Milwaukee Empty Bowls

I love the idea, and I love this event. Get a hand made ceramic bowl for $ 20. This includes two soup tickets, and the local vendors are all the big name restaurants around town. So many great varieties to try, and extra tickets for soups are only $ 2 a piece. There’s also a ton of bakeries that are giving out bread samples. Add on top of that local musicians and the fact that all the money goes towards food shelters and hunger awareness programs and you can’t go wrong. I wish this happens more than once a year. Truly one of the best fundraising events in the city.

I love this event, and this was my second year being able to attend.
I was so happy to see a huge line extending around the block and down the street just to get in. Obviously support for this great cause has grown since last year!
There were plenty of staff milling around in red Empty Bowls t-​shirts to help guide everyone, and the lines were well marked. There were several tables to choose your bowls from, and they were being refreshed regularly. They accepted cash, check and credit — and also were selling cookbooks and t-​shirts at the checkout.
Upstairs the layout was efficient, and many soups were available. They were clearly labeled and many of the restaurant booths provided menus and other useful information. At the entrance to the soup area there was a list of all options that showed what the vegetarian and vegan options were as well.
Some of the restaurants (like LuLu!) were artistic with their serving by topping the soups with fresh herbs, chopped vegetables or crème fraîche.
With the $ 20 you pay for an adult-​created bowl (and $ 10 for a bowl created by children) you are given two tickets for tasting, and are able to purchase additional tasting tickets for $ 2 each. Bear in mind they are tastes — about a ladleful at the less generous places.
All in all it’s a great fundraiser, and well staffed. It gets busy and the lines get long — but for the opportunity to try new soups, get a new handcrafted bowl and benefit a great cause… it’s worth every minute and penny!

Great charitable event. $ 20 for a ceramic bowl, and then soup (they ask you now to limit yourself to 3 bowls). We go around 11 and the line is about 20 minutes.

I’ve been attending this event for many years and every year it gets better and more organized. The volunteers are great, especially considering the crowds they’re dealing with. My only complaint is that the room they serve the soup in has gotten to be too small and navigating the tables & lines can be a pain. However, I know this is probably the best spot in the location and that minor drawback won’t stop me from going next year to get amazing soup and a beautiful piece of pottery while supporting a great cause.

Just attended the 2012 version of this wonderful event. It seems to get bigger and bigger every year but the amazing volunteer staff does a great job of keeping things flowing and the chaos to a minimum.
I purchased three bowls from the grab bag area. This meant I didn’t know what they would look like, but I did get to skip the line and go straight to the food! This year I tried three Soups. A Spinach Soup from Café Corazon, Gorgonzola Cauliflower from Café Lulu and Cream of Celery with Blue Cheese & Red Hot Croutons from Triskele’s. Believe it or not, my favorite was The Celery. Never thought I’d say celery was my favorite anything! All three of my bowls look cool too, so the grab bag gamble definitely paid off!
I look forward to this event every year and can’t wait for Empty Bowls 2013!!!

As usual, it was a great event. The set up was different this year, which was nice because it allowed for more seating. The bowls are now on the same floor as the line, then you go downstairs to have your bowl cleaned before getting food. They also had bread bowls for sale, something I don’t remember them having in previous years. More seating, yay! Not as difficult as it has been in previous years to sit and eat. If you want to see the live music though, you’ll have to sit in the more crowded area. The area to clean your used bowl and have it wrapped was also moved, into the hallway between the new dining area and the area where soup is served. The weather was particularly nice this year so more people sat outside (where there are tables and chairs with a beautiful view of the lake). Another wonderful, successful year. We can’t wait until the next! :)

This event is family oriented and benefits some really terriffic food pantries in the Milwaukee Area. Last year was the best year ever, the event raised over $ 45,000! I hope that this year’s event is even bigger and better. Love the bowls, love the soups, and can’t wait for October 8^th!