After more than eight years as a cozy corner stop on King Drive, Rise & Grind Café has quietly poured its last latte at its longtime Harambee storefront.
The cafe closed its King Drive location in early July, a decision co-owner Baboonie Tatum says came down to personal health and a desire to spend more time with family. She is not calling it a permanent goodbye, though, and has left the door cracked open for a future return.
Even with the dining room dark, the team is not walking away from neighbors just yet. The cafe will continue its senior dining program through July 27 and still plans to host a Poetry & Pancakes event as part of Bronzeville Week on Aug. 8, giving regulars a couple more chances to gather at the corner before the lights go out.
According to Urban Milwaukee, the King Drive shop at 2737 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., inside King Drive Commons III, built a loyal following with espresso drinks, an all-you-can-eat soul-food brunch and a steady lineup of community events like DJ sets and karaoke. In a June 15 online post, Tatum told customers "this decision has not been an easy one" and said she hopes Rise & Grind "will return within the next three years" with a rebrand and a more sustainable business model. She and her partners plan to keep the senior dining program going through July 27 and have confirmed the Aug. 8 Poetry & Pancakes breakfast is still on.
The closure comes after a rough few years. The storefront stayed closed for much of 2020 through 2023 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a string of break-ins only made things harder. Surveillance footage published by TMJ4 shows thieves swiping monitors, a safe and other equipment ahead of a planned 2023 reopening, losses the owner said topped $10,000. Faced with that kind of financial and emotional hit, the team says it needs time to "heal, regroup and evaluate new opportunities."
What’s planned for the block
While Rise & Grind steps back, a bigger transformation could be coming to the surrounding stretch of King Drive. Owners and recent graduates of the city's Associates in Commercial Real Estate program are partnering with Anthony Kazee’s KG Development Group on a proposal to overhaul the former Career Youth Development building and the neighboring Victory Over Violence Park at 2601–2643 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
The project, called Victory Lofts, would bring roughly 48 apartments, a performing arts and cultural venue of about 7,500 square feet and more public green space to the corridor, according to Urban Milwaukee. Tatum and her partners say a smaller, reimagined Rise & Grind could plug into that redevelopment timeline if the plan moves ahead.
For now, neighbors have only a short window to enjoy the cafe’s remaining programming before the doors are cleared. The closure is another twist in King Drive’s slow climb back, and whether Rise & Grind returns will hinge on the owners’ health, family priorities and how the redevelopment takes shape. In the meantime, the senior dining program and August breakfast give the community one last chance to gather at the corner that helped anchor the block for nearly a decade.
