The Steak 'n Shake restaurant on Kossow Road in Waukesha closed Friday after just a few years in operation. The area's only other Steak 'n Shake, on N. 124th St. in Wauwatosa, remains open.
The Waukesha location was the second franchise unit for Joe Denis, who operated both locations. The Wauwatosa restaurant, next to Lowe's Home Improvement center, opened in 2007.
The hamburger chain started in Illinois in 1934 and has something of a cult following among fans of its burgers and shakes. But that devotion never caught on in Waukesha, where the restaurant was positioned between a Target store and CarMax.