Brett Favre Steakhouse set to blitz competition in Milwaukee

Nation's Restaurant News, May 5, 1997 by Carolyn Walkup

Carolyn Walkup

MILWAUKEE - Brett Favre, star quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, is teaming up with one of the owners of the high-grossing Hilltop Steakhouse to open a new steak restaurant here in time for this fall's football season.

The 400-seat, midpriced Brett Favre Steakhouse will feature Green Bay Packers memorabilia but will not be a sports bar, according to general manager Jeff Whiteman. 'We want to be thought of first and foremost as a great restaurant,' he said.

Favre's partners include Richard Monfort, who is one of the principal owners of Hilltop Steakhouse in Saugus and Braintree, Mass., and of the Stampede in Greeley, Colo. The 1,500-seat Hilltop Steakhouse in Saugus has gross annual foodservice sales of about $15 million, Monfort said. Favre's agent, James 'Bus' Cook, also owns a slice of the new operation.

Decor of the Milwaukee steak house will be more upscale than that of Hilltop, which has a Western motif. However, the menu will be similar, focusing on aged choice grade steaks, seafood, pasta and salads. It also will include some of the Mississippi-bred Favre's favorite Cajun dishes.

Monfort, who grew up in the beef-packing business as part of the family. that owned Monfort Beef, since sold to ConAgra, anticipates dinner check averages between $14 and $15, which he considers 'a good value' for Milwaukee. The restaurant's 400 seats will include banquet rooms, designed 'to be as inviting as the restaurant,' Whiteman said. Main materials will be the turn-of-the-century building's Cream City brick and cherrywood.

Memorabilia will include items dating back to the Packers' previous Super Bowl victories in 1967 and 1968 under legendary coach Vince Lombardi as well as artifacts from Favre's personal collection. Although several Green Bay Packers players have been involved in their own restaurants, the only establishment known to remain in business is a tavern in Green Bay named for Fuzzy Thurston.

Monfort originally sought out Packers defensive end Reggie White along with Favre for a restaurant partnership. White decided against participating because his religious beliefs prohibit drinking or serving alcohol. The partners chose downtown Milwaukee over Green Bay for their venture because of Milwaukee's greater population density and convention potential. The new Midwest Express Center convention hall is scheduled to open next year.

'I ate in some restaurants in Milwaukee, and they were packed,' Monfort said. 'We will serve a little better value,' he added, noting that portions will be large.

Although some skeptics are saying that Milwaukee residents prefer dining for dinner near their suburban homes to dining downtown, Whiteman said he isn't concerned. 'Our philosophy is you sell your dinner business by selling your lunch business,' he said.

Whiteman also expects that Packers fans will support the restaurant. 'Packers fans are some of the most loyal sports fans in the nation,' he said. 'Our goal is to give them something to be proud of.' Because Favre participates in a lot of promotional events in Milwaukee, Whiteman expects that he will be in the restaurant several times a month.