While Dave Sobelman, owner of Sobelmans Pub & Grill at 1900 W. St. Paul Ave. in Milwaukee, has already expanded his business to two additional Milwaukee locations, he’s in the process of expanding it further with a Chicago location.
Sobelman said it is his goal to open a restaurant in Chicago in a year.
“We’re determined to do this,” he said.
Since opening the original Sobelmans in 1999, Sobelman has gained a dedicated, consistent following of Marquette students and families.
“Within a couple months (of opening), it started attracting Marquette students, each year more and more,” Sobelman said.
With many of those students and families coming from Chicago, Sobelman is confident in the Illinois demand for his burgers, beers and Bloody Marys.
“This has been something that students and former students and families have been bothering me about for a long time,” Sobelman said.
One of those former students, Brian Guzman, has been particularly serious about pushing Sobelman to take his business to Chicago. Guzman, a real estate agent at the Coldwell Banker Lake View office in Chicago, graduated from Marquette in 2005. As a Marquette undergrad, Guzman frequented Sobelmans and initiated conversations with Sobelman about expanding the restaurant while he was still a student.
Guzman said since graduating he’s driven up to Milwaukee for the sole purpose of eating a Sobelman burger on multiple occasions and knows others who have driven up from Chicago specifically for a burger almost every other weekend.
“The place holds a dear place in my heart, and I think I’m definitely not alone,” he said.
Guzman is partnering with Sobelman to find the right location in Chicago and finance the business endeavor. In searching for a location, Guzman said they want a place in line with the restaurant’s “neighborhood feel” and a place that will be convenient for Marquette alumni settling in Chicago.
The two started a Facebook page devoted to Sobelman’s Chicago so that their followers in Chicago can keep pace of their progress.
According to Guzman, while the larger audience in Chicago would serve Sobelmans well, the competition would present a challenge.
“There tend to be more burger specific places in Chicago,” he said.
But Sobelman believes he has enough of a following to be successful.
“I’ll do a better job than the other guy,” Sobelman said. “I’ll work harder than the other guy, and I think luckily I’ve been born with an instinct for the business.”
