Another Waukesha Mexican restaurant? A new one is planned for what was once The Bun eatery
Waukesha's long-simmering trend for Mexican cuisine may continue with the addition of another restaurant, this time along an industrial section of West St. Paul Avenue.
Las Cazuelas Restaurant was listed as the operator in city planning documents involving minor changes at an old commercial building at 818 W. St. Paul Ave., near Prairie Avenue. Used for a number of purposes over the years, it was most notably a drive-in eatery decades ago known as The Bun.
Details of the restaurant itself were not part of the discussion. But Andrew Borgstrom, of Waukesha, whose company AmVet Properties acquired the now-vacant building along with the neighboring site, offered some tidbits to the Waukesha Plan Commission on May 28, when the minor site plan and architectural review was discussed.
Borgstrom said the restaurant would primarily focus on catering events elsewhere, with some seating for dining. That's why fewer than a dozen parking spaces will be needed, he told the planning panel.
It was his nostalgic feelings for The Bun, as well as the neighboring lot that was the previous home of Jim's Bug Center in those years, that led to AmVet's acquisition of both lots, he said. (Jim's Bug Center is a regionally renown Volkswagen Beetle repair business that dates back to 1968 and now operates a shop on Philip Drive in Waukesha.)
"My dad use to take his Bugs down there in the '60s, and we'd go over to The Bun to have some food and french fries and stuff at 6 or 7 years old," Borgstrom told the Plan Commission. "So I thought it would be nice to do a renovation."
Most of the work will involve striping the lot to define the 11 parking spaces, creating a patio area in front of the building and putting some form of protective barrier separating the road from the lot.
The restaurant operators were not disclosed. (Las Cazuelas Chilaquiles & Taco Bar, which opened in 2024 in West Allis, is not connected to the Waukesha site, a worker at the restaurant said May 30.) No preliminary opening date was listed. Borgstrom did not immediately return a phone call seeking more information.
Waukesha is already home to at least 18 Mexican restaurants and food trucks, compared with only a handful a quarter-century ago.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Las Cazuelas Mexican restaurant planned for old Waukesha eatery site
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
What's in Canada's Immigration Bill—and Why It's Facing Backlash
Canada's new bill— The Strong Borders Act —proposes a sweeping shift in immigration that, among other items, expands the Canadian Coast Guard's authority to conduct security patrols, restricts asylum access, and attempts to deal with the flow of fentanyl into the country. 'The Bill will strengthen our laws and keep Canadians safe by ensuring law enforcement has the right tools to keep our borders secure, combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, and crack down on money laundering,' the bill states. Introduced on June 3 by Canada's Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, the 127-page measure proposes a shift in how the government interacts with the U.S.-Canada border. The bill comes after President Donald Trump voiced concerns about what he referred to as cross-border fentanyl traffic and irregular migration, when he imposed tariffs on Canada during his Feb. 1 Executive Order titled 'Imposing Duties to Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border.' Trump argued that 'Canada has played a central role' in the 'challenges' against 'illicit drugs' entering the country, alleging there is 'a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada' and that Canada must 'do more to arrest, seize, detain, or otherwise intercept DTOs, other drug and human traffickers, criminals at large, and drugs.' Here's what you need to know about Canada's Strong Borders Act. What is in Canada's immigration bill? Canada's new immigration bill seeks to impact various areas—from asylum rules to search and seizure, to giving police more power to control and monitor the U.S. border. The new bill would allow Canada Post's inspection authority to open mail and would also remove barriers to allow law enforcement to open mail during an investigation—attempting to curb fentanyl movement by what authorities say is performed by organized crime groups. It would expand the power of the Canadian Coast Guard to 'conduct security patrols and collect, analyze and share information and intelligence for security purposes,' by amending the Oceans Act, creating a new role for the department. It also would expand the ability for Canadian intelligence agencies to share information with U.S. intelligence. Related to organized crime, the bill proposes additional restrictions on transactions over $10,000 and cash deposits by any one individual into another's account. The process of gaining access to asylum would also change, as the bill looks to bar asylum seekers who have been in the country for over a year, retroactively applying to anyone who arrived after June 24, 2020. It would further allow the government the ability to pause the acceptance of new applications and 'cancel, suspend, or change immigration documents' immediately. Why is the bill facing backlash? The proposal has been met with strong opposition from immigration and human rights advocates in Canada, who argue it could restrict civil liberties and violate international refugee obligations. Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, a Canadian politician who serves at the member of Parliament for Vancouver East, issued a warning about the measure, stating that it should be 'alarming' to Canadians. 'Looking at [the bill], particularly with respect to the immigration provisions, it is very concerning to me that the government will now be breaching, I think, people's civil liberties, I think violating people's due process and taking away people's basic rights right now,' Kwan told reporters. 