Ok, I still wanted something quick and veggie so I stuck with it anyway. Asked for a dijon or brown mustard. «We have yellow mustard». «Like French’s?». «Yeah». Uggh. Really? This isn’t a hot dog joint, Bud Bundy.
The sammich came on a dry, bland Italian bread. It was small. It didn’t satisfy. It was still $ 6. For that price you better include couple of side options. Weird vibe in the place overall. Got a few looks like I didn’t belong there or something.
Bought their Country French Sourdough from the co-​op. Dry as a bone. Leathery. Plenty sour, not much else for flavor. I honestly can’t recommend any of the places on the corner of KK/​Lincoln/​Howell besides a certain Mexican spot. Add Wild Flour to the list of reasons to keep truckin’ down the road.