Dave Sobelman, owner of Sobelman’s Pub-n-Grill, confirmed he is looking to expand his restaurant’s locations throughout the Midwest and possibly nationally, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.
The restaurant, located in Milwaukee and Mequon, has been around for 16 years. Sobelman runs the locations with his wife and said they’re too busy to take on more, which may lead them to franchise. Sobelman said the plans to franchise are in the very early stages.
“This is a brand you’ll never see in a mall or strip mall or anything like that,” Sobelman said to the Milwaukee Business Journal. “We want to open up in old, historic buildings, in neighborhoods.”
Sobelman said he is talking with restaurant consultants, who suggested as many as 100 locations country-wide. However, he said he would be fine with more in Wisconsin and possibly northern Illinois – including Chicago and the suburbs around it.
Sobelman has some guidelines for expanding, which include only opening in old buildings and turning down employee candidates who are only applying to make money.
“I just don’t want to be kind of commercialized or stainless steel clean,” Sobelman said to the Milwaukee Business Journal. “It’s the story that makes the Sobelman’s Pub-n-Grill brand that much stronger.”
