Restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut's budding Lake Geneva eatery on Wells Street, Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots, opened in 1973 as the area's first Chicago-styled hot dog stand. Defly catering to the area's large unflux of Chicago area tourists and introducing Wisconsinites to Windy City culinary staples like Chicago Dogs, Maxwell Street Polish sausages and Italian beef sandwiches, Ronnie's by May 1978, as seen here, had doubled its seating capacity to 60 diners to handle its large crowd of customers. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Mikrut, 77, recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11, cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business.
Eric Johnson
Restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut cuts pizzas in July 1981 at his Ronnie's Place restaurant on Wells Street in Lake Geneva. Opened in 1973 as Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots, the restaurant expanded multiple times over the years as its menu grew to include burgers, Mexican specialities, sandwiches and Chicago-style pizzas. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Now 77, Mikrut recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11 cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business, moving to Lake Geneva in 1973.
Eric Johnson
Opened by restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut in 1973 as a simple Chicago-styled hot dog stand, Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots had grown and evolved by June 1985 into Ronnie's Place. Located on Wells Street in Lake Geneva, the restaurant had expanded to include a popular outdoor beer garden and a wide-ranging menu that included Chicago-style pizza, Mexican entrees, burgers, sandwiches and its foundational menu of Windy City cuisine including Chicago Dogs, Maxwell Street Polish sausages and Italian beef. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Now 77, Mikrut recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11 cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business, moving to Lake Geneva in 1973.
For would-be entrepreneurs ready to roll up their sleeves as restaurateurs, $1.7 million will fetch them a super-sized slice of the Walworth County dining action, a piece of pie — pizza, that is.
Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub. N1070 County Hwy. H in Pell Lake, has been listed for sale at $1.7 million with @Properties Lake Geneva. The iconic Walworth County eatery, opened in 1991 by veteran restauranteur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, Sr., traces its roots through various Mikrut restaurant ventures back to a 1959 Chicago sidewalk red hot and tamale stand.
Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub in Pell Lake (Bloomfield) has been a popular gathering place for residents and visitors alike since its opening in 1991. Owner Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, 77, has put the restaurant up for sale, having started in the restaurant business at age 11 in his native Chicago. Mikrut's wife Stephanie, front-of-house manager and for many the public face of Upper Crust, said she she’ll also miss the restaurant when it sells and changes hands: “I will miss the customers. I enjoy seeing the people and becoming a part of their lives. It’s a family place. You get personal. They become a part of your life. It’s like family. It is family. It’s like our home.”
Veteran restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, Sr. started his career in 1959 when he took ownership of this small woodframe red hot and tamale stand that once stood at the busy bus stop corner of 18th and Laflin streets in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. The stand is now displayed above the entrance in Mikrut's most recent restaurant venture, Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub, opened in 1991 in Pell Lake. Now 77, Mikrut has made the "bittersweet" decision to list Upper Crust for sale: “I love it, I love every day I’m here, but there’s a time you start slowing down and it’s hard to keep up with the pace. It’s time to retire. It’s time. At my age, it’s just hard handling everything.”
Today a 66-year restaurant industry veteran, since 1991 as the owner of Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub in Pell Lake (Bloomfield), entrepreneur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut is seen serving up hot dogs in May 1975 at Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots on Wells Street in Lake Geneva. Launching his career at a sidewalk Chicago red hot and tamale stand at age 11 for "a quarter a day and a hot dog," Mikrut has listed Upper Crust for sale with plans to retire.
In 57 Photos: Scenes along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Bumble bee feeds on Dame's Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Black Raspberry along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Black Walnut along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Box Elder along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Overgrown Milwaukee Road concrete electrical box base along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Canadian Anemone along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Carolina Rose along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Cleavers (Catchweed bedstraw, stickyweed) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Common Burdock (Cuckoo-button) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Common Milkweed along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Common Yarrow along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Cow Parley (Wild Chervil) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Dame's Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Eastern Daisy Fleabane along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Eastern Trailhead signs at Farmer's Gateway Park in downtown Clinton
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Milwaukee Road electrical box along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
American elm along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
End of the line at the western trailhead of the Pelishek-Tiffany nature trail at North Road at Allens Grove near Darien
Lingering vestiges of the old Milwaukee Road railway, such as this enduring steel rail west of North Road, endure along the 5.8-mile rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail in Walworth and Rock Counties between Allens Grove and Clinton.
Eric Johnson
Scenic farm view along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Ground Ivy (Creeping Charlie) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Hoary Alyssum patch along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
PT Looking south at the Milwaukee Road switching station at Bardwell rail line junction near Darien, June 1983..jpg
Looking south from the Milwaukee Road's diamond railway interchange at the Bardwell interlocking station in the Town of Darien in June 1983. The Milwaukee Road abandoned its 6.2-mile line southwest from Bardwell to Clinton a few months prior in February 1983. The section of tracks pictured here is now operated by the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. The bankrupt Milwaukee Road's whitewashed clapboard interlocking station at Bardwell has since been razed.
