Corned Beef Restaurant To Replace Buffalo Boss
Fast-growing local chain Mae Velma's Corned Beef plans fourth location.
540 N. 27th St. Photo taken Sept. 5, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
The Buffalo Boss restaurant space at 540 N. 27th St. will soon be home to Mae Velma’s Corned Beef.
Tyron Smith, owner of the popular local chain, will occupy the recently built-out restaurant space with his fourth Mae Velma’s location. A fast-tracked opening is planned in the coming weeks. Buffalo Boss closed last fall, a year after substantially renovating the building.
Mae Velma’s is named in honor of Smith’s late mother—his original kitchen mentor and a continuing source of inspiration. The restaurant specializes in corned beef, a childhood favorite of Smith’s, offering the salt-cured meat on sandwiches, on reuben rolls or by the pound.
The menu, identical across each location, also features Italian beef, fried catfish, perch, shrimp and grits, chicken wings, chicken tenders and more, along with desserts like coconut cake, caramel cake and turtle cheesecake.
“My mother taught me how to cook to begin with,” Smith told Urban Milwaukee. “So when she passed, I’m like, ‘Man, you know what? I’m tired of working for all these other people … you know, I’m gonna just do my own thing, and I’m gonna name it after my mother.'”
With a degree in culinary arts and hands-on experience from several local establishments, Smith opted to make his own way as a chef and business owner in 2017, launching his flagship location at 4101 N. 76th St.
Seven years later, Smith’s portfolio includes two additional restaurants at 3872 N. Teutonia Ave. and 7276 N. Teutonia Ave. Smith also opened an ice cream shop, Belle’s, in mid-February, serving flavors like banana brownie, cookies and cream, and his mother’s favorite, butter pecan.
Smith’s passion keeps him energized to run four restaurants, a dessert shop and a food truck. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do,” he said. “I love this. That’s why I do it. If anybody cares to know why I do it — why everybody else is closing and I’m opening — it’s because I love it.”
The building’s previous tenant, Buffalo Boss, opened its first standalone location there in September 2023 to great fanfare after four years at Sherman Phoenix Marketplace. The restaurant, part of a larger chain backed by Shawn Carter (better known by his stage name Jay-Z), also previously operated in Brooklyn. Its sole remaining location is in Orlando.
Buffalo Boss owner Taj Pearsall closed the business last September and indicated he planned to reopen in early 2025. He appeared before the Licenses Committee to renew his license last week, but didn’t comment on the future of the restaurant when questioned by committee members.
Prior to opening, Pearsall spent several years transforming the building, built in 1974 as an Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips restaurant. The building had been boarded up since at least 2007. The revamped space includes a service counter, dining room and flexible outdoor seating, plus three ordering kiosks.
Smith expects to close on a purchase agreement Thursday. He said the kiosks aren’t part of his business plan. “That’s not my style,” he said, noting that he’ll focus on counter service.
A license application for the new restaurant is pending before the Milwaukee Common Council. If approved, Mae Velma’s could open within the week, following a final inspection and a few touch-ups to personalize the space.
Smith’s proposed hours of operation are 10 a.m. to midnight daily.
Site of Mae Velma’s Corned Beef, 3872 N. Teutonia Ave. Photo courtesy of Tyron Smith.
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