It’s only been about two weeks since Pizza Man closed its Milwaukee location on North Humboldt Boulevard, but now it looks like the longtime pizzeria is planning to move back into its former location on North Downer Avenue on the city’s East Side.
A permit filed with the City of Milwaukee on Thursday shows plans for Pizza Man signage to be installed on the east-facing side of the building at 2595 N. Downer Ave. That’s the address Pizza Man had occupied from 2013 until early 2023, when it relocated to the former Stubby’s Gastropub space, at 2060 N. Humboldt Boulevard, in the Riverwest neighborhood.
In mid-April, Pizza Man announced over social media that it had closed its Milwaukee location, seemingly marking the end of 54 years in business in the city. Its Wauwatosa restaurant at the Mayfair Collection on West Burleigh Street remains open.
The decision to close Pizza Man’s Humboldt location — and now potentially revive its longtime Downer Avenue spot — was made by the restaurant’s new ownership group, PM2 MGR LLC, registered to Jose Mayoral of Greenfield, according to state records.
PM2 MGR LLC purchased the Pizza Man brand and business assets in January from Za Man LLC, according to a source close to the matter, who named Thomas Schafer as another member of the group.
Za Man LLC, which is registered to Scott Lurie of Milwaukee-based real estate firm F Street Group, incorporated in 2013 to revive and reopen Pizza Man on Downer Avenue after a fire destroyed the restaurant’s original location on North Avenue. Pizza Man was originally founded in 1970 by the late Mike Amidzich.
Under Za Man’s ownership, Pizza Man opened additional locations at Drexel Town Square in Oak Creek, at the Mequon Public Market in Mequon and at the Mayfair Collection in Wauwatosa. The Oak Creek and Mequon locations closed over the past couple of years, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Downer Avenue building that could soon house Pizza Man once again is also home to the Downer Theater, which, in its own twist of events, reopened recently after shutting down last fall. The building is owned Seattle-based real estate investment firm Bridge33 Capital.
Bridge33 filed a lawsuit against Za Man LLC in February 2023, and the case was settled early this year in the Milwaukee County Municipal Court, according to online court records.
