Archie's Flat Top raises customers' expectations of burgers in West Allis

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19-05-2025

Mark Lutz spent most of his life as an engineer before growing tired of corporate life. In 2002, he began his entrepreneurship journey by acquiring the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe.
In 2023, Lutz expanded his presence in the local food scene with Archie's Flat Top, a burger joint known for its fresh, locally sourced meat and decorative vinyl walls.
You can find Archie's at 6922 W. Becher St., a street where Lutz also owns several other businesses. Contrary to popular belief, the burger joint was not named after Archie Bunker – the lead character in the 1970s TV show "All in the Family," but after Lutz's daughter's sheepadoodle.
Archie's shares its space with Scratch Ice Cream, offering customers the chance to enjoy handcrafted burgers and local ice cream under one roof.
The restaurant specializes in three signature smashburgers: the Single, the Double and the Archie, along with a vegetarian option called the Linda. Archie's also serves two types of sausages — hot Polish and Schlitzwurst.
In the past, special menu items have included options such as a five-bologna sandwich and a chicken sandwich called The Bird, according to Lutz. Shareables, such as fries and onion rings, are also available.
The meat at Archie's is ground fresh daily at Becher Meats, the butcher shop next door, also owned by Lutz. Any unused meat is returned and turned into fresh beef sticks.
Lutz emphasizes that the burgers are never frozen and are made with a proprietary grind ratio that achieves a perfect crust during the cooking process.
"Every day you get fresh burger meat ― we grind that fresh every single day. It never sees a freezer," he said. "What we don't use today goes back, and we start over the next day. That's the big thing."
The burger joint was included in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Best Bites list in February.
Purchasing the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe marked the beginning of Lutz's restaurant career. The store was one of the first tenants at the Milwaukee Public Market and is still there.
But things weren't always easy for the budding restaurateur.
"We used to do a lot of cheese shipping at the holidays," he said. "That's where we made our money, (but) terrible business. You work all night long, 24 hours a day for four weeks out of the year."
Lutz said they decided to shift gears and build a restaurant, utilizing inexpensive buildings, including an old corner gas station that became Station No. 6.
Usually once a week, Lutz said he and staff would do food pop-ups at the restaurant. One featuring smash burgers became so popular "we did it again and again, and people were going nuts over it," he said.
Lutz also owns The Bake Sale, another business located near South 69th Street and West Becher Street in West Allis.
'I grew up in the neighborhood. All these buildings were underutilized,' Lutz said. 'The cheese store was existing and had a good reputation, so we just kind of grew from there.'
Oscar Gonzales, a culinary student at Milwaukee Area Technical College, works at Archie's and plans to stay after graduating in May.
'I started here like a year and a half ago,' Gonzales said. "They were pretty nice to me. I prayed, and they hired me very quickly."
He said the job pays well and is flexible, allowing him to work while going to school.
Looking ahead, Lutz plans to introduce a secret menu that includes a sandwich he describes as 'maybe not heart-healthy but irresistibly good.'
Lutz credits the restaurant's success to quality food and community support.
'The community's been very good to us, and the neighborhood's been good," Lutz said. "We're drawing people from outside the neighborhood, so it's going good."
Archie's is open Wednesday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 9:30 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Adrienne Davis is a south suburban reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Got any tips or stories to share? Contact Adrienne at [e-mail]. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Archie's Flat Top serves up fresh burgers in West Allis