Restaurant owner to bring a pizza place back to Saukville

The owner of two pizzerias is planning to open a pizza place in downtown Saukville’s “bank” building.

Michael Herbert, who owns Michaleno’s Pizzaria locations in West Bend and Kewaskum, purchased the property at 234 Dekora St. in July.

“I’m looking forward to hiring people from Saukville. That helps me put a face on the business with the community,” he said. “I’m excited to start interacting with the residents and customers.”

Herbert said he is finalizing his business and site plans this month and hopes to start serving customers in the next three to six months.

“There’s no rush on this,” he said. “I want to have a soft opening so my employees can feel comfortable and learn the job at a slower pace.”

He said he wants to maintain the integrity of the historic brick building as much as possible and highlight its bank vault. Herbert is also seeking to add more parking spots at the location, which currently has two spaces.

Among Herbert’s 25 employees are his four sons Mike, Ryan, Greg and Dan and his wife Deborah. He expects the new location will have half a dozen workers.

He said he wanted to open a third location so his sons can eventually take over the family business.

Herbert said he chose Saukville as a new site because of its small-town feel, but added that he expects to draw customers from surrounding communities.

“The outskirts population can bring in about 10,000 to 20,000 people. Saukville is virtually neighbors with Port Washington,” he said.

By choosing the bank building for this third restaurant, Herbert is bringing a pizzeria back to the site. The building, which most recently was home to E-Collectique, a luxury resale clothing store, was the Pizza Bank before that.

Herbert wants to make a name for his business in Saukville by participating in community events and fundraisers.

“I really want to embrace the community and we want to help out anyway we can,” he said.

Herbert was a finance manager for 31 years, but said he’s been involved in the pizza industry for more than 40 years by helping out friends at various restaurants.

When he opened his up his first location in Kewaskum in 2008, he said, it led him to eventually quit his day job in the financial sector.

“When I decided to make the jump, it was a dream, hobby and investment all rolled into one,” he said.