8 longtime restaurants Milwaukee lost in 2020
Business for Milwaukee-area restaurants declined markedly in early 2020 when coronavirus struck and shelterat-home orders were issued. Many closed for good, including some that had been open at least 25 years.
A restaurant that survives for a quarter-century means a lot to its owners, its customers and its neighborhood.
“We have so many memories,” said Johnny Vassallo, whose parents opened Johnny V’s Classic Cafe in West Allis in 1992. “Everyone that’s been there has become our extended family, and we hope to see them all in the near future.”
In Waukesha, the owners of Matteo’s Italian Ristorante decided to step away after 34 years, leaving customers such as Stephanie Edgar with only memories. The restaurant was a Christmas season tradition for her, her parents, her sister and her grandparents.
“We were always seated at the same table near a beautiful Christmas tree,” Edgar said. “They always had the restaurant decked out for Christmas. My grandpa has since passed away, but going to Matteo’s at Christmastime always reminded me of him and those special times growing up.”
Cudahy lost Samano’s, open for more than a half-century. Co-owner Felicia Samano wanted to reflect on the good things that happened over the years and to move on.
“All good things come to an end,” she said.
Ferch’s Malt Shoppe and Grille
Owners Betty and Dale Ferchoff opened Ferch’s in Greendale with a touch for nostalgic soda shops in 1987. He retired last year, and she followed, as of mid-October.
“With a new lease coming up, we made the decision this would be the perfect time to retire,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
Ferch’s Beachside Grille, 2299 Grant Park Drive, South Milwaukee, and Ferch’s Crafthouse Grille, 418 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, will continue.
Fuddrucker’s
The Brookfield restaurant, nearly 40 years old, closed in July. It was the last Wisconsin site for the Texas-based chain. Its niche was customers creating their own burgers with toppings at buffet stations, a business model that wasn’t viable during the coronavirus pandemic.
Johnny V’s Classic Cafe
The family restaurant staple in West Allis closed in May after 28 years.
“It was just time for us,” said Vassallo, whose parents opened the restaurant in 1992. “COVID, being shut down for so long and all the uncertainty of moving forward, just helped us make the decision.”
Matteo’s Italian Ristorante
The longtime Waukesha restaurant announced on Facebook that it would close in mid-October. Tom Thurner, who started Matteo’s 34 years ago, said, “It’s just the right time” to step away. He said finding help and dealing with the COVID-19 crisis were concerns. He has sold the property, and it is not expected to remain operating as a restaurant.
Original Crawdaddy’s Roadhouse
The West Allis restaurant announced its closing on Facebook in late May. Citing COVID-19, the post said the decision was made by Ronald Mellantine, business partner of the restaurant’s late chef Jonathan Klug, who died in late February.
Klug and John Vukelic opened the original Crawdaddy’s in 1995 at 64th and Greenfield. That one closed in 2016, and Klug joined with Mellantine to open Original Crawdaddy’s on National Avenue in July 2019.
It’s not to be confused with Crawdaddy’s on Greenfield, 9427 W. Greenfield Ave., a separate business still in operation.
Samano’s
Owners said the restaurant had been slowly losing money, and the closing was planned before coronavirus struck. The Cudahy restaurant had been open 53 years, and its building was originally built by Miller Brewing in 1894 as a tavern and rooming house.
Co-owner Felicia Samano was the fourth generation to run the family business. Co-owner Wendy Helgeson hopes to open a new restaurant in Cudahy.
Trysting Place Pub
Owner Sal Zizzo, who operated the Menomonee Falls pub for 35 years, announced its closing in late September. Although it was open for the summer, business was less than half of normal, he said.
“Navigating a pandemic for the past six months has proven impossible,” he said on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
The Wooden Goose Cafe
The owners of the 30-year-old Mequon restaurant said outdoor dining was not an option, and they weren’t able to bounce back from the impact of coronavirus. They announced on Facebook in August that they planned to retire and sell the site.