Food Around UWM

Milwaukee is home to plenty of great restuarants, no matter what you're in the mood for! UWM is nestled between quite a few gems - here are just a few you should make sure to visit!

BelAir Cantina has two locations in Milwaukee, and is a perfect choice for $2 tacos on Tuesdays and Thursdays! They also have a ton of different options, from burrito bowls to tamales. Not to mention, BelAir is a great environment to hang out with friends.


 If you're leaning towards Greek, check out Oakland Gyros - just a short walk from campus and open until 3 a.m., you can get a ton of great food here without spending too much money!




Maybe you prefer a classic diner - then Ma Fischer's is perfect for you! Open 24/7, this restaurant has a ton of comfort food if you're missing your parent's home-cooked meals. Or maybe you just got done seeing a movie at the beautiful Oriental Theater, and Ma Fischer's is just down the road. Either way, if you find your way here, you won't be disappointed with their large servings and variety of food to choose from.

     If you're on Downer, make sure to check out Cafe Hollander. As a grand cafe with award winning food, you're almost guaranteed to find something you love! With foods such as chocolate dipped waffles and jalapeno bbq burgers, I'd be surprised if you don't go back!

One of my personal favorites is Beans & Barley - just a few minutes walk from Cambridge (or, you can take the shuttle and get off at Kenilworth), they use local ingredients and also offer a variety of vegan and vegetarian options - it tastes good, and is good for you!

 If you're just looking for coffee, be sure to check out Colectivo! With locations all over the city, you're sure to find one to pick up your daily coffee or tea. They also have smoothies, baked goods, and food, and it's locally owned and operated!



Or, if  you're running out of money and looking for a great place that takes meal plan, be sure to check out Ian's Pizza! Your meal plan works for dine-in and delivery, so whether you want classic cheese or one of their famous specialty pizza's, you're in luck! Through the GET platform, you can access a full list of all restaurants that take your UWM Meal Plan or Gold Account - but remember, you won't get the 50% discount that you get at the Cafe's and Palm Gardens.


These are just a few of the amazing places to eat around UW - Milwaukee. Be sure to try them out, and let us know your favorites!

Move In!

Starting July 2nd, the UWM Move In Guide is available! This will be mailed to students, but is also available online. It will have tons of information about laundry, policies, maps, and more - not to mention all of the amazing events during Fall Welcome - such as an IKEA trip!

When you received your housing assignment, you should have also received a move in date and time! You can check this by logging back into your myHousing portal at uwm.edu/myhousing. In general, if you are living in Sandburg, your move in date/time will be on August 28th, 29th, or 30th. If you are living in Cambridge, it will be on August 29th or 30th. We ask that you don't show up more than 15 minutes early for your move in time, and no more than 45 minutes late. If there is an unavoidable conflict with your move in date/time, please complete this request form!

Just a reminder that here at UWM, we have a GuestPass system. For move in, your helpers will not have to swipe in until after 7:00 p.m., due to high traffic.

If you're worried about move in - don't be! The process is well-organized and efficient, with people helping you out all along the way. And once you're done, you'll have plenty of Fall Welcome activities to look forward to! Make sure to check back to learn even more about the move in process, see insider tips and tricks, and see what to pack - or not to.

As always, feel free to email or call with any questions you have!

Summerfest & Other Milwaukee Festivals

Summerfest is known as the "World's Largest Music Festival", and it's held right here in Milwaukee! The festival is held along the lakefront at the Henry Maier Festival Park, and runs from June 27th to July 1st, and July 3rd to July 8th, giving you plenty of time to check out all the fun! You can find out ticket information here. You can even get free admission from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Friday, June 29th, if you're wearing your UWM t-shirt or hat, so make sure to show your Panther Pride! From noon to midnight, on 11 different stages, you can go see more than 800 bands, including at the 23,000 seat American Family Insurance Amphitheater. This year, Summerfest has some amazing performers, from Imagine Dragons to Blake Shelton, and Halsey to Def Leppard. You can view the full lineup here. But, it gets even better - Summerfest has an array of food and beverage vendors as well, including Milwaukee favorites like Belair Cantina and Chubby's Cheesesteaks. You can see the complete list here. 

Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals for a reason - other than Summerfest, there's dozens of festivals you can go to! 

Throughout the summer, you can go to the NEWaukee Night Market! These free events are on one Wednesday each month, run from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., and are located downtown! There's tons of different foods you can try, as well as art vendors and live performers.

Every third Sunday of the month, there's the Milwaukee Maker's Market, located at the Bayview Colectivo. This is the perfect stop for anyone looking for artistic pieces or a new hobby, and to support your local makers! 