Eric Johnson
Milwaukee Road freight train heading northeast on the Southwest Division toward the Bardwell junction near Darien, 1976..jpg
A Milwaukee Road freight train heads northeast on the Southwest Division line from Clinton toward the diamond interchange at unincorporated Bardwell near Allens Grove and Darien in 1976. The 6.2-mile line pictured here between Bardwell and Clinton was abandoned by the bankrupt Milwaukee Road in February 1983.
Eric Johnson
Multiflora Rose along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Nature overtakes old Milwaukee Road telegraph polealong the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Ohio Spiderwort along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Old Milwaukee Road concrete box drainage culvertalong the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Oxeye Daisies along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Old Milwaukee Road telegraph pole along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail between Allens Grove and Clinton still bears its "54" mile marker
Eric Johnson
Prickly Wild Rose.along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Patch of purple and white Dame's Rockets along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Circa-2000 Tiffany/Turner Memorial Rest Area along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
The 5.8-mile rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail (PTNT) offers a number of rest areas, rest benches and rest shelters along the repurposed Milwaukee Road railway right-of-way between Allens Grove in Walworth County and Clinton in Rock County.
Eric Johnson
Riverbank Grape (Frost Grape) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Milwaukee Road signal stand remnants hidden in the brush along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Abandoned remnants of an old Milwaukee Road signal stand lie hidden in Virginia creeper and cleavers along the 5.8-mile rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail in Walworth and Rock counties between Allens Grove and Clinton.
Eric Johnson
Shaded trail section along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Abandoned Milwaukee Road signal control box hidden in undergrowth along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
The Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail's nearly 130-year legacy as a Milwaukee Road railway corridor is still evident here and there along the 5.8-mile multi-use recreation trail in a peek-a-boo fashion for the eagle-eyed. Here, an abandoned Milwaukee Road signal control box lies hidden in the trailside underbrush.
Eric Johnson
Sulphur Cinquefoil along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Telegraph pole with enduring wires and glass insulators along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Clues to the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail's former longtime use as a Milwaukee Road railway corridor have in many places been enveloped the nature since the line's February 1983 abandonment by the bankrupt railroad. Here, a telegraph pole hidden in the treeline along the mullti-use recreation trail still sports its wires and colorful glass insulators.
Eric Johnson
Traces of the old Milwaukee Road line along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail near Clinton in Rock County
Eric Johnson
Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
ABOVE: Seen near its western trailhead near North Road in the unincorporated Walworth County hamlet of Allens Grove, the 5.8-mile rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail traverses former Milwaukee Road railroad right-of-way between Allens Grove and Clinton in Rock County. The 64.3-acre linear park, purchased by Rock County Parks in 1995, accommodates a variety of users year-round, including winter snowmobilers and cross-country skiers and warm-weather hikers, bikers, horseback riders, joggers and bird-watchers.
Eric Johnson
Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Treacle Mustard along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
White Campion along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Wild Asparagus along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Wild Four O'Clock along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Naturalized over the past four decades, the 5.8-mile, 64.3-acre Pelishek-Tiffany Trail Trail corridor on the old Milwaukee Road right-of-way between Allens Grove in Walworth County and Clinton in Rock County features a wide variety of trees, bushes and wildflowers, including Wild Four O’Clock as seen here.
Eric Johnson
Wild Parsnip along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Wild Parsnip along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Dames Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Discarded Milwaukee Road telegraph wire along the Peleshek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Paradise apple along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail main trailhead at Farmers Nature Trail Gateway in Clinton
The Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail's main trailhead on Mill Street in Clinton features a parking area, restroom facility, picnic tables, a gazebo-styled pavilion and a small covered bridge walkway connecting the parking lot to the multi-purpose recreational rail-trail on 5.8 miles of former Milwaukee Road corridor between Clinton in Rock County and Allens Grove in Walworth County.
Eric Johnson
Honey Locust along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
White Mulberry.along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Smooth Solomon's Seal along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
Eric Johnson
Farming scene along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail
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Eric Johnson
One of Walworth County’s most popular and iconic Italian eateries, Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub, N1070 County Hwy. H in Pell Lake (Bloomfield), has been listed for sale.
Veteran restaurateur Ronald “Ronnie” Mikrut, Sr. started his career in 1959 when he took ownership of this small woodframe red hot and tamale stand that once stood at the busy bus stop corner of 18th and Laflin streets in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. The stand is now displayed in Mikrut’s most recent restaurant venture, Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub, opened in 1991 in Pell Lake. Now 77, Mikrut has made the “bittersweet” decision to list Upper Crust for sale: “I love it, I love every day I’m here, but there’s a time you start slowing down and it’s hard to keep up with the pace. It’s time to retire. It’s time. At my age, it’s just hard handling everything.”
