September 8, 2026 – West Bend, Wi – The sign on the door at Charcoal Grill, 3650 W. Washington Street, in West Bend, Wi, reads “We are ‘temporality’ closed. We will try and be back after the holiday weekend. Sorry for any inconvenience’s.”
There is also a sign in the parking lot that echos a similar message: “Temporarily closed! We will try to be back as soon as we can! Sorry!!”
There’s been a rush of reaction regarding the status of the local restaurant on Shepherds Drive after a Milwaukee TV station reported a similar franchise shut its doors in Oak Creek.
Over the years Charcoal Grill has had a tough go of it in West Bend. The franchise, owned by a New Berlin-based company, originally built the restaurant in West Bend in 2001. While there were rave reviews, it then closed six short years later in February 2007.
A series of independent restaurants tried making it in the same location including businessman Paul ‘J.R.’ Salinas who opened West Side Pub in August 2008. He was forced to close by the middle of 2009 after the city denied renewal of his liquor license because of alleged illegal activities.
In October 2010 Pastor Leo Bailey and some business partners opened Sports Beat Bar & Eatery. That ran its course in about 10 months; Bailey blamed the heavy cost of overhead and lack of business during the weekday as the reason he closed.
The building sat empty for a few years, save for Russ Darrow using the parking lot to showcase some of his trucks.
Then in October 2013 there was an announcement, Charcoal Grill & Rotisserie would reopen in its old location on W. Washington Street. “We are going to open that store in West Bend in spring of 2014,” said Jeff Marsh, President of Char-Grill, Inc. “We are reopening because we feel the economic conditions have improved and we are changing the time frame of operation hours.”
The Charcoal Grill is known for its woodstone brick ovens.
There were eight locations in southeastern Wisconsin; with the closest in Grafton. However, that Grafton store closed in 2024 to make way for a Chase Bank. According to the Charcoal Grill website, the franchise is down to five locations in southeast Wisconsin, and possibly four with the reported closure of the Oak Creek store.
A visit to the store at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, showed a dark building with a sign in the window and a sign in the parking lot.
Calls have been placed to Charcoal Grill for an update.
On a side note:
– Calls were placed to the West Bend Charcoal Grill and it appears the phone has be disconnected.
– A search of the Wisconsin Circuit Court shows one “money judgement” civil case in Waukesha County Court filed August 27, 2026 by Red’s Novelty LTD vs. Jeffrey J. Marsh and Char-Grill Inc.
This is a working story, and more information will be posted when details are available.
