28 Milwaukee Food Influencers, Critics & Creators to Follow
Digging in with Cody
Milwaukee’s food scene keeps getting louder in the best possible way. Bravo’s Wisconsin season of Top Chef put the state’s cheese, Door County cherries, cranberries, and chefs in front of a national audience, and Visit Milwaukee has leaned into the city’s growing culinary identity through its “Milwaukee Flavor” push.
But the people who help you decide where to eat on a normal Tuesday night are often the local writers, creators, reviewers, podcasters, and on-air personalities who are out there every week — trying new openings, revisiting neighborhood classics, celebrating small businesses, and making the city more fun to explore.
Here are Milwaukee-area food voices worth following in 2026, grouped by what they do best.
Food Journalists & Critics
Ann Christenson — Milwaukee Magazine. Christenson has covered dining for Milwaukee Magazine since 1997 and remains one of the city’s essential food writers. Her restaurant coverage, dining guides, and “Dish on Dining” updates are a steady read for anyone trying to keep up with Milwaukee openings, closings, and best-of lists. She also co-hosts Radio Milwaukee’s weekly food podcast, This Bites, with Tarik Moody.
Rachel Bernhard — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Bernhard is the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dining critic and a key current voice for restaurant reviews, dining news, and the paper’s Dish newsletter. You can also follow her restaurant finds and behind-the-scenes critic life on Instagram at @rach.eats.mke.
Lori Fredrich — OnMilwaukee. Fredrich is one of Milwaukee’s most prolific dining writers, with active coverage of restaurant openings, closings, festivals, chefs, and local food trends. Her 52 Restaurants series is especially useful if you want a reason to try a new locally owned spot every week.
Recipe Developers & Home Cooking Creators
Kirk’s Cooking & Cocktails — Kirk’s Cooking & Cocktails is built around weeknight recipes, comfort food, cocktails, and practical home-cooking videos. His loaded baked potato soup became a viral hit, and his content is a strong follow if you like dinner ideas that feel doable.
Dude Foods — Nick Chipman’s Dude Foods is a long-running Milwaukee food blog devoted to over-the-top recipes, stunts, and fried-food experiments. He is best known nationally for wild creations like the McEverything, and locally he remains one of the city’s most original food-content voices. Follow him on Instagram.
Philia Kelnhofer — Sweet Phi. Kelnhofer founded SweetPhi in 2011 and shares fast, family-friendly recipes, motherhood content, and easy entertaining ideas. She is a Milwaukee-based mom of four and two-time cookbook author. Follow her on Instagram or her Substack, Here’s To The Weekend.
Kelli Calkins — Cooking with Kelli. Calkins shares fresh seasonal recipes, easy hosting ideas, appetizers, cocktails, and happy-hour inspiration from Milwaukee. She is a good follow when you want food content that feels a little elevated but still realistic for home entertaining.
Restaurant Reviewers & Everyday Foodies
MKEeeeEat
@mkeeeeeats. One of the largest local restaurant-review accounts, @mkeeeeeats covers food, drinks, experiences, events, and Brewers-related content around Milwaukee. It is a useful first stop when you want to see what is buzzing right now.
Ivon — @justatastemke. Ivon brings a bilingual, English-and-Spanish lens to Milwaukee dining and local experiences. Her account is welcoming, practical, and representative of the city’s food scene beyond the usual downtown orbit.
Meg — @milwaukeephoto. Meg’s feed is part food guide, part Milwaukee visual diary. Follow her if you like local discovery through polished photos of restaurants, patios, drinks, events, and neighborhood gems.
Sam Buschman — Wisconsin Cheese Please. Buschman, also known as the “Wisconsin Cheese Queen,” built Wisconsin Cheese Please around cheese curds, local restaurants, and food travel. Follow her on Instagram if your ideal road trip involves a curd stop.Q
Wisconsin Cheese Queen
Milwaukeats — @milwaukeats. Milwaukeats curates restaurants, events, and experiences into an easy-to-scan local food feed. It is a handy follow when you want steady Milwaukee dining ideas without overthinking the next stop.
Dana Spandet — Flour Girl & Flame. Spandet is the chef and founder behind Flour Girl & Flame, known for wood-fired pizza, local ingredients, catering, mobile events, and a strong farm-to-flame identity. Their regular restaurant space is seasonal/mobile-focused, so check the current schedule before heading out.
JMatt — @jmattmke. JMatt is a Milwaukee lifestyle creator who focuses on supporting local businesses, restaurants, retail, and events. He is also the founder of HashtagMKE, a local creator and networking community. Follow him on Instagram and TikTok for Milwaukee content aimed at locals.
