By Jeff Sherman OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer Published Sep 27, 2007 at 11:30 AM

"Hey, have you heard that Yanni's is closing?"

In our city's ever-growing restaurant and entertainment environment, stories, rumors and talk fly freely. I've heard from at least 10 people in the past month that "Yanni's is closing." Well, a post on the OnMilwaukee.com message boards might just prove this rumor wrong. Read and judge for yourself.

 Dear Patrons and Future Patrons of Yanni's:

Hello! My name is Enrique Montes, and I am the General Manager of Yanni's Steaks Chops & Seafood. I wanted to thank all of you who have posted comments for supporting us as a local restaurant. Feedback like yours is important to us, and we truly appreciate your insight. Locals tell us that they appreciate the fact that we are a conscientious restaurant and we strive to be accessible to our customers. We hope that if you have additional comments regarding our restaurant, please tell us so that we can address any situations that may arise. Therefore, please allow me to give you the current information regarding our restaurant.

The comments and rumors made in regard to Yanni's closing are COMPLETELY FALSE. If you do not believe it, please feel free to call the restaurant and ask us for more information. We will be happy to assist you in any way possible.

However, in a few months the restaurant will be renovating and giving our restaurant a "new stage to perform". We have decided to add a "Jazz Café" and offer nightly performers from all over the United States. We are trying to stay one step ahead of our competition and offer Milwaukee something that is truly unique. We're going to mix up our menu a bit and add some new flavorful pasta dishes, but always keep our signature steaks the way they have always been...the highest quality and most delectable taste for the best price in the city. Check out our website, www.yannismilwaukee.com for all the information you need, right at your fingertips.

Yanni's has always strived to offer our patrons the absolute best in service, food quality and presentation. We are extremely proud of being one of Milwaukee's Own and one of its best! We invite you to come and try our restaurant with my personal guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Thank you!

-Enrique Montes
General Manager

Increased Downtown density and competition and the emergence of online (in my humble opinion) as the first go-to media in town all help fuel restaurant rumors. It's fun, but it's getting harder to keep up with it all.

Thankfully, our readers and our fine reporters are here to help. Here's to dining in Milwaukee and here's to October: dining month on OnMilwaukee.com. It should be a great month of stories and eating.

Jeff Sherman OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writer

A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.

He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.

Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.  He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.  

He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.

He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.