Milwaukee Landlord Sues Rare Steakhouse Over Early Closure, Lease Breach

The owner of Milwaukee's 833 East office building had already cut Rare Steakhouse a break on rent. Now it's taking the shuttered steakhouse to court.

833 East DP Delaware LLC, an affiliate of building developer and operator Irgens, filed suit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court alleging that Rare Steakhouse breached its lease by closing four years before the agreement was set to expire. The restaurant, a high-end steakhouse occupying space at 833 E. Michigan St. in downtown Milwaukee, closed on March 17.

The lawsuit frames the closure not as a business failure the landlord must absorb, but as a contractual breach: Rare Steakhouse allegedly walked away from years of remaining lease obligations without the landlord's consent. The fact that Irgens had previously reduced the rent for the restaurant adds a layer of complexity to the dispute. The landlord extended a concession, and the tenant still closed, a sequence the lawsuit implies made the departure more difficult to defend.

The specific damages sought in the suit, the original lease start date, and the exact expiration year have not been made public in available filings. No representatives for Rare Steakhouse or Irgens provided comment on the litigation.

For restaurant operators in mixed-use office buildings, the case is a pointed reminder that lease terms survive business downturns. Early termination clauses, force majeure provisions, and assignment rights are often the difference between a clean exit and a courtroom. When a landlord has already reduced rent and still files suit after closure, the message to other tenants in similar situations is clear: a concession is not a release.

The case is active in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. No hearing dates or further filings were publicly available at the time of this report.