Milwaukee restaurant owner Brian Ward will open Point Burger Bar Express Oct. 2 in the Upper 90 Sports Pub building in downtown Milwaukee.
This will be a new concept for Ward, who operates Point Burger Bar in Pewaukee and on Good Hope Road, and Ward’s House of Prime in downtown Milwaukee.
Point Burger Bar Express, 322 W. State St., will offer gourmet items made in five minutes or less. This will be the first of up to six Point Burger Bar Express locations.
Ward is also in the process of purchasing land near Highway 100 and Layton Avenue in Greenfield, near the Froedtert Greenfield Highlands Health Center, 4455 S. 108th St., where he plans to open a second Point Burger Bar Express.
That restaurant would be about 3,000 square feet and include a drive thru, Ward said. The project is pending approvals from the city of Greenfield.
Ward is searching for other locations for Express restaurants and has looked at areas with high traffic counts, including Kenosha, he said.
“We wanted downtown first,” Ward said. “The nice thing about this concept is the average building is going to be 2,500 to 3,000 square feet, so we don’t need a ton of room.”
Ward is partnering with longtime friend Jake Dehne on the downtown restaurant. Dehne opened Upper 90 Sports Pub six years ago, and has operated several downtown businesses, including Have a Nice Day Café, Buckhead Saloon, The Pub Club, and Red White and Blue. In his role as operating partner, he will oversee the new Express locations.
Upper 90 Sports Pub will close on Sunday.
“Once Brian told me his express concept for the Point Burger brand, I knew our Upper 90 Sports Pub location would be ideal based on the development of the new arena and business expansion in the downtown area,” Dehne said in a written statement. “While visitor traffic has grown dramatically in the Old World Third Street area over the past few years, the options for affordable, quality ‘food on the go’ hasn’t kept up with demand.”
Ward said the burgers served at the Express restaurants will be a hybrid of the burgers at his other restaurants but cooked at the same temperature, so they can be ready faster. He tried the concept at Summerfest and people loved them, he said.
The downtown restaurant will feature 16 of the most popular burgers from Ward’s other restaurants and include a full bar, more than 20 large screen televisions and alcohol-infused shakes.
