On the corner of W. North Avenue, nestled in the Uptown Crossing neighborhood of Milwaukee is – Tricklebee Cafe, a pay what you can community cafe that offers healthy meals, food service training, and spiritual nourishment.
The cafe’s business operates to save food from the waste stream by cooking and composting. “We truly are in large part dependent on food donations… we could receive anything… if people have apples that fell off a tree, onions that are questionable, palate of beans that are about to expire…we just use it quick before the expiration date,” Founder Christie Melby-Gibbons shared.
In the cafe you’ll find a neighborhood hub of cheerful hearts, continual feast and a cozy chapel overflowing with plants, people and pastoral presence. Tricklebee stays buzzing from about an hour before opening the curtains and the doors until a little over an hour after closing.
When the energy is good, everybody wants to come here for everything. It’s feeding our souls. It’s nourishing, its food and the food itself, goes beyond just food, I can taste and I know there’s love in every meal and there’s love in the atmosphere here,” volunteer Ben shared in an interview.
Pastor T.C. Moore (Roots Moravian Church) and Rev. Evan Taylor (Metropolitan AME Church), the Emerging Ministries Coordination team, visited the cafe March 21-24, 2025. The cafe, which serves as a hive of connections; all vegan and mostly gluten-free meals, in house and to-go; and events and programs to meet the needs of Uptown crossing neighbors and visitors from across the city, state and surrounding communities.
“Tricklebee Cafe is an amazing place, we are in our 9th year of operating, it is truly the joy of my life working here. I never feel tired in my spirit working here… I believe all of the people who come to eat, feel the same thing,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The cafe is open from 11 am – 2 pm, Wednesday through Saturday. Each day’s menu is unique – crafted from fresh and sometimes rescued food, the menu is featured on the cafe website, handwritten and displayed on the daily menu board and shared via phone to anyone calling to place an order.
In an interview with T.C. about stories from the cafe she can share Melby-Gibbons said, “There’s soo many beautiful interactions we have everyday, it’s hard to narrow it down to one or two… Everyone can come and be family no matter who they are or where they are from.”
In the cafe, a cozy chapel surrounded by art, plants and products created by neighbors and friends, you can meet a stranger who instantly becomes a friend, connect over a meal at a communal table and/or enjoy music and conversation during communal working time.
“I’ll have one of everything… and 1 blue roo with agave,” could be heard flowing from the cozy chapel to the kitchen as people order at the pulpit turned front desk. That’s ‘Tricklebee Speak’ for a full meal, with a Blueberry Rooibos hot tea with agave. During the March site visit that was a Jamaican stew, rice and peas with a plantain fritter drizzled with caramel sauce.
Orders can be for here, to-go or for curbside pickup. The menu and daily chef’s labor can be enjoyed for a donation of your choosing according to Melby-Gibbons. “If you have money, you can pay a little extra, if you have enough, you can pay the costs it takes to make a meal, if you have nothing at all, you can give your time.”
Outside of regular hours, the cafe hosts Shalom Sistas Book Club; Second Sunday Sustenance gatherings; Bee Sangha and other community pop-ups. They are always looking for donors: those willing to donate their time, donate their treasure, and donate by purchasing items off of their wishlist.
Learn more about the ministry of Tricklebee Cafe on their website: http://tricklebeecafe.org/.
Article by the Rev. Evan Taylor. Photos by the Rev. T. C. Moore.
