Lisa’s Pizza is Still For Sale, For $750,000
The restaurant has been in the Bongiorno family for six decades. "Once in a lifetime" opportunity.
Site of Lisa’s Pizza, 2961 N. Oakland Ave. Photo taken March 27, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Back in February, the longtime owners of Lisa’s Pizza, Gary and Teresa Bongiorno, decided to put the restaurant up for sale.
The choice wasn’t an easy one for the couple, who have been involved in the business, 2961 N. Oakland Ave., since its 196o opening. Not just that, they also met while working there, and have celebrated many an anniversary while tossing pizzas for dinner service.
“It’s just so hard,” Gary told Urban Milwaukee in March. “Neither one of us really want to retire.”
But nine months later, the couple, who co-own the restaurant with Gary’s brother, Scott, are going forward with the sale, as evidenced by an online listing for the business and its building.
The restaurant, which faces Oakland Avenue, is being sold as a package deal along with a three-bedroom apartment located above the business. The sale would also include Lisa’s furniture, fixtures and equipment — including a Blodgett pizza oven — along with the Bongiorno family’s recipes for pizza, pasta, Italian sausage and other specialty items.
The latter is sure to be key for future owners, who will also inherit the restaurant’s title and — with any luck — a long list of regular customers.
But the Bongiornos, who have committed regulars’ individual orders, addresses and even phone numbers to memory, leave big shoes to fill.
Nonetheless, the listing touts the property as “a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of Milwaukee’s East Side history.” It also notes that Lisa’s has “many loyal customers” who have returned time and again, and touched on the restaurant’s “thriving” delivery and to-go businesses.
The building and business, with a combined 2,640 square feet of space, is priced at $750,000.
The Bongiorno family has owned the building, originally built in 1904, for several decades. The property is assessed for $505,800, but that doesn’t account for the value of the business.
Interested parties can find more information online.
Lisa’s Pizza will continue operations as usual for the foreseeable future. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Another long-standing pizza joint also recently passed to new ownership. Maria’s Pizza, 5025 W. Forest Home Ave., went up for sale in June 2022 after 65 years in business.
The restaurant has been closed since then, but was recently purchased by Brian and Jenny Francis, who plan to reopen Maria’s in 2024. State real estate transfer records value the real estate portion of that transaction at $300,000.
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I hope Gary and Teresa have a long and wonderful retirement! Best restaurant on the east side – we will miss them!
We’ve been ordering pizzas from Lisa’s for the past 47 years and never been disappointed. During that time Gary & Theresa’s business has provided our neighborhood with the beat pizza in town and like so many eastsiders we have high hopes the some enterprising folks will recognize a great opportunity and continues the tradition….without changing the recipe one iota.