'What we're looking at is the government giving broad, sweeping authority within the government to cancel applications, to withdraw applications, to suspend applications, even those that are already in the inventory that is under process.' She also shared concerns about citizens' privacy, and the lack of apparent appeals processes in relation to the new sweeping immigration law. Canadian migrant justice group Migrant Rights Network also 'condemns' the bill, stating that it would 'drastically restrict refugee protections and allow for mass deportations and immigration exclusion.' They argue that the 'unchecked power' enabled through this bill could allow for migrant groups to have their immigration status revoked 'en masse.' 'Prime Minister [Mark] Carney campaigned on being different from Donald Trump, yet his very first bill is a shameful capitulation to racism and xenophobia, which abandons Canada's legal and moral obligations to refugees and migrants,' said Migrant Rights Network spokesperson Syed Hussan in a statement. 'With over 3,000 study and work permits already expiring daily because of [Former Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau's immigration cuts, this Bill will only worsen a humanitarian catastrophe. This bill is immoral, it is illegal, and it will be stopped.' Speaking with reporters on Friday, Canadian Council of Refugees co-executive director Gauri Sreenivasan stated that the bill mirrors U.S. immigration policy and could 'force many people who have no choice because they are under threat in their country or in the U.S. to live underground without status.' Kelly Sundberg, a former officer with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), also spoke out against the bill, admitting they're 'not optimistic' about it. 'I think all [the bill] does is try to appease the Trump Administration. But I'd like to see legislation that's designed to keep Canadians safe,' Sundberg said during an interview with CTV News. 'So does this legislation improve our border security, improve our immigration integrity, and improve the public safety of Canadians? No, it does not. It doesn't even come close.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump's 50% tariffs on imported steel, aluminum go into effect
Tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to the U.S. doubled to 50% starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, after President Donald Trump followed through on his plan to increase the duties. Trump said on Friday during a visit to a Pittsburgh-area steel mill that he would increase the tariff to 50%, upping the levy to protect steelworker jobs in the U.S. He signed an executive order formalizing the tax increase on Tuesday. 'We don't want America's future to be built with shoddy steel from Shanghai, we want it built with the strength and the pride of Pittsburgh,' Trump said from the U.S. Steel facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania The 50% tariffs 'will more effectively counter foreign countries that continue to offload low-priced, excess steel and aluminum in the United States market and thereby undercut the competitiveness of the United States steel and aluminum industries,' the executive order said. In addition to raising steel and aluminum import tariffs to 50%, Trump said he would sign off on a deal in which Japan's Nippon Steel will acquire U.S. Steel for $14 billion. The U.S. is the world's largest steel importer, with imports accounting for about 25% of the steel used in the country annually, according to the International Trade Administration. CNN reported that in 2024, the U.S. imported $31.3 billion worth of iron and steel and $27.4 billion of aluminum, according to the Commerce Department. Canada is the largest supplier of steel to the U.S., followed by Brazil, Mexico and South Korea. Canadian authorities said they are working to have the tariffs on steel and aluminum removed. 'Canada's new government is engaged in intensive and live negotiations to have these and other tariffs removed as part of a new economic and security partnership with the United States,' the office of Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement to CTV News on Tuesday. Unifor, Canada's largest labor union, called for retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminium to match the 50% tariff imposed by Trump. 'These tariffs are killing investment in our steel, aluminum, and auto sectors, and we are already seeing the consequences in lost jobs and economic instability,' Unifor National President Lana Payne said Wednesday in a news release. 'We need immediate and forceful action to defend good jobs and safeguard our national economic security.' The 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum apply to all countries, except the United Kingdom, which announced a preliminary trade deal with the Trump administration in May. The rate for steel and aluminum imports from the U.K. remains at 25% until at least July 9. The tariff hike arrives about three months after Trump implemented 25% duties on all imported steel and aluminum, including Mexico and Canada, its partners in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the 50% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are in violation of the USMCA. 'It's an unfair measure,' Sheinbaum said Wednesday during her daily morning news conference. 'In Mexico's case, it's unfair because Mexico imports more steel and aluminum than it exports. Formally, a tariff is imposed when there's a deficit for the United States, in other words, as if Mexico were exporting more than it was importing. It has no legal basis because there's a national treaty. It's being considered for U.S. security reasons. It's unsustainable.' The post Trump's 50% tariffs on imported steel, aluminum go into effect appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mexico seen renewing its approval for Nippon Steel-US Steel tie up Thursday-sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Mexico's antitrust watchdog is expected to renew its approval of Nippon Steel's fraught $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel as soon as Thursday, according to three people familiar with the matter, removing one of the last remaining hurdles to the tie-up. Cofece, as the regulator is known, gave the merger a greenlight previously, the people said, declining to be named as the matter was not public. But Mexican approval of the proposed acquisition, first announced in December, 2023, has since expired and must be renewed for the merger to move forward. Cofece and Nippon Steel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. Steel declined to comment. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
