Tosa Restaurant Won’t Open May 1st After All

Dan Zierath‘s plans to reopen Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub in Wauwatosa to dine-in service on May 1st, violating the state’s “Safer at Home” order, are off.

“I am very sad to say that we will not be opening up Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub May 1. It’s a terrible feeling and I feel like I am letting so many people down. The support and the love that I have received in the past week not to mention people thanking me for doing what I was doing more than outweighed all the trolls that gave me a hard time for 72 hours,” wrote Zierath on Facebook.

What changed? “The fact of the matter is I just got off the phone with the assistant city attorney in Wauwatosa and she cannot guarantee me that I would not be putting all my licenses in jeopardy,” he continued.

The Zierath Restaurant Group owns and operates Jackson’s in Wauwatosa, Zisters in Elm Grove and the Thirsty Duck in Wauwatosa and Sussex. The group acquired Parkway Pub in West Milwaukee in late 2019 and will reopen it as another Jackson’s.

Zisters is open for carryout, as the order allows.

“I beg governor Tony Evers to please reconsider and let businesses open up May 1 as long as they do it safely and follow guidelines. I am so sorry to all my supporters, But I obviously cannot jeopardize my business,” he wrote.

That was a markedly different tone than his original remarks. “I’ve worked hard to [sic] let this pencil neck lil [sic] bitch crush my dreams,” wrote Zierath on Facebook almost two weeks ago.

Zierath, a Brookfield resident, was one of the hundreds of people that protested Evers’ order outside Brookfield Square Mall on Saturday, April 18th.

His original plan to defy the order drew opposition from his family and his attorney.

“Just to clear the air, Zisters will absolutely NOT be opening to the public before the governor allows us. Thank you for your continued support through all of this,” wrote Zierath’s daughters Betsi and Gabbi on Facebook.

Mark Zierath, Dan’s brother, is the majority owner of Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub: Downtown and took to Facebook to declare that his location will not be opening. “To clarify we are under different ownership from the Jackson’s in Tosa. We do not share in any of his views or opinions. We will most definitely NOT be opening until the stay at home order has been lifted. Thank you for your continued support,” wrote the restaurant owner.

Dan Zierath, who previously said he received approval for a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, said the issue wasn’t about him or his business.

“I stated from the get-go that Zierath Restaurant Group would be fine regardless if we open now or if we opened two months from now. We were well compensated to withstand the shut down. The reason we were so well compensated is because of sales and we have massive payrolls between the four restaurants every two weeks,” he wrote. “This cause was always about the small mom-and-pop businesses that do not have large payrolls and will not receive any compensation or very little compensation. There will be thousands of businesses across our country that will not make it through this.”