Giovanni’s open while building sale pending
Italian fine-dining restaurant looking for new location
The Italian restaurant Giovanni’s remains open at 1033 N. Old World Third St. while a sale of the building is pending.
Plans for a restaurant and tavern called Oak Barrel Public House are being made for the site.
Bobby Wiltgen, who operates Who’s on Third sports bar at 1007 N. Old World Third St., submitted a liquor license application for Oak Barrel Public House.
Wiltgen declined to comment because the sale of the building isn’t final.
Sal Safina, a member of the family that operates the Italian restaurant, said the restaurant remains open. 1033 N. Old World 3rd LLC, affiliated with the Safina family, owns and is selling the building.
The building is assessed at $1.68 million by the city, records show.
Safina said the family is seeking a new location for the restaurant. It’s one of the few fine-dining places on the street, which is dominated by bars that cater to the crowds attending basketball games and other events at the nearby BMO Harris Bradley Center.
Its location has deterred regular customers from coming in on event nights, Safina said, because parking is either hard to find or expensive. Event crowds also complicate the restaurant’s valet service. “It can take 20 minutes just to go pick up a car,” Safina said.
“We’ve got to find something that’s more conducive to our customer base,” he said.
Safina said a location hasn’t been decided; he’s uncertain whether the restaurant’s new home would still be downtown or if it might move to the suburbs.
Giovanni’s, opened by family patriarch Giovanni Safina, had been on the lower east side for about 30 years, at N.
Van Buren and E. Brady streets. He and his family closed the restaurant, operated a comedy club there and opened the Italian sports bar Tutto on 3rd St. Two years ago, the family replaced Tutto with Giovanni’s, after about a seven-year run for the sports bar.
Sons Joe and David cook at night and Sal oversees the dining room at Giovanni’s. The restaurant earned 31⁄2 stars when it was reviewed in the Journal Sentinel in February 2016.
Meanwhile, the liquor license application for Oak Barrel Public House that’s on file with the city indicates the bar-restaurant’s operator hopes to open by Nov. 1; the Milwaukee Bucks season starts in October.
Oak Barrel would take over both the first and second floors of the building, the application shows. (The Safinas’ Comedy Cafe now occupies the second floor.)
Flux Design is listed as overseeing the remodeling.
A sample menu submitted with the application shows Oak Barrel would serve appetizers such as grilled wings and mozzarella sticks, pizzas, hand-formed burgers, sandwiches such as meatball subs, soups, salads and entrées, including flat-iron steaks and mac and cheese.