If residents have not noticed already, the Max’s Restaurant sign has been removed to make way for a new name and owners.
The restaurant, at W7389 River Bend Road, Shawano, will be renamed Grandma Sofie’s, a namesake of one of the new owners.
Sofie Abdiu and her brother-in-law, Harry, purchased the business from Max and Buki Shabani last week. The Shabanis operated Max’s Restaurant, which previously had been known as Amicos, for about a year.
Harry and Sofie Abdiu arrived in Shawano following 10 years of operating the Highway 21/13 Cafe in Friendship.
“I like it here and I liked this place and the town, too,” Harry Abdiu said. “I was a customer and passed by a few times when I visited here.”
Harry Abdiu said he was unsure why the Shabanis opted to sell. All 15 of their employees are still with the restaurant.
“Yeah, sure, absolutely, I would love to have them stay,” he said. “So far no one has made any decisions.”
Abdiu said there will some minor adjustments to the menu, but nothing significant.
The new owners expect the Grandma Sofie’s sign to be in place by the end of the week, but Sofie Abdiu said the transition will take time.
“Right now, there have not been many changes,” she said. “Yesterday we just opened. We are still not set up entirely. It will take a few weeks.”
The layout includes a bar, two dining areas — with one equipped for meetings — and a kitchen that was updated.
Sofie and Harry Abdiu are originally from Albania and spent their last 20 years residing in the town of Rome in Adams County.
The Shabanis had 40 years of experience in the restaurant business, most recently in Illinois before taking over Amicos. Originally from Macedonia (Yugoslavia), they cited family connections in northern Wisconsin when they purchased the property.
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