The Details (big stuff)

-The Hillcrest Dining Room was located at 8612 West Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53213. The current site is still a restaurant, Eddie Martini's, owned by the DeRosa Group (owners of Chancery, and some other local eateries). They purchased the lot and building in early 1995, I believe, and more or less kept the same structure, which was a 19th century farmhouse (more on that later).
-As far as the humble beginnings of the Hillcrest name, I have no idea. I'm hoping this blog enables some research in that direction. I can tell you that the last day was February 20, 1994, and I worked that day. I can also tell you that I started in August of 1988 at the age of fourteen, and worked at that restaurant, in one capacity or another, until the last day.
-The ownership for my entire tenure was the Klein family. That spelling is correct, to the best of my knowledge. The parents were Adam ("AK"), and his wife Lou, which I always assumed was short for Louise, but I can't say for sure. (From memory), they had three children: Margie, Richard, and Toni (Antoinette, I believe). Margie had nothing to do with place as far as I know. Richard ("Dick") was the owner/operator when I started, and stayed on to run the kitchen during the last years when Adam and Lou stepped back in to run the place. In retrospect, this was some type of bailout, or a prep to sell the place. I was really too young to know for sure, but the idea seems to be that Dick had run into some serious financial trouble in the late 80's and needed help. There was an ex-wife involved, and a downtown restaurant that didn't work out, etc. The younger sister Toni, actually came back to help out and work for the final couple of years. I believe her married name was Timm. She had two daughters and a son. The two daughters, Amanda and Melissa(?), both worked busing tables at the restaurant.
-Now that I think about it (typing this stuff really brings back the memory!), Margie's son Pete, aka "Pistol Pete", was a busboy too. I remember a time, which had to be very embarrassing for the bashful, teenage Pete, when some old bag just destroyed the ladies room at the restaurant. Dick wanted to have Pete put a parrot on his head, and head in to assess the damage. The whole staff just erupted into laughter at this one, while Pete stood there red-faced, not realizing that we weren't laughing at him, but at Dick's hilarious crack.
--20110110
Some comments from our first poster! And they definitely deserve to be included in the details (which will hopefully become more of a timeline/chronology post down the road). This fine anonymous person first posted about their father working at the Hillcrest. I replied (and begged) for more details....and lo and behold! As I mentioned in my reply to the post below, this is very encouraging. Nice to see the internet facilitate a connection that would have otherwise probably never even come close...
Anonymous said...

My father (Casey) worked the Hillcrest as a part-time job (he worked full time at Louis Allis). This was in the 1960's and 1970's when I was a little kid, and left in (I think) 1972 to run our own family tavern in South Milwaukee.

I recall the Christies owning the Hillcrest at that time. Dad never took us to the Hillcrest back then, I'm sure it was too expensive, as he was the sole breadwinner and he commuted back and forth from Tosa to Caledonia (Racine) where we lived at that time.

When my dad died in 1996, (he was 79) I posted on his obit that he worked the Hillcrest, Mrs. Christie did respond with her condolences.

That's about all I know.