Lillwaukee — TikTok @lillwaukee / Instagram @lill.waukee. Lilly, known online as Lillwaukee, has become one of Milwaukee’s fastest-growing food and lifestyle voices. She posts restaurant reviews, rankings, local finds, and food-business content, including her charcuterie side project, Blue Sheep Provisions. Follow her on Instagram.
Dominic the Food ReviewerDominic started writing restaurant reviews as a high school writing exercise and grew into one of Milwaukee’s most positive food voices. His rule is simple: he only publishes positive reviews. His 2026 MKE/SE Wisconsin Foodie Passport highlights more than 100 places to eat. We also sat down with him for North Shore Family Adventures: Positive Vibes Only: Q+A with Dominic the Food Reviewer.
Dominic the Food Reviewer
Scott Dooley — Kenosha’s #1 Foodie. Dooley covers restaurants in Kenosha and the far south metro, filling a gap that Milwaukee-centered accounts often miss. His videos with Visit Kenosha and local businesses make him a helpful follow if your food radius stretches toward Racine, Kenosha, or the Illinois border.
Munching in Milwaukee This sister-run account shares “the best munches in Milwaukee” with a friendly, unfussy style. It is a good follow if you like approachable neighborhood spots and recommendations that feel like a tip from a friend.
Milwaukee Foodie Family This family account documents food, drinks, local businesses, and family outings around Milwaukee. For more family-friendly dining ideas, see our guide to kid-friendly restaurants across Greater Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Food & City Tours — Theresa Nemetz. Founded by Theresa Nemetz, Milwaukee Food & City Tours is one of the city’s most established food-tour companies, offering guided walking and bus tours with history, architecture, and food samples built in. Follow @mkefoodtour for local tour updates.
Digging In With Cody — Facebook & YouTube. Cody’s videos highlight Milwaukee restaurants and smaller food spots with a positive, exploratory style. He also posts on YouTube, including local food vlogs and “Flavor of the Week” episodes.
Derek Mosley — @mkefoodcourt. Mosley, director of Marquette Law School’s Lubar Center and a former municipal court judge, uses his platform to spotlight restaurants he loves, especially minority-owned and under-covered businesses. He has also served as a James Beard Foundation judge, giving his recommendations real culinary credibility.
Derek Mosley
TV & On-Air Personalities
Kimberly “Sweets” Adams — Signature Sweets. Adams is a Milwaukee cake artist and owner of Signature Sweets who has competed on Food Network shows and appeared with her husband Taurus on Netflix’s Is It Cake? Valentine’s Special. We featured her on North Shore Family Adventures here: Is It Cake? It’s Kimberly Adams: Milwaukee’s Netflix Star. For more local sweets, see our guide to Milwaukee’s best cakes and cupcake shops and bakeries.
Brian Kramp — FOX6 WakeUp & Real Milwaukee. Kramp is FOX6’s roving reporter and a familiar face for Milwaukee food, festivals, family fun, and small-business features. His segments regularly take viewers inside restaurants, bakeries, beer gardens, and community events. We interviewed him for North Shore Family Adventures: Brian Kramp’s Milwaukee: FOX6 Host on Food, Fests and Events.
Brian Kramp with Dan Jacobs from DanDan
YouTube, Podcasts & Long-Form Video
Charlie DeSando — Munching Around Milwaukee. DeSando hosts Munching Around Milwaukee, an interview show that visits local chefs, restaurateurs, foodies, and food influencers while eating at their tables. We featured him here: Munching Around Milwaukee: Charlie DeSando Loves to Eat.
Wisconsin Foodie — Arthur Ircink & Luke Zahm.Wisconsin Foodie is a long-running food series that tells Wisconsin food stories from farms, restaurants, producers, and kitchens around the state. Creator Arthur Ircink and host Luke Zahm continue to bring a statewide lens to what makes Wisconsin food culture special. Watch episodes through Wisconsin Foodie, PBS Wisconsin, or YouTube.
This Bites — Ann Christenson & Tarik Moody. Radio Milwaukee’s This Bites pairs Milwaukee Magazine dining critic Ann Christenson with Tarik Moody for a weekly conversation about restaurants, openings, closings, food events, and local dining culture.
Milwaukee Flavor Podcast — Foureva Media & Visit Milwaukee. Produced with Foureva Media and Visit Milwaukee, Milwaukee Flavor spotlights the people, traditions, and trends shaping the city’s food story. It is part of the broader Milwaukee Flavor effort, which also includes Milwaukee Flavor: The Cookbook.
More Milwaukee Food Guides from North Shore Family Adventures
Looking for more local food ideas? Start here:
A local guide to Milwaukee food media — critics, recipe creators, restaurant reviewers, TV personalities, podcasters, and community storytellers worth following in 2026.