After a successful first year with Sobelman’s at Marquette, Dave Sobelman, the owner of Sobelman’s Pub & Grill, said he is looking into opening a Chicago location. Sobelman said that since a high percentage of Marquette students are from northern Illinois, a Chicago location may be the next logical step in his restaurant’s progression.
“After 13 years in business and probably having students for 12 of those years, and now after a year on campus, there’s probably a huge Sobelman’s Pub & Grill following in Chicago,” Sobelman said. “It would just be natural to go there.”
Sobelman said expanding his business to Chicago “is something that we’ve considered for years and each year we get closer and closer to it.”
In 2010, Sobelman was contacted by Mike Whittow, assistant to the vice president of Marquette’s Office of Administration, to see if he was interested in opening a Sobelman’s location on campus. Sobelman gladly accepted, making a decision that he said changed his life and business.
Sobelman’s at Marquette opened August 2011, and Sobelman said the restaurant’s first year came and went without a hitch.
“There’s been no negatives; it’s all positive,” Sobelman said. “I’m flattered that Marquette wanted me on campus, and I’m flattered that the kids accepted me so well.”
Sobelman credited much of his restaurant’s popularity to its prime location.
“We’re dead-center in the middle of where the kids go to school and where they live,” he said. “I figure 80 percent of the students at one point or another through the course of the day…can look down 16th Street or look up Wells Street and see this building.”
“It has just been a lot of fun and it’s actually a lot easier than I expected,” Sobelman said. “I feel bad saying it, but sometimes I would rather be (at the Marquette location) than down at the Pub.”
Tomas Garcia, a manager for Sobelman’s at Marquette, said he also prefers working on campus.
“When I was working (at the Pub), I was a server and a bartender, but (at the Marquette location) I am a manager, so it’s a little different,” Garcia said. “I like being here and I like this place. I look at it like it’s my little baby.”
Looking back on his new restaurant’s first year, Sobelman said he was grateful for his opportunity to open a restaurant on campus.
“The last year has been great. There have been absolutely no problems and I’m happy to be a part of the Marquette community,” Sobelman said. “This is one of the best moves I’ve ever made.”
