The Vig, a 1950s-themed “refined kitchen and sports parlor,” will open a restaurant location on the second floor of The Couture along the downtown Milwaukee lakefront, building developer Barrett Lo Visionary Development announced.
To be called The Vig Milwaukee, the restaurant will occupy 10,800 square feet of space with lakefront views, including an 8,500-square-foot interior space and a 2,000-square-foot patio. The restaurant will open in the summer of 2026 and will have about 100 employees.
Owned by Chicago-based Legacy Hospitality, The Vig currently has two locations in Chicago, in the city’s Old Town and West Loop neighborhoods. The restaurant’s name is derived from the English slang word “vigorish” – representing the bookie’s or house’s cut on a bet or the “juice” from a loan.
The Vig’s dinner menu offers a variety of choices including salads, steak, ribs, fish, fried chicken and sandwiches. The restaurant also has a brunch menu, happy hour snacks including oysters and tuna poke tacos, and an extensive drink menu including classic and signature cocktails.
“When i think of The Vig, I think casual,” said Rick Barrett, CEO of Barrett Lo Visionary Development. “It’s got bubbles and burgers. It’s the best burger I’ve ever eaten. It’s comfortable, but it’s really vibrant and vital. It feels like the place to be. They really take great pride and passion in the food they make. Sometimes the ingredients seem simple, but the way they put them together and the way the food comes out is pretty stunning.”
The Vig is the first commercial tenant to be announced for The Couture, a 46-story luxury apartment tower with 322 apartments and 45,000 square feet of commercial space, located at 909 E. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee. It is the tallest residential building in Wisconsin. Construction of the building was completed in 2024, 12 years after its plans were first unveiled to the public in 2012.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome The Vig to The Couture and the Milwaukee dining landscape,” said Barrett. “This is more than just a fantastic restaurant; it’s a significant step in realizing The Couture’s potential as the premier address in downtown Milwaukee. The energy and vibrancy The Vig brings will resonate throughout the community, making The Couture an even more compelling place to live, visit, and connect with the best of our city.”
The Vig’s Milwaukee restaurant will feature its signature dishes alongside new creations inspired by local flavors. Designed with collaborating chef Robert Kabakoff, the menu will include cheese curds, Bloody Marys, and other Milwaukee-inspired items.
The restaurant will also have three private event spaces that can host up to 100 guests.
“We are so excited to be working with the Couture team and joining the fabric of the Milwaukee community,” said Ryan Marks, owner operator at Legacy Hospitality. “We have been looking for several years, and in numerous cities, for our first venture outside of Chicago. Milwaukee, and The Couture’s iconic location in particular, made it an easy decision.”
The Vig is the first of several commercial tenants expected to occupy spaces on the first three floors of The Couture. Barrett said his firm has letters of intent from a tenant for a 2,200-square-foot space on the second floor and from a tenant for the entire first floor commercial space. He declined to name those potential tenants.
“We have another announcement we are looking to make soon, as well as another announcement we are hoping to make underneath that on the first floor,” Barrett said.
Barrett says his firm also has several potential tenants interested in the 15,000 square feet of commercial space on the third floor of The Couture. He anticipates that the announcement of The Vig followed by announcements of additional tenants for the first and second floors will generate even more interest in the building’s third floor commercial space, and said he plans to take the time to land the right tenant or tenants on that floor.
“We’re going to take a big, deep breath (for the third floor), Barrett said. “The announcements on floors one and two I think is going to create a buzz, is going to create a level of momentum that’s going to help really push the third floor group of people that are interested in that right now into wanting to be part of the building. I think the first and second floor announcements will really help drive momentum there. We do have multiple groups interested in (floor) three. With what’s happening on floors one and two, I don’t see (the third floor tenant) being a restaurant. But you just never know how things will shake out.”
Allison Curtin, principal of Barchetta Advisors, is the listing broker for the commercial space at The Couture.
“She has done a really great job,” Barrett said. “She’s been tenacious chasing down the suitors that fit what we’re trying to achieve here.”
The Vig will be a high quality but casual alternative to a more upscale restaurant planned for the first floor of The Couture, Barrett said.
“(The Vig) is a good fit because as part of Allison’s plan she wanted to have something that was more white tablecloth on the first floor and she wanted to have (a restaurant that is) more casual for the 500 people living in the building,” he said. “You don’t always feel like going to a white tablecloth restaurant. You sometimes feel like having a glass of champagne and a burger too.”
Barrett said he wants the tenants in The Couture’s commercial space to serve as amenities for the building’s residents.
“Everything is complimentary to the people living there,” he said. “The way we are trying to look at the building is you come home from work, you put your car away and, how can what we have in the base of this building best compliment the people living upstairs? It also compliments the rest of the city as well, but from our perspective people living upstairs can come down and they can grab a drink, get a little bite to eat. It can be a place they hang out. I think all of that is a really interesting fit with The Vig.”
Barrett also said that he expects news about The Vig and the other commercial tenants in The Couture to provide more momentum for leasing of the building’s apartments.
“I think messages like what we’re about to do with The Vig showing the activity at the base of this building, it’s an amenity that we simply cannot replicate,” he said. “It is the one thing that makes The Couture different than any other (residential) building (in Milwaukee) is it is ballpark 50,000 square feet of retail at the base of the building. That is a very difficult type of product to compete against. To have that type of activity at the base of the building I think is powerful.”
So far about half of The Couture’s 322 apartments have been leased. Barrett says he’s pleased with that progress so far.
“We’re in a very, very good spot on (apartment) leasing,” he said.
More articles about The Couture:
- The Couture’s missing links
- First residents have moved into The Couture
- Peak perseverance: Rick Barrett’s epic 12-year saga to build The Couture
- Restaurants eye retail space at The Couture
- Q&A: Developer Rick Barrett talks about how he persevered to build The Couture
- Officials unveil The Couture’s transit concourse, launch full Hop L-Line service
