10-04-2025
Pizza and beer makers, plus senior living, open in time for spring season in Waukesha area
As spring blooms, three businesses have begun adding to the newness of the season in Waukesha County, though with some perennial favorites and necessities.
Voodoo Brewing in Delafield, Glass Nickel Pizza in Waukesha and The Westerly senior community in Pewaukee have emerged following months of planning in central and western parts of Waukesha County.
A veteran culinary pro and beer lover has poured his passion into a franchise reaching into Wisconsin for the first time. Voodoo Brewing Co., founded in 2005 in Pennsylvania, has opened at The Grain building at 705 N. Genesee St., in downtown Delafield, under the direction of franchisee Bryan Ronning.
According to a news release from a marketing company on behalf of Voodoo, Ronning has decades of experience in the hospitality industry, starting when he made pizzas at age 14 and eventually expanding his vocation as an executive chef at a large catering company.
Ronning said Wisconsin's reputation as a sort of beer capital was part of a formula for success for the first Voodoo franchise in the state. Delafield represented an area of pointed interest. "It's an untapped market in the area that's looking for a craft beer destination," he said in the release. "There's really nothing else like it around where we're going."
The brewpub, which opened in mid-March, has a "communal" atmosphere, with large tables inviting patrons to simply walk in and find an open seat, he said.
The menu includes locally-inspired foods and Voodoo Brewing Co.'s 'liquid gold' craft beer, along with craft cocktails and hard seltzers. The business is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
A 27-year-old statewide franchise that started in Madison has found an operator for a second Milwaukee-area location, this time along a road where pizza choices are common. Glass Nickel Pizza opened recently in the newest outbuilding on the shopping center once defined by Kmart, along Sunset Drive near East Avenue.
Like elsewhere, the Waukesha location, 116 E. Sunset Drive, features a variety of pizzas (with 25 specialties), but the menu also includes a salad bar, sub sandwiches, baked pastas and chicken. It's available for dining in or delivery. Specials, including pizza of the month offers, are listed on the local franchise's Facebook page.
The business is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Glass Nickel Pizza has nine other locations in Wisconsin, including one in Brookfield.
An apartment complex for senior living and specialized care, announced in 2023, has now opened.
The Westerly Pewaukee features about 140 apartments — under a partnership with Matter Development, ICAP Development and Koru Health — on a 4.7-acre parcel on the east side of Highway 164 along Swan Road. It's a neighborhood just north of Capitol Drive that is Pewaukee's largest commerce center, which the senior center is marketing as a convenience feature for its residents.
Walmart, Costco and Menards, smaller shops in Meadow Creek Market, an Aldi store and a Walgreens, plus several casual and fine-dining restaurants, are among the businesses in close proximity to The Westerly, 409 Swan Road.
Residents who committed to space began moving in April 1, nine days before a ribbon-cutting event celebrating the end of a 20-month construction effort.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at
Do you have a retail business, restaurant or entertainment venue that's opening or has recently opened in Waukesha County? Email us at news@ with some information about the business and contacts.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha County new businesses include brewer, pizzeria, senior living
