Mr. Perkins Family Restaurant celebrates golden anniversary
Hilda and Willie Perkins, Sr.
The year was 1969 and Hilda and Willie Perkins, Sr.’s dream to open a restaurant came true. The north side establishment at 1943 W. Atkinson Avenue, their first location, very quickly became too small, to accommodate the already loyal customer base. So, they moved a short distance away to the current location at 2001 W. Atkinson Avenue.
A milestone of this magnitude certainly is worthy of a celebration and the founders, now retired, agree. “It doesn’t feel like fifty years but this certainly is worthy of a celebration,” Hilda Perkins said. “It was his idea; he always wanted to own a restaurant, and I loved to cook, so I said, ‘Let’s move on it’.”
The late Willie C. Perkins, Jr.
Willie Perkins, Sr., said, “I am just so happy that we enjoyed many, many years of happiness and success at the restaurant and made so many fiends; we owe Milwaukee a great deal of gratitude.”
Cherry Perkins, the current owner and widow of son and previous owner, the late Willie C. Perkins, Jr., echoes the same sentiments. “I am thrilled and appreciative that we have arrived at this point in the business; my husband would be so happy,” she said.
The Mr. Perkins Family Restaurant’s 50th Anniversary Celebration will take place Friday, May 31, 2019, from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Many friends, loyal customers, city and state elected officials, clergy and community leaders will be on hand to enjoy the entertainment, hospitality, and of course, the delectable fare they have come to know and love for fifty years.