Pell Lake residents and restaurateurs Stephanie and Ronnie Mikrut have listed Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub for sale with @properties Lake Geneva. The restaurant venture, opened in 1991 at N1070 County Hwy. H in 1991, traces its roots back to a sidewalk Chicago red hot stand opened by Ronnie, now 77, in 1959. The decision to put the restaurant up for sale and retire was a difficult one for Mikrut, who started his restaurant career at age 11 for a quarter a day and a hot dog: “If it sells, when it sells, for me it’s gonna be bittersweet ... I’m gonna be sad to leave. I’m gonna be happy that I can retire and take my wife and do things and spend more time with my family outside of working, but then I’m also gonna miss it — what do I do now? — because I’m also so used to doing it every day. I love it. I love what I’m doing. I walk in here every day, seven days a week, and I like it.”
Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub. N1070 County Hwy. H in Pell Lake, has been listed for sale at $1.7 million with @Properties Lake Geneva. The iconic Walworth County eatery, opened in 1991 by veteran restauranteur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, Sr., traces its roots through various Mikrut restaurant ventures back to a 1959 Chicago sidewalk red hot and tamale stand.
Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub in Pell Lake (Bloomfield) has been a popular gathering place for residents and visitors alike since its opening in 1991. Owner Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, 77, has put the restaurant up for sale, having started in the restaurant business at age 11 in his native Chicago. Mikrut's wife Stephanie, front-of-house manager and for many the public face of Upper Crust, said she she’ll also miss the restaurant when it sells and changes hands: “I will miss the customers. I enjoy seeing the people and becoming a part of their lives. It’s a family place. You get personal. They become a part of your life. It’s like family. It is family. It’s like our home.”
Among the specialties of the house at Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub in Pell Lake (Bloomfield) are the Sicilian-styled pizzas featuring fresh hand-pressed dough and a special blend of cheeses and spices not used on the restaurants regular pizzas. The restaurant, opened in 1991, was recently been listed for sale by owner Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, Sr., 77, who began his career in the restaurant business at age 11 in his native Chicago.
Today a 66-year restaurant industry veteran, since 1991 as the owner of Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub in Pell Lake (Bloomfield), entrepreneur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut is seen serving up hot dogs in May 1975 at Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots on Wells Street in Lake Geneva. Launching his career at a sidewalk Chicago red hot and tamale stand at age 11 for "a quarter a day and a hot dog," Mikrut has listed Upper Crust for sale with plans to retire.
Restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut's budding Lake Geneva eatery on Wells Street, Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots, opened in 1973 as the area's first Chicago-styled hot dog stand. Defly catering to the area's large unflux of Chicago area tourists and introducing Wisconsinites to Windy City culinary staples like Chicago Dogs, Maxwell Street Polish sausages and Italian beef sandwiches, Ronnie's by May 1978, as seen here, had doubled its seating capacity to 60 diners to handle its large crowd of customers. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Mikrut, 77, recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11, cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business.
Restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut cuts pizzas in July 1981 at his Ronnie's Place restaurant on Wells Street in Lake Geneva. Opened in 1973 as Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots, the restaurant expanded multiple times over the years as its menu grew to include burgers, Mexican specialities, sandwiches and Chicago-style pizzas. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Now 77, Mikrut recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11 cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business, moving to Lake Geneva in 1973.
Opened by restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut in 1973 as a simple Chicago-styled hot dog stand, Ronnie's Vienna Red Hots had grown and evolved by June 1985 into Ronnie's Place. Located on Wells Street in Lake Geneva, the restaurant had expanded to include a popular outdoor beer garden and a wide-ranging menu that included Chicago-style pizza, Mexican entrees, burgers, sandwiches and its foundational menu of Windy City cuisine including Chicago Dogs, Maxwell Street Polish sausages and Italian beef. In 1991, Mikrut opened 100-seat Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub 10 miles southeast of downtown Lake Geneva in Pell Lake (Bloomfield). Now 77, Mikrut recently put Upper Crust up for sale with plans to retire after a 66-year run in the restaurant business. Mikrut got his start at age 11 cleaning a Chicago red hot stand for "a quarter a day and a hot dog." Within three years, at age 14 in 1959, he owned the business, moving to Lake Geneva in 1973.
Veteran restaurateur Ronald "Ronnie" Mikrut, Sr. started his career in 1959 when he took ownership of this small woodframe red hot and tamale stand that once stood at the busy bus stop corner of 18th and Laflin streets in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. The stand is now displayed above the entrance in Mikrut's most recent restaurant venture, Upper Crust Pizzeria & Pub, opened in 1991 in Pell Lake. Now 77, Mikrut has made the "bittersweet" decision to list Upper Crust for sale: “I love it, I love every day I’m here, but there’s a time you start slowing down and it’s hard to keep up with the pace. It’s time to retire. It’s time. At my age, it’s just hard handling everything.”
