Franklin Restaurant Temporarily Closed As Chef Out For Surgery

FRANKLIN, WI — Wegner's St. Martins Inn typically closes for a couple of weeks in the winter so its owners can take a vacation, owner Kathie Wegner told Patch.

This year, the restaurant will be closed for about two extra weeks, likely until the end of February, to give Owner and Chef Dennis Wegner time off to recuperate from a knee surgery, she said.

"He's doing fine and he's doing his exercises," Wegner said. "We'll open as soon as he can get standing up on his own and work."

The restaurant announced the closure on Monday over Facebook, adding that the surgery was a total knee replacement. Dennis Wegner also posted to Facebook on Monday that the surgery went great and that he took two walks already.

Community members can expect updates about the restaurant's re-opening timeframe from its Facebook page.

Located at the corner of St Martins Road and Church Street in Franklin, Wegner's St. Martins Inn was opened by Dennis and Kathie Wegner in 1997.

The family-owned spot serves up a variety of menu items such as Wiener schnitzel, Sicilian steak, prime rib, sauerbraten, pork shanks, Hungarian beef goulash and veal cordon bleu, according to the restaurant's website.

The spot also serves up a regular fish fry on Fridays that includes "St. Martins Icelandic Brand haddock fish fry," lake perch fish fry, shrimp, Cajun salmon and other dishes.

Prior to opening up Wegner's St. Martins Inn, Dennis Wegner was a chef at Mader's German Restaurant in Milwaukee for 22 years where he did prep work, ran dinner service, and rose through the ranks of a kitchen, according to his biography on the Inn's website.

"In the fall of 1997 I decided to go on my own and started Wegner’s Saint Martins Inn with my wife Kathie. Our goal is to be 'casual' fine dining at its best," Wegner's bio reads on the Inn's website.

In 2020, Chef Wegner celebrated 50 years of being in the restaurant industry.

After the restaurant announced the closure on Monday over Facebook, comments of support from the community filtered in.

"Hope all goes well and he has a speedy recovery!" one comment reads.

"Praying for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. Already missing the schnitzel," another commenter said.