Get your fresh, flavorful, fast ‘Fil Fil’ at three locations in Greater Milwaukee

Photos by Cherrie Hanson

Fady Atari, owner of three Fil Fil restaurants, serves up high quality Mediterranean meals in a fast-casual setting.

In recent years, Downtown Milwaukee has seen a surge in culturally specific late-night dining options opening for business. One such example is FiL FiL, 700 W. Wisconsin Ave., serving authentic, halal Mediterranean cuisine fast-casual style on one of the city’s busiest corridors, making it an unmissable stop for delicious bowls, sandwiches, wings and more. FiL FiL prides itself on its healthy, customizable menu where everything is made from scratch.

Owner Fady Atari named the restaurant after the Arabic word filfil, which means “pepper.” True to the name, FiL FiL’s food can be made considerably spicy using potent Gazan spices. This is further illustrated by the grinning anthropomorphic pepper mascot on the dining room wall, drawn by Atari himself.

“I’m a big guy, and I like spicy,” he says, smiling. “He takes from my face, and you can see it.”

Two pillars of roasted meat, gyro or chicken, ready to carve into bowls or sandwiches.

Atari came to the U.S. from Palestine in 2013, living in Indiana before moving to Wisconsin in 2023. He had previously been a lawyer in his home country but started working in restaurants once he arrived, first at J.J.’s Fish & Chicken.

“I like to be cooking, and after a while, like five or six years, I thought to do my own thing that wasn’t a franchise, with new food and new flavor,” Atari recalls. “FiL FiL is like the taste of Palestine, a mix between American and Middle Eastern style.”

Fresh, flavorful and fast is the service motto at Fil Fil restaurant.

The restaurant is located close to prominent institutions such as the Milwaukee Public Museum, Baird Center and Marquette University, as well as various hotels. “We get many different people here,” Atari affirms. “I like to give a good picture of my country for people.”

He continues, “Everybody comes to downtown to try something new. Burgers you can find everywhere, breakfast you can find everywhere, but this Mediterranean food you cannot find everywhere. That’s why I picked this location.”

FiL FiL is open until 2:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, which is when many hungry customers from the college campus and local nightlife come in. A second FiL FiL location opened its doors at the end of 2023 at 1125 N 9th St, within The Restaurants at Eleven25 food court. Then a third location followed in early 2024 in the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, offering a limited version of the original menu.

With a color scheme of red and white, and a simple yet cozy decor, the FiL FiL atmosphere is bright and welcoming. On the left side of the dining room is a map of the U.S. complete with the flags of each state. To the right side is a wall of license plates also from every state, each personally collected by Atari. “I like cars,” he remarks.

FiL FiL has an open concept where customers can fully watch their food prepared. One of the restaurant’s signature options is the made-to-order bowl, where customers may choose a base of either rice or lettuce and then build it up with a choice of steak, chicken, gyro or shrimp, fresh vegetables such as corn, red cabbage or mushrooms, and then finally top everything off with any one of various tasty sauces. “They are a bowl of beauty and freshness in a hectic world,” the FiL FiL website describes.

Dine-in the cheerful cafe setting, or takeout, the menu is made to order.

Their sandwiches encompass American, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired fare. Gyros loaded with onions and tzatziki sauce, falafel served with hummus and pickles, fish filet served with lettuce, tomato and tartar sauce, Philly cheesesteaks and Italian beef are just a few to name. The ‘Overdose’ sandwich kicks things up a notch with spicy chicken breast laden with mayo, lettuce and pickles.

Several delectable salads including Greek, Fattoush and chicken Caesar are available as lighter options, as are veggie plates comprising falafel, pita bread, hummus, baba ganoush and salad.

“The chicken shawarma and the veggie plates are the most popular,” Atari mentions.

Lots of ingredients to choose from on the food bar, for a customizable bowl, sandwich or salad.

Bone-in and boneless wings are also FiL FiL favorites, available served plain or with mild, buffalo, garlic or honey barbecue sauce. Chicken dinners may be served as either a four-piece tender meal or a fifteen-piece chicken nugget. Fish dinners feature options of cod, perch or shrimp served with fries and coleslaw.

“All of these recipes I bring from overseas,” Atari notes. Side items FiL FiL offers range from fried okra and mushrooms to jalapeño poppers to pizza puffs to bags of chips, and then for dessert they have sweets like cheesecake, banana pudding and baklava.

FiL FiL does catering packages for all party sizes, and they deliver within eight miles of each location. They also offer several remarkable deals, including a happy hour special every day from 2 to 5 p.m., where free fries or drink is included with the purchase of a bowl or sandwich.

A fourth FiL FiL location is currently being planned for Oak Creek.