Forward Janesville - TheReport - Second Quarter 2024

Culver’s encourages their owners to be locally interactive and embedded in the community. To that end, Mallon has been very involved in Janesville and the local Culver’s restaurants are well- known for their Scoopie Night fundraisers for schools and non- profit groups. “It’s more of a community night than a fundraiser because the customers actually raise the funds,” explains Mallon. “We let them have our building, our resources. It’s a fun interaction. We raised about $95,000 last year during Scoopie Nights. It’s very rewarding to see the community support their own. That’s the fun part of it.” As a long-time business operator in Janesville, Mallon has seen his share of change in the local restaurant scene. When his parents opened their store in 1994, he believes there were eight restaurants between his and the interstate. Now, he estimates there are 42. “It’s a lot,” says Mallon. “There is a lot of competition.” With competition comes variety and Mallon believes that the unique dining places in other parts of Janesville complement the north side’s chain atmosphere in a way where everyone benefits. “The way they’ve re-done the downtown really adds to the community,” says Mallon. “I’m really impressed with what Janesville has done down there. The restaurant scene down there is perfect. We are really fortunate to have that here.” Rock County Brewing’s Rocco agrees that Janesville’s evolution since the economic downturn and closure of GM has been thrilling to watch. “There was a certain segment of the population that was stuck on whether GM was coming back. They were standing still instead of trying to move forward. I come from Pittsburgh. We watched Pittsburgh transform from a dirty, industrial steel town to a high-tech healthcare/finance/robotics (city). That was a transformation that doesn’t happen overnight. One of the best things I’ve seen about Janesville is that we’ve moved past that. And we continue to move past that. It’s fantastic, honestly.” 10 | FORWARD JANESVILLE 808 Cheesecake Backyard Barbeque Barkley’s Burgers, Brews & Dawgs Basics Cooperative Natural Foods Bessie’s Diner Bodacious Shops of Block 42 Chick-fil-A Chili’s Citrus Cafe Culver's - Court Street Culver's - Midland Avenue Culver's - Milton Avenue Dairy Queen - Court Street drafthouse Firehouse Subs Genisa Wine Bar Glen Erin Cursing Stone Pub Jersey Mike’s Subs La Chuchería La Jaiba Loca La Kermes Lark Lady V’s Fun Snow Cones and Snacks Lucy’s #7 Burger Bar Mac’s Pizza Shack McDonald's - State Street Mexico en la Sangre Mocha Moment O’Riley & Conway’s Irish Pub Panera Bread Pizza Hut - Court Street Pizza Hut - Milton Avenue Pizza Hut - Milwaukee Street Prairie Woods Golf Club Restaurant Prime Quarter Steak House Riley’s Sports Bar & Grill Rock County Brewing Company Roxtar Bar Rush Creek Distilling Rutaquería el Pancho Scooters Coffee Stagecoach Inn Tacos Neno Timber Hill Winery Whiskey Ranch Bar & Grill - Main Street Check out the Forward Janesville dine, drink, and food truck businesses that add fl avor to southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois Photos courtesty of Full Spectrum Photography (Rock County Brewing) & Northwest Quarterly Magazine (Genisa) Scoopie Night volunteers The Janesville Culver’s locations are known for their connection to the community through Scoopie Nights; everyone gets excited to have their picture taken with Scoopie The national chains bring a lot of people off the interstate. They come in and they know that there is a hub of food here.