Paul Bouraxis, the owner of El Fuego Mexican Restaurante at 909 W. Layton Ave., Milwaukee, recently purchased the Champps Americana Restaurant at 5030 S. 74th St. in Greenfield. Bouraxis plans to close Champps, remodel the building, and open a Mexican restaurant there called El Beso.
The building is located in the South 76th Street business corridor, which is a strong retail area, but has not had a Mexican restaurant since Chi Chi’s closed in 2004, Bouraxis said.
“(The area) has a lot of shops,” he said. “It’s heavily populated. It’s a good location.”
Bluemound Restaurant Corp., the owner of the Champps restaurant, informed the state Department of Workforce Development that Champs will be closing as of May 22. The restaurant has 37 employees.
Bouraxis opened El Fuego last year in a building that was formerly occupied by Prime Quarter Steak House.
Bouraxis also owns the Omega Burger restaurant at 7041 S. 27th St., Franklin. He formerly owned the Omega Family Restaurant at 3473 S. 27th St., Milwaukee, which he sold four years ago.