After the Silver Spring House, an iconic restaurant in Glendale, shut its doors last month, it didn’t take long for David Braeger, managing director of D.O.B. Holdings and longtime “Spring House” patron, to step in and bring the over 100-year-old building back to life.
Braeger has purchased the building and its property, located at 6655 N. Green Bay Ave., from former owner Patrick Connell, who had owned it since 2016. Brager plans to reopen the restaurant, after making some minor renovations and implementing a new menu, by late April.
“Its a Milwaukee landmark,” he said. “I’ve been going there with my parents since I was 12 or 14. This is the type of place that keeps Milwaukee and the North Shore great. I saw the opportunity and with the right management, right menu and a facelift, it will be a great thing for the area.”
Immediate renovations include re-painting the outside of the building and extending its patio. The interior will also be re-painted and redecorated with Braeger’s original artwork– he is an artist in his spare time, he said. The new menu will offer largely-portioned sandwiches, burgers and salads, and, of course, the restaurant’s famous fish fry and prime rib dinner.
Braeger intends to maintain the building’s history and the restaurant’s traditions, while making the Silver Spring House more family-friendly– the way it was when he was a child, he said.
“We are making it a true family destination again,” Braeger said. “The North Shore really needs a good family establishment, and I want to bring that back. It’s important to keep those kinds of places alive.”
Braeger said, in the long term, he plans to install pickle ball courts and indoor volleyball courts at the restaurant. He said its surrounding property, which he also owns, could eventually be used for apartments, condominiums or other business developments.
“But my main priority it just to get it back open,” he said.
