Ian's Pizza, the Madison-based pizzeria chain that specializes in selling its product by the slice, will open a second Milwaukee location Downtown next month. Lexy Frautschy, a partner in the business, told me Ian's will open a restaurant in the old What's Fresh space at 146 E. Juneau Ave.

He said the firm has encountered some infrastructure problems in the building, but it is determined to be up and running by the time Summerfest opens. Like its first Milwaukee location, at 2035 E. North Ave., the What's Fresh space is in a popular late night bar district.

There are two Ian's in Madison and another in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago.

Bienvenidos a Mexican Dining Week on OnMilwaukee.com. This week, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, we're spicing things up with daily articles about Mexican restaurants, foods, drinks, sweets and more. Enjoy a week of sizzling stories that will leave you craving Milwaukee's Latin offerings. Olé!

While on a University of Southern California fellowship a few years back, I had a clever and entrepreneurial young colleague named Gustavo Arellano. The son of Mexican-American immigrants, he wrote a semi-satirical Q & A column for the Orange County Weekly called "Ask a Mexican." It was so wildly popular, the column became nationally syndicated and got him an appearance on "The Colbert Report."

Gustavo has a talent for observing the collision of Mexican and American cultures with a humorously critical eye, and he has now published "Taco USA," an account of how Mexican food and drink became Americanized in this country. A review of the book in the online magazine Slate said, "If you've ever wondered about the roots of Taco Bell or why fajitas are called that or who invented the frozen-margarita machine, you'll find answers here."

Read this New York Times profile of Arellano and his book.

Bienvenidos a Mexican Dining Week on OnMilwaukee.com. This week, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, we're spicing things up with daily articles about Mexican restaurants, foods, drinks, sweets and more. Enjoy a week of sizzling stories that will leave you craving Milwaukee's Latin offerings. Olé!

Growing up in Milwaukee in the 1950s and '60s was a white bread experience, with the exception of Fridays, when we ate rye bread – with our fish fries.

Flavor enhancement began and ended with salt in my family's kitchen. My mom made chili without chili powder.

Pizza was the exotic new ethnic food. Carry-out chop suey from Chinese restaurants was as gastronomically adventurous as many Milwaukeeans cared or dared to be. Our palates were being trained on generally bland European cuisines, and while some of us were eating duck blood soup or sauerbraten at home, our tastes were far from global.

Nacho, quesadilla and chimichanga were not in our vocabulary. Margarita? Must be a girl's name.

I moved from Milwaukee in 1969 without ever having seen a Mexican restaurant in my hometown. A trip to Southern California the year before had made me aware of a chain called Taco Bell, but the taco thing sounded a little dangerous. Too foreign for my tender taste buds.

Returning to Brew City from the East Coast in 1972, I discovered a Mexican restaurant had opened within a mile of my new home. I suspect that El Matador, which occupied the space now filled by BBC Bar & Grill at 2022 E. North Ave., introduced most East Siders to Mexican food. It was the lone outpost north of Walker's Point for south-of-the-border cuisine.

Operated by the Monreal family, El Matador had three locations – 6th and Bruce, 92nd and Bluemound, and the North Avenue spot. The last one closed years ago.

Coaxed into the East Side El Matador by friends, I learned that my stomach would not explode if I ate sliced jalapenos, and the gooey goodness of cheese and onion enchiladas seemed quite natural in the cheesehead …

The arrival of Carson's, the Chicago rib and steak house, in Milwaukee this fall is likely to seriously shake up the balance of power among Downtown restaurants like no one has in years. It was announced yesterday that the Chicago institution will occupy the ground floor of The Moderne, the 31-story apartment and condo development that is rising on the corner of Juneau and Old World Third Street.

Carson's ribs – slow cooked, smoked for hours in a hickory wood pit, tight to the bone, slathered in a sweet and tangy sauce – are so popular, the restaurant ships them in Styrofoam coolers with dry ice around the country. Although its home is the Windy City, Carson's is a Milwaukee-style eatery.

Portions are very generous at the two Chicago-area locations. The au gratin potatoes – best I have ever eaten – are cheesehead heaven. They have been called a cardiologist's nightmare.

Substitute the restaurant's signature Caesar salad, which has a slight hint of anchovies in the dressing, for the standard salad. More heaven.

Casual in style but serious about food, Carson's should do fabulous business before Bucks, Marquette and Admirals games, and it is close enough to the Marcus Center, Pabst Theater and Milwaukee Rep to appeal to pre-show diners.

My mouth is already watering for those potatoes.