By Shereen Siewert
An iconic Wausau restaurant and bar will close its doors for the final time Friday, ending nearly 50 years as a family business.
Hiawatha Restaurant & Lounge, 713 Grant St., opened its doors nearly 50 years ago after the late Roger Jamgochain purchased the building. In 1994, the restaurant expanded by adding nearly 1,300 square feet of space – nearly doubling its size. Then, Jamgochian told the Wausau Daily Herald he made the decision to add additional areas for dining, private parties and live music because people were waiting up to an hour and a half to eat. The menu expanded as well, with food served Monday through Saturday. A Sunday brunch, enormously popular with patrons, was added years later, and the outdoor patio has been a popular gathering spot in the summer months.
Roger ran the restaurant for decades leading up to his death in 2013, after which his sons Adam and Bill Jamgochian took the reins, with help from their sister, Stefanie. Bill took over leadership of Hiawatha in 2019 to allow Adam to focus on his new downtown restaurant, Ciao.
Two years later, Adam was back at the helm at Hiawatha with a new team and business partner. But this week, Hiawatha announced its closure in a Facebook post, notifying customers that the restaurant would be closed through Thursday, then reopen with a final service on Friday, Sept. 16.
“Please join us for our famous fish fry one last time under the Jamgochian ownership and stay for half priced drinks after 10,” the post reads.
The restaurant is listed for sale, with an asking price of $275,000. See the full listing here.
Wausau Pilot & Review profiled Hiawatha Restaurant & Lounge as a featured business of the week in 2021.
