John Hawks changes hands.
This week, we’re catching up on ownership changes at restaurants: John Hawks Pub downtown (with a tie to the sale of the closed Porticello in Oconomowoc) and Stoneridge Inn in Hales Corners.
John Hawks Pub
A new owner who bought John Hawks Pub in January has changes in mind for the English-style pub, with plans to open a second restaurant in Oconomowoc, in what was Porticello.
“It just was an opportunity I could not walk away from,” Sonni Islami said of the Milwaukee pub. Islami, the managing partner, added that John Hawks was a place he frequented when he was younger.
With the restaurant’s large patio beside the Milwaukee river, “It’s just too ideal,” he said.
Islami said he’s waiting for the landlord’s OK on design changes he wants to make to the restaurant, 100 E. Wisconsin Ave. He wants to turn it into John Hawks Grill, changing the décor from kelly green and black to earth tones.
Islami operates Blue Bay Family Restaurant in Mukwonago and in December bought the former Porticello restaurant on Silver Lake in Oconomowoc, at 685 Valley Road. The Italian fine-dining restaurant closed in 2010; it began serving food in 2008 amid a legal battle over its proximity to the lake. The court eventually found in favor of thenowner Anthony Pipito.
Once the changes are in place at John Hawks in Milwaukee, the new owner would like to replicate the concept in Oconomowoc. He hopes to open the lakeside restaurant by summer.
Some additions have been made to the John Hawks menu such as prime rib panino ($10.50) and a daily omelet special with sides ($9.25), and more are coming, Islami said. Soups and other items are made daily.
The dinner menu includes pastas such as penne in vodka sauce with soup or salad ($15.95), among other dishes and daily specials; Friday the restaurant has cod fish fry ($9.95 for two pieces, $12.95 for three).
John Hawks opened on N. Broadway downtown in the early 1970s and moved to Wisconsin Ave. in 1990. Founder Robert Bell sold it to Brian Ward in 2011; Ward, who also owns Ward’s House of Prime in Milwaukee and Delafield, sold the pub in January.
John Hawks is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; free parking is available after 5 p.m. in the adjoining garage, off Water St. To contact: (414) 272-3199.
Stoneridge Inn
Diamond Jim’s Stoneridge Inn in Hales Corners has new owners, who have kept the Stoneridge Inn name.
John and Diane Demopoulos bought the restaurant at 11811W. Janesville Road from Jim Letizia, the owner for 15 years. Stoneridge Inn was included in the 2013 book “Wisconsin Supper Clubs” by Ron Faiola.
John Demopoulos, a friend of Letizia’s, previously owned Boulder Junction in Brookfield, which he sold in 2002, and Athens restaurant on W. Mitchell St. from 1971 to 1994.
“The kids are older now. What are we going to do, sit around?” Demopoulos said.
Instead, the couple are adding dishes to the menu and making plans to remodel the banquet room, restrooms and kitchen.
The menu will have more appetizers, including calamari, fried eggplant and chicken wings. Black Angus steaks have been added, and the New York strip and sirloin
are graded prime, Demopoulos said. The restaurant also has fish specials such as mahi mahi and still serves Friday fish fry.
In spring, he said, work will begin on updating the facade.
Parts of the restaurant’s website, stoneridgeinn
halescorners.com, have been updated but a final version of the menu is to come, Demopoulos said.
Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. To contact: (414) 425-7777.
Tower Restaurant
Meanwhile, after selling Stoneridge Inn this year, Jim Letizia turned his attention to Tower Restaurant and Bar in Greenfield, making it more of a supper club.
“It was getting pretty hectic running both joints,” Letizia said. Tower opened at 6869 W. Forest Home Ave. in 2011 as a sports bar and casual restaurant, with a banquet hall in the lower level.
Letizia said the ceiling’s been lowered to reduce noise and make the restaurant feel more intimate; murals have been painted in the restaurant’s alcoves and a couple of chandeliers hung in the dining room. On the weekends, the staff brings out tablecloths and flowers, he added.
Supper-club style, dinners are served with relish trays and bread baskets, Letizia said. Fish fry is served on Fridays and prime rib on Saturdays and Sundays. Recipes brought along from Stoneridge including sweet potato casserole and banana cream pie.
Tower has live music on Saturday nights and serves breakfast on Sundays starting at 9 a.m., staying open for dinner until 9 p.m.
It opens for lunch at 11 a.m. Tuesday to Saturday and remains open for dinner until 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Tower is online at tower tonight.com; to contact, (414) 321-9800.
Who’s on Third brunch
Who’s on Third, the pub at 1007 N. Old World 3rd St., has a new weekend brunch that gives diner a free mimosa made either with bubbly or beer.
It’s served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The menu’s egg dishes include a Milwaukee omelet ($9.25) filled with Usinger’s bratwurst, onions, cheese and mustard, with a side of bacon or sausage and toast; hoppel poppel ($9.50) made with ham, red pepper, onion and cheese over potatoes, with toast; and a breakfast sandwich of egg, bacon, tomato and garlic-herb cream cheese on brioche ($8.95), served with breakfast potatoes.
Other dishes include biscuits and gravy ($8.50), bourbon berry French toast ($9.75) and a Monte Cristo sandwich ($9.95). Oatmeal ($4.50) with strawberry compote or brown sugar and honey is a side dish.
Diners get a free mimosa or beer mimosa with a brunch entrée; the Bloody Mary ($7.50) includes a chaser of any beer on tap, including Deschutes Mirror Pond and Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.
For more: (414) 897-8373;
whosonthirdmke.com.
Chocolate shop moving
ChocoBella, the chocolate shop at 2474 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., expects to move to another storefront in Bay View in about a month.
Kari Mendez, who owns the 3-year-old business with her husband, chocolate-maker Luis Mendez, said ChocoBella will move to 2257 S. Howell Ave.
That’s next door to Cafe Lulu and near numerous other restaurants, food shops and bars; the new shop is a little smaller, but ChocoBella is moving to take advantage of the greater foot traffic in the area, Kari Mendez said.
Until the new space is ready, ChocoBella will remain open in its current location and hold a sale on its truffles and other chocolates.
The shop’s hours are noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. To contact: (414) 747-9007; ChocoBella is on Facebook.
Make other plans
Sprizzo Gallery Caffe, 363 W. Main St. in Waukesha, announced its closing Sunday on social media and its website.
Owners Karla and Jeff Harper pointed to upcoming road construction on Main St. as the reason for closing; they also said in their online farewell that they wanted to spend more time with family.
The Harpers owned Sprizzo for 11 years, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. The cafe was the host for performing and visual artists. Jeff Seymour first opened the cafe and gallery in 1997 at 378 W. Main St.
The business and the building are for sale.
Madison chefs’ week
Next week in Madison, chefs will trade kitchens and collaborate on menus for the first MACN Week.
The Madison Area Chefs Network has planned special dinners from Monday to March 15, culminating in a chefs’ “potluck” at Sardine, 617 Williamson St., that will benefit the charity Second Harvest. For the $75 fundraiser, 20 chefs will prepare small plates.
Tickets for the potluck and more information about the week’s activities are at macnweek.