Adriatic closing just six months after opening
Just six months after opening, Wauwatosa restaurant Adriatic Fresh Seafood & Steaks announced in a Facebook post that it will be closing because of difficulties with staffing and increased costs spurred by inflation.
“We have made the difficult decision to close our doors and cease operations as of Monday, August 15th. With ongoing staffing shortages and continued price increases on food and supplies, we are unable to continue serving the community at this location. We'd like to thank all of our guests, friends, and family for their support,” the post said.
The third restaurant opened by brothers Ben and Kika Saliu, Adriatic Fresh Seafood & Steak opened at 11200 W. Burleigh St., in the Mayfair Collection. After an extensive soft launch in November 2021, the restaurant officially opened in February 2022.
The Mediterranean-style restaurant featured an open kitchen and offered an eclectic menu that included fresh seafood, freshly roasted vegetables, Mediterranean-style potatoes, pasta dishes, chicken, ribeye steaks, filet mignon and New York strip steak.
The restaurant also offered a variety of wines, as well as a collection of beers from local favorites like Good City Brewing and Milwaukee Brewing Co.
The general manager for all of the brothers' restaurants, Wayne Doney, said that from the start, staffing limited the restaurant's ability to serve and expand its clientele.
“We were always under the gun with staffing. We started to ramp up our promotional campaigns and things but without the staff we needed, we weren't able to do as much as we wanted,” he said.
Shortly after their official opening, Doney said, the increased prices of almost all of the restaurant's basic materials created a problem that the restaurant was never able to overcome. Due to the unique menu, Doney said that a return of the restaurant is unlikely, but if it were to come back it would be in a different location.
“All of our raw material costs went through the roof, and with the kind of menu we had we just felt we weren't able to offer a good affordable menu to our customers,” he said.
The Saliu brothers also own Golden Nest Pancake & Cafe at the Mayfair Collection and Sunview Restaurant in Beaver Dam. Doney said that similar problems have limited both restaurants, but because of the menus they employ they are able to minimize the effects that rising prices have had — but that could change.
“Even the basics like deep fryer oil are extremely expensive right now, but fortunately with the style of those restaurants we are able to still keep our prices affordable for our customers,” Doney said. “This is something that we continue to reevaluate almost on a daily basis so we can know where to make menu adjustments that are needed.”