Over 100 Years of Family Tradition
The story of Sloppy Joe's is best told the way you experience the building itself: by starting with the people welcoming you through the doors today, then looking back at the generations who made those doors worth walking through. For more than a century, this Cream City brick building in downtown Hubertus has served many purposes and carried many names. But one thing has remained remarkably consistent: this has always been a gathering place for the community.
A New Chapter: The Prostek Family
On June 1, 2026, the newest chapter in that long story began when Joe and Ellen Hennes passed the ownership torch to Matt Prostek and his family. Matt, Josh, Greg, and Colleen Prostek bring deep Southeast Wisconsin roots, a strong work ethic, entrepreneurial experience, and a shared commitment to family and community.
When Joe and Ellen began looking for the right people to carry Sloppy Joe's forward, they saw in the Prostek family the same values they believed were necessary to protect what had been built here. For the Prosteks, taking ownership isn't about reinventing Sloppy Joe's. It's about becoming the next stewards of something that already means a great deal to a lot of people.
The familiar faces, community spirit, and traditions remain. So do the favorites that have become part of the Sloppy Joe's experience: Sunday morning scratch-made breakfast, Saturday smoked prime rib, Friday Fish Fry, jumbo wings, cold draft beer in the biergarten, and weekend dinners with family and friends.
The goal is simple: preserve what people love while bringing fresh energy to the years ahead. That approach reflects how the ownership transition has been shared with the community from the beginning: passing the torch, continuing traditions, and respecting the relationships that made Sloppy Joe's what it is today.
The Hennes Era: Restoring a Hubertus Landmark
To understand what the Prostek family inherited, you have to go back to February 2003. That's when Joe and Ellen Hennes purchased the historic property and began a 23-year chapter of their own. Driven by a desire to keep 'Old-World Hubertus' thriving, Joe and Ellen carefully restored the building rather than simply modernizing it. Original scrollwork hidden beneath old siding was uncovered. Time-period windows and stained glass returned. A German-style biergarten was created. Piece by piece, the history of the building was allowed to show itself again.
But Joe and Ellen's legacy goes beyond restoration. Over more than two decades, they built Sloppy Joe's into a family-oriented landmark centered on excellent food, fun, laughter, and the people who gathered there. In 2026, they passed that landmark, and the responsibility that comes with it, to another local family.
Before Sloppy Joe's
Long before the Sloppy Joe's name appeared on the building, people were already gathering here. Early records show the property serving as a vital Hubertus hub around the turn of the 20th century, operating at different times as a general store, hotel, and neighborhood saloon.
Through the era of the Goshel Tavern and Dance Hall and beyond, the property became part of everyday community life. There were local parades and celebrations, weekend chicken broasts, competitive games of Sheepshead, and generations of neighbors coming through its doors. Some of the stories belong unmistakably to another time, including memories of local children being sent over carrying tin pails to fetch fresh beer for their families.
Names changed. Owners changed. Hubertus changed. The purpose of this place didn't. For more than 100 years, people have come to this corner of Hubertus to eat, drink, celebrate, catch up, tell stories, and spend time together.
Today, the Prostek family simply gets to carry that tradition forward. And perhaps that is why a motto associated with Sloppy Joe's feels less like a slogan and more like a description of what has been happening inside these walls for generations: 'Where strangers become friends and friends become family.'
Stop in soon. There are more chapters still to be written.
