Cute Robot Japanese Kitchen, 704 S. Second St., has closed its doors for good.
The Walker’s Point restaurant that serves authentic yoshoku-style comfort cuisine announced the closure Sept. 24th on its social media pages.
The space, known for its vibrant and quirky decor inspired by Japanese manga, cited financial reasons for the closure.
“We are heartbroken to make this decision,” the post read. “We tried very hard to keep the doors open, but ultimately, we came to realize that this was the best path for us.”
The post thanked its customers, describing them as the “best they could ever ask for,” for supporting the restaurant during its two years of operations.
The owners did not immediately return Journal Sentinel requests for comment.
Journal Sentinel food critic Rachel Bernhard named Cute Robot one of Milwaukee’s best new restaurants of 2024. She reported the restaurant offered a no-frills menu that was stacked with delicious Japanese food like the street fries drizzled with sriracha mayo, Kewpie mayo and tangy-sweet okonomi sauce. Other dishes included the pork and chicken katsu and a bar stocked with specialty Japanese spirits, sake and shochu. It even had a Japanese-style fish fry, with panko-breaded cod.
Opened in 2024 by husband-wife team Marc and Janet Boettner, the Japanese restaurant was part of the city’s growing Asian and Southeast Asian culinary scene.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Japanese restaurant Cute Robot closes its doors
