Albanese’s Roadhouse in Waukesha to close soon
After serving its customers with an Italian American cuisine for more than 40 years, Albanese’s Roadhouse in Waukesha will close its doors March 31, owner Joseph Albanese confirmed.
Albanese is in the process of selling the restaurant to Jilly’s Car Wash. A closing date for that sale is set for March 21, he said.
The restaurant opened at 2301 W. Bluemound Road in 1982. Albanese owned the restaurant with his late father, Dominic, who died at age 91 last June.
“It is bittersweet,” Albanese said about the restaurant closing. “We are doing it (closing) on our own terms. It has been a hell of a run.” He said he is looking forward to spending time with family and enjoying retirement.
He said when Albanese’s Roadhouse first opened, he had met a customer who was expecting a child. He said he then would see that young customer grow up and have children who also dined at the restaurant.
“A lot of people ate there two to three times a week,” he added. “They are not customers but family. That will be hard.”
There were other locations of this restaurant owned by different members of the Albanese family.
Joseph and Frances, Albanese’s grandparents, opened the original location in 1941 on North Water Street and Juneau in Milwaukee. Albanese’s grandfather, Joseph, immigrated to the Milwaukee area from a village outside of Bari, said Lori Albanese Syverson, Joseph’s sister. His grandmother, Francis, was born here, but her parents were from the Calabria region in Italy.
They then moved the restaurant to 19th and St. Paul and later moved to 701 E. Keefe Ave. in Milwaukee.
There also was a Mequon location, said Albanese.
“I’m 62 years old and don’t know life without a restaurant,” Syverson said. “My grandparents started Albanese’s 80 years ago. My kids literally grew up in the restaurant and now my grandchildren. My 8-year-old granddaughter was so sad she told Joe she has money and can buy it. Walking out the last time will be difficult, but I believe in new beginnings.”
Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly has been a regular at Albanese’s Roadhouse since it opened. The restaurant struggled in getting city permission to open, he said, because restaurants were not allowed in that area.
But Reilly’s father, Bill, was their attorney and helped them open. If they changed their name, said Reilly, to a roadhouse, and not a restaurant, that would do the trick. A roadhouse was considered to be a restaurant for travelers, said Reilly.
But since then, it has been a popular destination. “You were always welcomed as soon as you came in,” he said. “They made you feel like family.”
The restaurant will be razed, Albanese confirmed, and a Jilly’s Car Wash will operate at the existing property.
Jilly’s Car Wash also has locations in Elm Grove, Brookfield, Pewaukee and Glendale and a Mequon location under construction. There is no opening date announced for the car wash.