Out & Out

Back in 2006, we founded Out & Out in the vacated Dairy Queen walk-up stand that had occupied this corner for 54 years. Seven years later, we had outgrown the space, and we were offered the opportunity to develop the corner with Commerce State Bank. Many thanks to Joe Fazio and his team of awesome bankers, who have been instrumental to our development of this building.

The Out & Out name derived from the fact all the food was take-OUT, you had to stand OUT-side to order, and you had to eat OUT-side. To stay true to our roots, we incorporated the OUT-doors into our new decor.

Out & Out has always been a quirky, frugal, and practical place to eat well and eat local. Naturally, we incorporated our quirkiness, frugality, and practicality into the de cor. We believe in free-cycling, repurposing, and reusing everything.

The stage is set by the floor-to-ceiling glass walls and the Cedar Creek Park mural painted by local artist Chuck Weber. The plywood butterflies that perch along the vestibule were won at an Earth Day auction held by Anthropologie in the 3rd Ward. (Money raised went to protect and restore America’s forests.) Lab stool tops painted by Out & Out employees Teia, Taylor, and Kim add whimsical OUT-door scenes. Photos by UW–Madison student Ali Brown capture the fox kits born under a campus building in spring of 2014 and complete the nighttime bathroom scene.

Lucky Star Workshop's Jake Knox and team helped us build a vision for the dining room using our Craigslist finds. Industrial arts table tops from the Racine School District, classroom chairs from Kenosha School District, outdoor bleacher boards from the Whitefish Bay School District, booths from a bowling alley in Palmyra, table bases from South Milwaukee, and even a barn door from our own barn kept the quirkiness alive and the project costs under control.

This year has been a long and winding road. Catering out of the old Barth's building downtown and running a temporary custard stand in the old Towne Barber Shop has proven a real challenge.

Thank you for sticking with us—we hope you enjoy the new Out & Out.

Eric and Jackie Fix...and our awesome team!