Anybody here remember the “Burger Wars” of 2010? Me, I can’t believe it was 15 years ago. The culmination of (what seemed to be) a friendly competition between local giants Sobelman’s and AJ Bombers was their well-publicized burger battle on TV – an episode of the Travel Channel’s “Food Wars” show. AJ Bombers won the war. But Sobelman’s didn’t take it lying down. They added their burger-that-bit-it to their restaurant menu, naming it, appropriately, The Loser.
Now, the 16-year-old AJ Bombers (1247 N. Water St.) will close in late 2025, as foretold in a press release from owner-operator Benson’s Restaurant Group, a division of Marcus Investments. The lease on the building just across the river from the Fiserv Forum area is up at the end of the year and Marcus says it will not renew it.
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In the release, Marcus Investments CEO David Marcus explained the news in one sentence: “This decision wasn’t an easy one, but it’s one that made the most business sense for our restaurant group as we look to the future.”
Particularly in the early years of its life, AJ Bombers moved the needle in a savvier way than was common back then. When Bombers released a burger topped with bacon and peanut butter, they built sustained momentum around it. As shrewd marketers, founding owners Joe and Angie Sorge built an empire of restaurants under the banner Hospitality Democracy. Marcus Investments took the Sorges’ business portfolio over completely in 2018 and has operated AJ Bombers (and its siblings Onesto, Smoke Shack and Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria) under the Benson’s umbrella since then.
Reached by email, Joe says since the news broke on Thursday he’s heard from Bombers fans “from all over the country, which has been fun and definitely had us feeling nostalgic.”
After leaving Milwaukee, the couple founded a hospitality consulting business in Dallas called SideWork. But in Milwaukee, they leave a legacy of innovation. Nobody was using social media like they did to build their brand. I asked Joe if he and Angie would share their favorite memory of the restaurant. He says it’s “probably a tie between the ‘Food Wars’ victory episode live watch party and ‘Santiago Sunday’ [a mega fundraiser held at AJ Bombers in 2012].”
Over the next several months, Bombers will host “celebrations to help commemorate” the menu, history and décor. The details about those celebrations are still to come.
