ONE SEARCH. TWO BUILDINGS.

Long before there was a menu…

Long before there were recipes…

Long before there was even a name…

There was one question I couldn't stop asking myself.

“Where would this restaurant live?”

I've always believed that restaurants are more than just the food they serve.

They're part of a neighborhood.

Part of a downtown.

Part of a community's identity.

You don't simply pick a building because it has enough square footage.

You pick it because it feels right.

That search led me back to Oconomowoc.

So I started looking.

And looking.

And looking.

What I discovered pretty quickly is that finding the right building isn't about finding one that's available. It's about finding one that feels inevitable.

You don't settle just because something is available.

You wait until you find the one.

Over the past few years, I've probably looked at every commercial building in downtown Oconomowoc that has come on the market.

Some were too small.

Some were too large.

Some needed far more work than made financial sense.

Others simply didn't feel like the right fit.

Each time I thought I had found “the one,” something would change.

A lease. A price. A structural issue. A zoning question.

Something always seemed to get in the way.

At first, that was frustrating.

Then I realized something.

The building is one of the most important decisions I'll ever make.

Unlike a menu item, I can't simply swap it out six months later if I change my mind.

The building determines everything.

The kitchen. The dining room. The customer experience. Parking. Storage. Future growth.

Even the personality of the restaurant.

That's not a decision worth rushing.

Eventually, two buildings kept pulling me back.

One sits right on Main Street.

Every time I walked past it, I found myself imagining guests walking through the front door.

I could picture the dining room.

The kitchen.

The conversations.

The energy.

It felt like the restaurant wanted to be there.

The second building surprised me.

Located just around the corner on Wisconsin Avenue, it wasn't originally on my radar.

But the more I studied it, the more possibilities I saw.

Different possibilities.

Maybe not the home for G&C BBQ Company.

Maybe something else entirely.

That's when another idea started forming.

What if there wasn't just one concept?

What if there was room for two?

One centered around the barbecue I've been developing for years.

The other focused on elevated sandwiches, soups, salads, and the comfort food I grew up loving.

That second idea eventually became G&C Sandwich Company.

Will both happen?

I honestly don't know.

That's still years away.

But one thing I do know is that none of these ideas would have happened without walking through those buildings.

Sometimes a building tells you what it wants to become.

Sometimes it doesn't.

The trick is listening.

One thing I've learned throughout this process is that I'm not just searching for real estate.

I'm searching for a place that feels like it belongs.

A place where people will make memories.

Where families will celebrate birthdays.

Where friends will meet after work.

Where someone will walk in for the first time…

…and then keep coming back for years.

Finding that place has taken much longer than I expected.

And honestly…

I'm glad it has.

Good restaurants deserve the right home.

I'm glad I finally found it.