Discourse Coffee - Museum Café

Artisan coffee in an art museum... who knew?
Ryan and company continue to offer the discourse experience in the art museum, with positively SPECTACULAR fare. The special of the seasons are consistently fresh and fantastic, (a pirate's lyfe, burnt lemonade) and the classic staples are worth a sip. (moonwater) The food is absolutely worth a try as well, I did NOT know you could make a mere tomato sandwich taste that good. Everything is fresh, and the ambiance is fantastic looking out over the water from the art museum.

We loved the healthy and interesting food and drinks at this cafe while visiting the art museum. My butternut squash soup, topped with microgreens and olive oil was spiced nicely and perfect on this snowy Saturday. What really caught my eye was drink called "What Winter Forgot": espresso, chai, honey, chocolate, ras al hanout, chipotle cacao bitters, aroma of winter, flamed orange peel, milk. served hot. (Ras al hanout means "top of the shelf", its a mixture of spices, sortoff like a curry but mixtures for coffee often contain yummy ingredients like lavendar, mace, rose petal, cardamom, cinnamon.... I bet this drink tastes amazing, I can't handle much caffeine so I was not able to try it!)

This is like a hidden gem. Ambience gives the vibe of an upscale cafe with a good view of the park .The prices are very nominal. Perfect place to enjoy quiet time with some good views if not walking near the Lakeshore.

Superb location, amazing view, good music, a friendly team who are really excited about their carefully composed coffees—and you feel like you’re at the bow of a glass ship. Cool experience all the way around!

The food is terrible, I ordered a sandwich it was not fresh, the bread was horrible, it was from days past, I asked to change it and they gave me one like it. What a pity that a place with such a beautiful view is so wasted. The coffee is delicious and its different flavors, the attention very good.

Decided to drop by about an hour before they closed while visiting Milwaukee this past weekend. Ordered the "Pumpkin Situation" expecting your standard relatively sweet, fall, pumpkin-style drink. Instead, I got something completely different that I cannot stop thinking about. It was a mostly savory multi-layered flavor and texture experience with creamy hints of the actual "pumpkin/squash" notes of pumpkin, bright balanced spices, and pops of saltiness to break it all up. It was in my opinion the best coffee based beverage I have ever had.

What a wonderful gem of a coffee shop in the Art Museum cafe! They have beautiful, real hand crafted drinks made with scratched made ingredients. Their Experimental Drinks are so gorgeously upscale and all combine really unique delicious flavors. I wish I could have tried them all! The baristas are very friendly and helpful when trying to decide what to get. Every drink presentation is truly Instagram worthy. This location also has a beautiful view of the lake. I can't wait to visit their other downtown location. The people of MKE are so fortunate to have Discourse Coffee! Next time we visit from Chicago, our first stop will be Discourse Coffee!

Very poor "discourse" from baristas...

My wife and I have walked by here a dozen times and decided to pop in for a drink before close. It was 4:23 and the door said close at 4:30. Cool. We order simple drinks so we would be in and out no problem.

Barista gives us a blank stare and says "uh they were the last customers, were closed up at 4:20"
So either he just lied so he could leave early or the door was wrong.

Either way will likely not give this place another shot. Shame because we were excited to finally try their coffee.

I ordered wrap sandwich it was not delicious and cold
I was exited to visit this cafe but I'm disappointed

Excellent cortado. Highly recommended.