
July 29, 2024
OCONTO FALLS – Michelle Hansen said she’s had many jobs throughout her life – working at an elementary school, a nursing home, an eye doctor and in the restaurant and bar industry.
“I’ve liked every job I’ve ever done in my life,” she said.
Two years ago, Hansen said she was able to add working for herself to that list as the owner of Milk and Honey Café, an eatery in Oconto Falls (323 E. Highland Drive).
Milk and Honey, she said, used to be known as Corki’s Cup Of Joy – a place she said she loved and frequented often.
And then, she said, the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
“We weren’t able to go there for a while,” she said.
While searching through Zillow a few years after the pandemic started – something she said she would do every once in a while to pass the time – Hansen said she saw the café was for sale.
“I thought, ‘I should buy that,’” she said. “I always loved the café… and it had a great reputation in Oconto Falls.”
Hansen said despite the draw she felt toward the café initially, she forgot about the idea for a while.
“(But) then I would keep seeing it here and there, so I was like, ‘okay, I’m going to go look at this place,’” she said. “When I went, I fell in love with it even more.”

By January 2022, Hansen said she was opening the café as its new owner.
“There was a week or two between when the sale happened where we shut down and transitioned everything, but we opened back up in January,” she said.
Growing pains
Hansen said each job she’s done has taught her something – and becoming a business owner was no different.
“There were a lot of challenges right off the bat,” she said. “I knew this was going to happen, but I was shocked to see how many hours business owners put into their business.”
Though Hansen puts in nearly double the hours running the café than she did at her previous job, she said it has been more rewarding.
Another learning curve that came with the new role, she said, is the paperwork.
“The business part of it and the accounting part of it,” she said. “I’ve been learning that as I go, too. My sister-in-law has helped me along the way because she’s experienced in that field – so that’s been a huge help.”
Overall, she said being a business owner is growing on her, and she’s appreciated what it has already taught her.
“The first year was a lot – trying to learn all the different hats you have to wear in business and the roles you have to fulfill,” she said. “This year has been going better.”
Consistency with a dash of change
When taking over the reins of the eatery, Hansen said she tried to keep as much the same as possible – including the menu.
“When somebody (new) buys a restaurant, I think the community gets nervous about change,” she said. “And the café – when it was Corki’s – had a great reputation, so I didn’t want to change too much.”
One change Hansen said she decided to make was the name of the eatery.
“We weren’t going to at first, but then after we thought about it, we wanted to make it our own,” she said. “We wanted the name to have meaning for us.”

Hansen said her middle daughter helped design the logo for the new name.
She said they also added a grab-and-go option, which the previous cafe did not offer.
If she had to describe what the vibe of Milk and Honey is like, she said, “it’s a homey place.”
“We know everybody,” she said. “It’s easy to talk to customers as they come in.”
Though the cafe has dealt with staffing issues in the past, Hansen said Milk and Honey always strives to be “open when we can.”
What’s for lunch?
At Milk and Honey Café, Hansen said customers can choose from various paninis, wraps and salads.
“I think our most popular sandwich is the chicken bruschetta,” she said. “It’s chicken, tomato, onion, homemade pesto aioli and mozzarella cheese.”
Other panini and wrap options include an Italian melt, Mediterranean chicken, Greek chicken taco pita and roast beef.
For salads, patrons can choose from a garden salad, Caesar salad or a Mediterranean salad.
“We also offer weekly specials – those have been fun to get creative with,” she said. “I think a lot of people like to try those because it’s not something we have on our menu all the time, so they get excited when it only comes around so often.”
Milk and Honey also offers breakfast items, including waffle bites, oatmeal, a breakfast bowl and sandwich.
And Hansen said one can’t forget about the beverages.
Milk and Honey offers teas, espresso drinks, smoothies and refreshers.
“One of the girls who works here, Tabitha, does monthly drink specials,” she said. “She has a lot of fun coming up with different ideas and different names for them.”
July’s specialty drink menu features drinks such as the Firecracker Mocha (dark chocolate and cherry), Stars & Stripes Tea (iced nitro tea, blue raspberry and cold foam) and a Piña Colada smoothie.
Hansen’s youngest daughter, Lily, also helps her mom at the café.
“She’s still in high school, so she works at the café when she can – most weekends and during the summer,” she said.
Community-centric
Hansen said there are several different ways she tries to integrate the restaurant into the community – starting with selling goods from local vendors.
Some of the items, she said, include essential oils, honey and maple syrup – “a whole slew of things” – from Healthy Homestead and homemade earrings from Small Town Girl.
“I would like to expand on (the vendor space) someday, but right now, it’s tight – a tiny little corner in the café,” she said.

Hansen said Milk and Honey also participates in the local farmers market during the summer months.
“We offer our smoothies and lemonade – that kind of stuff,” she said. “We enjoy being a part of that, and it’s nice because you get to know more people.”
Milk and Honey staff also set up a designated water station during the Dash O.F. Color Run.
“The runners come right past the café, and they can grab water if they need it,” she said.
Donating to local causes, Hansen said, is also important to her.
“(We’ve donated to) The 1 Human Fund, Music in the Park, Lioness Club, Trent Maloney Memorial Fund and many other benefits,” she said. “(We also help) out with events – so fulfilling that need. (We’re also) a place for folks to come and eat a healthy meal instead of burgers and fries and that kind of stuff.”
Milk and Honey is open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7-11 a.m. Saturday.
The café is closed Sunday.
To learn more, visit its Facebook page.