I couldn't help myself. The banner was a bit tattered and torn, and flapping in the wind it made the beautiful patio at Pizza Man look cheap.
Last July, of course, Pizza Man remade the old Lixx space on the corner of Belleview and Downer on Milwaukee East Side into a bright, welcoming open and modern restaurant. It's been a big hit, and its patio stands alone as in the city. As Bobby Tanzilo wrote, it's "unlike most anything else in Milwaukee." I love it.
But, I hated the months old, "Now Open" banner that was ruining the view, the street and the patio's look and feel. So, I tweeted about it. Respectfully, of course. And, nearly instantly, management responded, agreed, and removed the banner.
"Helping Milwaukee help itself," was a bit of a mantra in our early years at OnMilwaukee.com. We're all Milwaukee experts, and we care. So, we if can do our little part to help make minor changes - hey, who's saying that we all can't continue to work together to make Milwaukee better. It's really the little things, people.
Downer Ave. is better because of Pizza Man, and it's now even prettier without that darn banner. Onward and On Milwaukee. And, see you soon at Pizza Man.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
