Mae Velma's Corned Beef is growing, ready to open a second location

Mae Velma's Corned Beef, the little drive-thru stand on the northwest side, is growing. It's adding a second location, at 7276 N. Teutonia Ave.

The new restaurant is expected to officially open Aug. 1, owner Tyron Smith said.

The new place still will be focused mainly on carryout, although the counter-service restaurant will have eight seats for customers who want to eat their corned beef and Italian beef sandwiches on the spot and a big-screen TV tuned in to sports.

Smith, who bought the building, remodeled it and divided it into two storefronts, hopes to draw a salon or other traffic-generating business for the second space. The building previously housed Mama Nana's Pick-Mar Restaurant, which Smith said closed a year or so ago.

He put in a granite counter, porcelain tile floors, entirely new bathrooms, neon and a tribute to his mother, Mae Velma, who introduced him to cooking.

The COVID-19 era has been a difficult one for restaurants, and Mae Velma's has had its share of challenges, but as a drive-thru, the original location at 4101 N. 76th St. was well suited for a time when most people ordered takeout, if they went out at all.

Other, dine-in restaurants had to establish takeout operations and start curbside service; Mae Velma's was takeout and curbside ready.

"I called it pandemic-proof," Smith said of Mae Velma's on 76th, which opened in December 2017. "All we had to do was slap some masks on and some gloves, and 'Welcome to Mae Velma's.' "

The building is small but large enough so three employees — to cook, bag and take payment — could distance the recommended 6 feet from each other, he said.

"None of my family members caught it, none of my staff caught it," Smith said.

The business also already had third-party delivery systems in place. "A ripoff," Smith calls the delivery companies for the fees they charge, but they helped Mae Velma's survive in those early months of the pandemic.

He had no trouble finding customers in the pandemic, but finding employees was another matter.

"What really helped me get through the pandemic was family," Smith said. "If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here."

His brother, Tarsh Smith, left a job as a food service manager to help him out, and his son, Tyron Smith Jr., began working for him seven days a week, too. Other family members pitched in.

"That’s how we got through it — family pulled together," he said. His brother now runs the 76th Street location and will help run the Teutonia location.

To hire more employees, like other business owners, Smith increased the hourly wage.

But when it came time to hire for his second restaurant, Smith found a different situation.

He's still offering a higher hourly wage, but this time when he advertised the positions, "I got nearly 200 applicants," Smith said.

Before, he'd get 30 to 40 applicants, and only three or four would show up for the interview. For the new location, he called back 60 applicants, and 14 appeared for the interview. "It’s still not good," Smith said, "but before it was nothing."

"Something, economically, was changing," he said.

Now he's nearly ready to open the restaurant, which also serves reuben sandwiches and reuben rolls, chicken wings and fried catfish, ocean perch and shrimp dinners, among other menu items.

"We love what we do. We’re very excited," he said. "I’m looking to try to grow as much as I can."

Hours for Mae Velma's on Teutonia will be 10 a.m. to midnight daily. That's not quite as late as the 76th Street spot, which is open until 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 1 a.m. the other days. "The neighborhood is different," Smith said.

The Teutonia location, like the 76th Street location, will have online ordering and delivery through the website, maevelmascornedbeef.com. Customers also can call in their orders, (414) 236-5590.

Related: 3 Milwaukee restaurants with good corned beef, whether it's St. Patrick's Day or not

Earlier versions of this article said Mae Velma's new location would open July 15. The expected opening date has changed.

Contact Carol at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 224-2841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Northwest side restaurant Mae Velma's Corned Beef continues to grow