Baseer and Haseeb Hussaini used to drive to Illinois once a month. Not for a wedding, not for family, but for a chicken sandwich they couldn't get in Wisconsin. Chi Tea, a Chicagoland chain built around halal-certified fried chicken, smash burgers and bubble tea, didn't have a location north of the state line, so the brothers made the trip themselves, again and again, until they stopped waiting for someone else to fix the problem and became franchisees.
That decision is why a former Pizza Hut at the Franklin Centre plaza on S. 76th Street reopened this summer as Chi Tea's first Wisconsin location, with Mayor John Nelson on hand for the ribbon cutting. It's a small story on its own. But it's also the clearest example of something that runs through Franklin's entire August calendar this year: the events filling residents' evenings, from a fast-casual counter to a decades-old nature center program, are almost all being paid for, staffed, or started by people who already live here, not by outside developers deciding what the city needs.
The Logic Behind the Counter
The Hussainis didn't pick their spot at random. Haseeb has said the strip mall drew them in because of the traffic already built into that stretch of 76th Street: a Pick 'n Save, a busy dental practice, Franklin High School nearby, and a new Islamic school under construction just minutes away. That's not the kind of site selection a regional chain runs through a spreadsheet. It's a family who knew the neighborhood because they'd been driving through it their whole lives.
"We thought that something like this would do great in Franklin."
That's Haseeb, describing a decision that had nothing to do with demographic modeling and everything to do with watching what his own community was already asking for. Their mother, a vice principal at Salam Elementary, pitches in on tea and mac and cheese and even works the fryers. Baseer's wife drew the blueprints for the dining room. Her father built it out. It's a family business wearing a franchise name.
Ballpark Commons Runs on the Same Fuel
Seven years ago, Franklin Field opened as a 4,000-seat stadium inside the larger Ballpark Commons development, and it's now home to the Milwaukee Milkmen, an American Association club playing its home slate right in Franklin. The Milkmen are mid-homestand right now. Tonight is Dollar Dog Wednesday, with $1 hot dogs and $2 draft beers. Tomorrow's game against the Gary SouthShore RailCats starts at noon instead of the usual evening first pitch, a rare daytime outing built for summer camps and anyone who wants baseball without giving up their evening.
Ballpark Commons itself is a planned mixed-use project, not a grassroots effort. But look at who's actually running the storefronts inside it and the same pattern from the Chi Tea story shows up again. Brick Pizzeria & Ristorante serves Neapolitan-style pizza a short walk from the outfield wall, built around the campus's foot traffic the same way the Hussainis built around 76th Street's. The Umbrella Bar hosts its own shows, including Judson Brown Band on August 15, while a broader Summer Concert Series at Ballpark Commons brings in acts like Kings of Radio through the rest of the month. The complex gives local operators a stage. It doesn't script what happens on it.
What's Older Than the Ballpark
Franklin's other calendar, the one that predates Ballpark Commons by decades, runs on an even more direct version of resident funding. The city's Summer Concerts in the Park series, which brings Larry Lynne to the historical grounds on August 23, is funded by contributions from community businesses and citizens along with a city grant. After the music, the Franklin Historical Buildings on the same grounds open for tours, so a free Saturday night doubles as a walk through the city's own preserved past.
The night before, Wehr Nature Center in Whitnall Park hosts Brews & Botany, an evening built around craft beer, kombucha, coffee and tea sampling alongside live music and food trucks. Pre-registered ticket sales close August 21, meaning the event itself lands right around August 22. This year's edition is sponsored by Outpost Natural Foods, not a beverage conglomerate looking for a promotional venue. Wehr itself is a 200-acre nature center inside the larger Whitnall Park, and it marked its 50th anniversary in 2024.
Golf has its own August fixture too. Tuckaway Country Club hosts the Wisconsin State Open on August 17, a full day of competitive golf sponsored this year by the Suter Ward Group at Morgan Stanley.
The Calendar, Side by Side
| What | When | Who's Behind It | The Draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milkmen Dollar Dog Wednesday | Tonight, Aug. 5 | Milwaukee Milkmen at Franklin Field | $1 hot dogs, $2 drafts |
| Milkmen Summer Day Game | Thu., Aug. 6, noon | Milwaukee Milkmen at Franklin Field | Rare daytime first pitch |
| Wisconsin State Open | Aug. 17 | Tuckaway Country Club, sponsored by Suter Ward Group | Competitive golf |
| Brews & Botany | Around Aug. 22 | Wehr Nature Center, sponsored by Outpost Natural Foods | Craft beverage sampling in Whitnall Park |
| Summer Concerts in the Park | Aug. 23 | City of Franklin, funded by community contributions and a city grant | Larry Lynne show plus historic building tours |
Laid out this way, the split isn't really old versus new, or civic versus commercial. It's two different funding models sitting a few miles apart, and both of them run on people who already live in Franklin deciding to put something on the calendar rather than waiting for someone else to.
What's Next on the Calendar
The pattern holds going into September. St. Martin's Fair returns September 6, another entry on a list that's grown to include the National Night Out kickoff the Franklin Police Department already held on August 3 at the Franklin Public Library, with fire and police vehicles on display and officers on hand to talk with residents.
None of this means every business that opens in Franklin traces back to a family with a craving. But the pattern is common enough this August that it's worth noticing next time a new storefront opens or a familiar bandstand fills up on a Saturday night. The question worth asking isn't just what's new. It's who decided it should exist here in the first place.
If you're weighing a move to Franklin or already call it home and want a broker who tracks this kind of neighborhood detail as closely as market data, Karen Larson has spent decades working Southeastern Wisconsin's suburbs from the inside. Let's Connect.
