Downtown orders to go

MIKE HERBERT, OWNER OF MICHALENO’S PIZZERIA, stood next to the restaurant’s new pizza oven as he prepared for the business to open this week. Photo by Sam Arendt
Nearly a year after he bought the building, Michael Herbert finally opened Michaleno’s Pizzeria this week in the “Bank” building on Saukville’s downtown triangle.
The pizza restaurant, which will also offer sandwiches and other dishes, has no inside seating and offers takeout and delivery only. It has just two dedicated parking spots for customers who come to pick up their orders.
Delivery drivers and other employees will have to find parking elsewhere, Herbert said.
“Even if my wife comes here,” he said.
This will be the Herberts’ third pizza restaurant, the others being in Kewaskum and West Bend.
Herbert was a finance manager for 31 years but had been involved in the pizza business for many years, helping out friends at various restaurants.
He eventually tried it himself, opening his first restaurant in Kewaskum in 2008. That led him to quit his day job in the financial sector.
Herbert said he will have six employees to start, including one full-timer, and hopes to soon have eight. He employs 11 people in West Bend and nine in Kewaskum.
His son Ryan will manage the store. His wife Deborah and three other sons are all involved in the business: Greg manages the Kewaskum store, and Dan is in charge in West Bend. Deborah and Mike Jr. run the front office, human resources and financial departments.
The West Bend location is the only one with sit-down dining.
It’s not the first pizza place to occupy the building. The building was home to the Pizza Bank at one time and has also been home to a clothing store and resale shop.
The Saukville restaurant will be open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Herbert said a new pizza oven and other equipment were recently installed.
“Everything is brand new. Shiny stainless steel,” he said.
Herbert said his restaurants have a history of working with local fundraising efforts, and he plans on continuing that tradition.
“I’m looking forward to being part of the community,” he said. “We do a lot of fundraising with churches and schools and other projects.”
According to Ozaukee County Register of Deeds records, the Herberts bought the distinctive brick building on the village triangle at 234 Dekorah St. at the end of July 2018 for $92,900 from E-Collectique, a luxury resale clothing store owned by Mikelle Flanner of Grafton, that used to occupy the site.
Herbert said he chose Saukville as a new site because of its small-town feel, but said he expects to draw customers from surrounding communities.
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