Columbus, Ohio-based calzone restaurant chain D.P. Dough will open in late spring on Milwaukee’s East Side as the company’s first Wisconsin franchise location.
The restaurant, with its “open crazy late” motto, stays open until 3 a.m. to serve its calzones. Its Milwaukee location will occupy a space that formerly housed an Open Pantry convenience store, located at 1515 E. North Ave.
Franchise owner Mike Styke, owner and operator of Milwaukee-based Third Coast Real Estate, owns the 2,500 square-foot-building that will house the restaurant and an additional tenant space. Styke owns the franchise with his wife, Georgina Styke.
Styke said he was required to open his franchise in close proximity to a university, so the vacant North Avenue building, located just 1.5 miles south of the main UW-Milwaukee campus and across the street from student housing, presented an opportunity.
D.P. Dough, operating almost 30 locations in 17 states, markets its products mainly to college students or young professionals, with most of its restaurants located on university campuses or in areas with a large young-adult population, and most of its orders being carry-out or delivery.
“The product is fantastic and will be well received,” he said. “I think it will be an area-favorite pretty quickly.”
Styke said he tried a D.P. Dough calzone for the first time in Illinois, while he and Georgina were driving to the company’s headquarters in Ohio to finalize the franchise purchase.
“I tried the product and immediately decided we should move forward on this,” he said.
Styke said he would consider opening additional area franchises in the future if the North Avenue location is successful.