One of Milwaukee's most popular locations, Brady Street, has its own Brady St. Festival! On Saturday, July 28th, from 11:00 a.m. until midnight, you can go see four stages with live entertainment, all the while checking out your favorite stores and restaurants!

If you're looking for a weekly, casual event, look into Jazz in the Park! It's every Thursday from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Cathedral Square Park.

We also have a variety of heritage festivals, such as Greek Fest, Polish Fest, Cuban Day, Festa Italiana, Irish Fest, India Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Armenian Fest, and more, that are definitely worth visiting and learning about the diversity of Milwaukee!

You can find a list of all the Milwaukee festivals here!

Between all these events - and, not to mention, the Wisconsin State Fair - there are tons of great opportunities to go and experience Milwaukee's summer festivals with friends and family! 

Sandburg vs. Cambridge Commons

At University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, first-year students can either live in the traditional towers at Sandburg (North, South, and West), or at one of our south-campus options, Cambridge Commons.

North, South, and West Towers at Sandburg Residence Hall were built in 1970. The towers are identical in floor/suite layout and house lounges. At Sandburg, residents have the option of a single, double, or triple room. Because of this, each suite will have four to five people, and each suite has its own bathroom, so residents are only sharing with their suitemates, and not their floor. Below are the different floor plans of Sandburg suites.

At Sandburg, there will be 13 LLC's, or Living Learning Communities, where everyone on the floor will have the same major or interest! For the upcoming 2018-2019 year, those LLC's will be: American Sign Language, Architecture II, Business Panthers, Community Engagement & Leadership, Cultures & Communities, Engineering, Health Professions, Honors House, JAMS, Local 2 Global, Performing Arts, Social Welfare, and the Transfer Community. You can read more about LLC's here.

A great thing about UWM is that our cafeterias are in our residence halls! Both Sandburg and Cambridge will have a cafeteria in the building, and both have a Restor (the campus convenience store), laundry, a computer lab, and a 24/7 workout facility. Sandburg also has Flicks (a movie theater), a Grind location (the campus coffee shop), and Palm Gardens as their late night dining option. Sandburg has patios and a sand volleyball court and basketball court, while Cambridge has music practice rooms and a fenced in courtyard.

Cambridge Commons was built in 2010, and is located 1.2 miles south of campus - but don't worry, there's a shuttle that runs every 5-10 minutes! Cambridge has many eco-friendly features (such as its two green roofs), and even has an LEED (Leader in Energy & Environmental Design) Gold Certification. At Cambridge, while each suite still has its own bathroom, there are only double rooms available. However, there is the option between a standard and an upgraded suite. The upgraded suite has a full kitchen, as well as a furnished living area.

Cambridge Commons will have five LLC's for the upcoming 2018-2019 academic year: Architecture I, Art & Design, Early Childhood Education, Film, Video, Animation, & New Genres, and Outdoor Recreation. 

Both residence halls have such amazing amenities and communities, making either the perfect place for you to call home!

Decoding Your Room Assignment

Beginning Friday June 8th, room assignments will start going live! Here are some tips to help you understand what everything means.

First, you have to log into your myHousing portal, (uwm.edu/myhousing) using your ePanther ID and password. On the bottom of your page, you can access your room assignment by clicking on the blue hyperlink.

Then, click on your room, and you'll be able to see your roommate(s) and suitemates! The person who has the same letter at the end of their room assignment is your roommate, and the other people are your suitemates. You can then contact your suitemates/roommates via email, to get to know them before move in. You can access any messages you may have by clicking on the link on the left that says My Messages.

To understand your room assignment -

If you are living in Cambridge Commons, your room number will start with CC. If you are living in Sandburg, the letter will correspond with which tower you are in. N is North, E is East, S is South, and W is West. The next one or two numbers would be the floor you live on. The final third and fourth numbers refers to your suite, and the letter at the end is your room within the suite. So, if your room assignment was CC281A, you would be living in Cambridge Commons, on the second floor, in room 281, room A. In the picture below, the assignment is E0130A. So this person's assignment would be East Tower, the 1st floor, suite 130, room A.

If you signed up for an LLC, you can see if you are in it! Go back to your Home Page, and then click the link on the left that says Living Learning Community. If you click it, you can then see what your LLC selection was (if any), and your status.

Finally, please be patient with myHousing! Since this is such an exciting time, there will be a lot of web traffic, and possibly some delays. Also keep in mind that not everyone's room assignment will be released in the first wave, but you will get your assignment soon! As always, feel free to call or email with any questions you have throughout this process!