Greenfield Family's Restaurant Featured on Hit Show 'Man v. Food Nation'

With more than 125 items on the menu, mostly Chicago staples such as hot dogs and Italian beef and sausages, Martino’s Hot Dogs & Italian Beef has been a popular restaurant on the south side of Milwaukee for more than 30 years.

Thanks to a few minutes of on-air publicity, owner TJ Anderson is expecting that popularity to go through the roof.

Martino’s, located just blocks east of Greenfield at 1215 W. Layton Ave., was featured on The Travel Channel’s Man v. Food Nation on Wednesday evening. In the show host Adam Richman travels to a city, profiles one or two small, family-owned hot spots and then finds a local competitive eater who takes on a food challenge.

Anderson’s Martino’s was the first restaurant profiled in Wednesday’s show.

“It was awesome,” Anderson said of a viewing party he and his family had at nearby Mulligan’s Irish Pub & Grill on Wednesday, a party that swelled to 300-plus people.

Anderson, a Greenfield resident and a member of the Whitnall School Board, first met Richman at Summerfest last summer. Martino’s was chosen to do a promotional contest with Zantac, the heartburn medicine manufacturer, which Richman is a spokesperson for.

Anderson, Richman and Anderson’s daughter Allie, hit it off, but when the promotion ended, Anderson assumed that was the last he’d see of Richman.

In April, however, a representative from the show got in touch with Anderson. In mid-May, after many secretive phone calls, faxes and emails, that representative finally informed Anderson that Martino's had been selected for Man v. Food Nation.

Anderson was told Richman, an executive producer on the show, had suggested the show’s consulting firm look into Martino’s because of the impression the Anderson’s had made on Richman at Summerfest.

Anderson was sworn to secrecy – he had to sign a ‘secrecy contract’ – and only told his wife Cathy, Allie and his son Clayton, all of whom work at the restaurant.

Crews arrived at Martino’s on June 14. Camera and sound crews were the first to arrive to canvas the restaurant for the best angles and puta microphone on Anderson. Richman arrived at 11:30 a.m.

“He asked Allie, ‘Do you have any idea why I’m here?,’” Anderson said. “He said to her, ‘I met you and your dad at Summerfest. The impression you left on me and that crew was unbelievable. Not just your personality, but your care and compassion for your product, how you handled the product. It wasn’t just crap slapped in a bun.’”

In the segment, Richman, who wore a Martino’s t-shirt during a shoot in Butte, Mont. after meeting the Andersons at Summerfest, takes on the restaurant’s famous Italian Beef and Sausage Combo, which is smothered in jardiniere and homemade red sauces.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and Whitnall Superintendent Lowell Holtz both make appearances in the 5-minute segment.

Martino’s got its start – and name – in 1974 when Anderson’s Chicagoan parents sold hot dogs and Italian beef sausages at St. Marten’s Fair. The restaurant opened in 1977, and Anderson has been the owner since 1999.

The grill and kitchen run like a well-oiled machine. The four, five or even six employees, including the Andersons, work cohesively as individuals, with each person’s efforts contributing to the finished product. A steady stream of customers, including regulars that come in three to five times a week, work their way through the service line as employees move the process forward with nary a slip up.

That well-oiled machine will be put to the test often in days to come. Anderson said Martino’s, open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, experienced a 55 percent spike in business the day after the show aired – impressive considering it was also the first day of State Fair, a day restaurants often see a decrease in business.

The show is slated to run 12 times over the next week and then fall into the shows regular viewing cycle. Producers of the show told Anderson to expect a 70-90 percent increase in business over the next year.

“(Richman) looked at me (before the shoot) and said this is going to life-altering,” Anderson said. “This is going to change everything, so today, let’s just have fun.”