A cherished piece of Green Bay dining history is for sale – the smell of decades of butter burgers baked into the walls and all.
Kroll’s East, 1658 Main St., officially hits the market Jan. 12, said Zaid Jazrawi of Zaid Realty KWGB, who is handling the listing and first teased it with a Facebook post on Jan. 9.
The bar and restaurant, with its old-school “Lunch Time” clock on the exterior and cozy, throwback interior, has been a local institution since 1935, serving its signature butter burgers and homemade chili and soups for generations.
The Schauer family, who has owned and operated it since 1945, is ready to retire, Jazrawi said. It was a difficult decision for them, he said, and they have asked him to handle all inquiries.
“It’s very emotional for them. They’ve been there for … I think Ben {Schuaer] was born there practically. He’s been there his whole life.”
The business is being listed for $850,000 with the Kroll’s East name and all of the equipment included, Jazrawi said. It’s $750,000 without.
Kroll’s East and Kroll’s West are owned by different families
Kroll’s East was originally opened by Harry and Caroline Kroll as the couple’s first Kroll’s Restaurant in 1935 (according to the Kroll’s East website; 1936 according to the Kroll’s West website). Their classic charcoal-grilled Kroll’s burger, topped with butter and served on a toasted roll, was sold for 10 cents. All these years later, it remains one of Green Bay’s most iconic foods on either side of the Fox River.
The couple went on to open another restaurant in the Labor Temple in downtown Green Bay in 1939 and then Kroll’s Downtown in 1958. In between the expansion, in 1945, Harry Kroll sold the original location to his sister and her husband, Isabel and Dick Schauer. It became known as Kroll’s East and has remained in the family since.
That’s Isabel Schauer’s recipe for chili that’s still used in the kitchen today – a local favorite that Bette Schauer once described as having “some kick to it” without being “really spicy, spicy.”
Kroll’s Downtown eventually moved in 1974 to make way for Port Plaza Mall and became the current Kroll’s West on South Ridge Road, across from Lambeau Field. That location is under separate ownership by the Wier family.
Barack Obama once stopped in for onion rings and perch
Longtime residents are often fiercely loyal to one location over the other, Kroll’s East or Kroll’s West, sometimes dating back to which it was their grandparents or parents took them to as kids
In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., made an unscheduled stop at Kroll’s East for onion rings and a perch plate as the finale to his visit to Green Bay for a rally as a presidential candidate.
News involving such a historic and beloved place has already generated “a ton of interest,” Jazrawi said. The restaurant, which is currently operating business as usual (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), saw a significant bump in traffic over the weekend as word began to get out, he said.
“If someone wants to buy it and continue to run it as Kroll’s East, the staff would love to stay on,” Jazrawi said. “Everything comes with it. Everything … First person with a legitimate cashier’s check for 850 grand gets the whole shebang.”
For more information about the listing, including four other nearby parcels owned by the family that are also being sold, contact Jazrawi via email at zaidrealty1@gmail.com or visit his website at zaid-jazrawi.bestagents.us.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kroll’s East, a Green Bay dining institution since 1930s, is for sale
Reporting by Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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