Mazos Hamburgers

It all started in 1934. That was the year that my father, John Mazos, opened his first restaurant at 14th Street and Lincoln Avenue in Milwaukee. Times were difficult but John correctly thought that people had to eat. He served his hamburgers for 5 cents each and business prospered. In 1948 John built a new restaurant in 27th Street South of Oklahoma Avenue. At that time 27th Street, which is also Highway 41,  was the main traffic artery into Milwaukee from the South. Mazos opened for business at the location on September 3rd, 1948. Business was brisk, so much so, that the restaurant had to be temporarily closed after only a short while to add more equipment to handle the volume. It was a sign of good things to come. As John's son, I grew up with the business. Most of my non-school hours were spent there learning the trade. When I finished school, I took a full time position at the restaurant until the Army said it was time to serve. Even while in service I would often drive all the way to Milwaukee from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri on the weekends leaves to help cook. The year 1954 brought me back to Milwaukee and the restaurant on 27th Street as my Army service had been completed. It was there that I met a waitress named June. In 1956 June and I were married. As my father moved into retirement, I assumed management responsibility. For many years the restaurant was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This type of schedule required considerable staff. What is the best to get reliable staff? Thinking back on my experience as a youth I decided to work our son John and daughter Jackie into the business. As the nature of the food service business changed, Mazos changed with it and the full service menu was phased out and it became a specialty restaurant. Always the mainstay of Mazos menu, the on-site ground beef was made the basis for the most items on the menu. Our hamburger specialty has been rated number one by Dennis Getto of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and was granted an award for Best Hamburger by citysearch.com. The entire staff of Mazos strives to maintain the expected degree of the excellence of the product we serve. We hope that you enjoy our service and our personally prepared food.