13-03-2025
Oconomowoc's Olympia Fields may get two new restaurants: First Watch and Chipotle
OCONOMOWOC - A property owner has set the table for the addition of two new restaurants at the base of Oconomowoc's blossoming Olympia Fields development area.
A portion of the massive residential development including what was once Olympia hotel and resort land west of Summit Avenue includes a segment set aside for commercial development. If plans hold, the 1.89-acre commercial spot will split into two separate lots — one for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill and the other for a less familiar restaurant brand called First Watch.
That tidbit emerged from a March 5 meeting of the city's Plan Commission, which considered a certified survey map with the lot split just north of Pabst Drive by the project manager, Christopher White for RA Smith, and property owner Cory Presnick, of Miami.
According to city documents, the lot is in the process of being sold to Presnick for commercial development. Olympia Fields LLC and Majers LLC were listed as the current property owner applicants on a March 5 city planning report and other documents focused on the restaurants themselves.
The Common Council must approve the lot split before any plans can proceed. It's expected to consider the matter March 18.
Chipotle, obviously, is a well-known brand, with nearly 10,000 locations in the U.S. alone, plus dozens more in Canada, Great Britain and France. It has 10 Milwaukee-area locations and 30 in Wisconsin. It would open a 2,300-square-foot restaurant on a new 0.7-acre lot at 1299 Olympia Fields Drive.
First Watch, on the other hand, is a 500-location chain that has been expanding into the Milwaukee metro area only in recent years, beginning in Brookfield in 2011 and Pewaukee shortly thereafter. The Florida-based breakfast-brunch-lunch café chain, open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, now has four locations nearby. It would open a 3,800-square-foot restaurant on a new 1.2-acre lot at 1295 Olympia Fields Drive.
An opening date is not expected to be announced until plans are finalized. No building permits will be issued until the certified survey map is signed, Oconomowoc City Planner Jason Gallo said.
The latest plans come on top of the city's recent approval for a Panera Bread location in that same segment of Olympia Fields. That proposal, originally approved in 2022, re-emerged last summer in a slightly different location, with an Olympia Fields Drive address, not Summit Avenue. It's expected to open in latter half of this year.
The broader Olympia Fields development area is led by developer Wangard Partners. It includes apartments and commercial lots, including the redevelopment of the old Kmart building, which now includes a Sendik's supermarket and other businesses. That commercial collection of businesses neighbors the Panera, Chipotle and First Watch restaurant properties.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Plans for two new restaurants at Olympia Fields in Oconomowoc
