House of Corned Beef New Location
Back when Wajeeh Alturkman was a UWM student and driving a cab for income, he'd stop at Jake's Delicatessen at 1634 W. North Ave. for a sandwich. Now he's the owner.
For the first time since 1969, former baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig doesn't have an ownership stake in the north side mainstay. Selig, 87, sold the business and the building to Alturkman in late 2021. Selig couldn't be reached immediately for comment.
"I'm excited about this journey and I'm loving it," Alturkman said, "because this place used to be my favorite corned beef spot."
Used to be, perhaps, because Alturkman opened his own popular restaurant, House of Corned Beef, in 2007. It's at 5201 W. Silver Spring Drive.
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"To be honest with you, I was inspired by Jake's," he said. After school, he fulfilled his dream of owning a business by starting his first restaurant.
"Jake's is always the place I looked up to because Jake's is the father of corned beef in Wisconsin," Alturkman said. "To become the owner is a great honor. The deli has a great Jewish history."
The deli is named for Jake Levin, who bought it in 1955 from Ruben Cohen. At the time, the neighborhood was filled with Jewish families.
In 1969, after many of those families moved out of the neighborhood, Selig bought the delicatessen with Julius Atkins, Ben Barkin and Julius Rubin to keep it alive.
Over the years, it bustled at lunchtime, the crowds a mix of neighborhood residents and elected officials, business people, the occasional professional athlete and other movers and shakers.
Irving Kassof became the managing partner when Selig and the others bought it; then his son Michael, who left the business in 2009 to pursue other interests, ran Jake's. The first non-Jewish operating partner then took over, and some modernization began, including a website, logo and acceptance of credit cards. Chicken base was substituted for the made-from-scratch chicken stock for the matzo ball soup.
For a while, Jake's was in expansion mode, opening quick-serve spots in Southridge Mall and the former Grand Avenue mall downtown. Those closed about five years ago.
Jake's has had a succession of operators since then. Three years ago, Alturkman said, he contacted Selig to say he was interested in buying it.
"At that time, I spoke with the commissioner, and I don't think he was ready to sell. But he promised if he ever was ready to sell, he would reach out to me."
Last year, Alturkman said, Selig contacted him. "He's a man of his word," the new owner said.
The sale was finalized in December.
"My dream is to bring Jake's back to the glorious days," Alturkman said.
He's put in new bathrooms and is cleaning and painting the deli, and the floors will be redone. But he said he'll be respectful of the deli's historical nature. "We're going to preserve that," Alturkman said.
"The booths and the tables, they have to stay, no matter what," he said. The deli will have table and counter service.
But a couple of things will change. The refrigerated deli case, circa 1973 or so, will have to be replaced. "It's not functioning 100%," Alturkman said, and the company that made it is no longer in business.
And the plexiglass in the front window will be replaced with real glass so customers and passers-by easily can see in.
"We want people to see it's open," he said.
As for any menu changes, "the menu should stay the same," Alturkman said. The deli's original recipes still exist, he said, and he'll work to bring them back.
He hopes to have renovations finished in time for St. Patrick's Day, when diners will be in search of corned beef.
And Alturkman said Selig, whom he calls his biggest supporter, is welcome to make suggestions for Jake's Deli any time.
"Who wouldn't want to learn from the commissioner?" he said.
Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.
Source: https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/02/25/new-owner-buys-jakes-deli-business-and-building-milwaukee/6937513001/
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