A downtown Platteville restaurant is moving from one of Platteville’s oldest buildings to one of its newest commercial buildings.

Milio’s Sandwiches is moving Aug. 5 from 90 E. Mineral St. to the southeast corner of Business 151 and Wisconsin 80/81 (Water Street), in the same building as Dunkin’ Donuts and World Finance.

Milio’s current building and the building on the opposite corner of North Second Street and East Mineral Street go all the way back to the days when people traveled by stagecoach or train, not car. 

What now is the Milio’s building was built as a grocery store and stop for the Galena-to-Madison stagecoach line in 1847, across the street from the old Stage Coach Inn. The Stage Coach Inn eventually became the Windsor and then Chicago’s Best restaurant before the restaurant’s 2012 fire.

After the grocery store moved, what became called the Parnell Building was used as a barbershop for 75 years, before Milio’s opened in March 2001. 

“That building is old,” said Milio’s president Mike Liautaud. “We have no seating whatsoever, and it has been here for 14 years, and I had a choice of facelifting that spot or looking at a new location.

“I love Business 151. That is the heartbeat of Platteville. We can’t get a better spot for bar traffic … but we didn’t get the general public of Platteville because it’s so inconvenient for seating.”

Liautaud had considered keeping both locations briefly, but “we decided not to do it.”

While the current Milio’s site is an historic building, the Liautauds have history in Platteville as well. Liautaud’s father, John, owned Fend-All Co., the safety eyewear manufacturer, until he sold the business 12 years ago.

“The main office was in Chicago, and he had a notion to get high-quality people, and he ended up in Platteville,” said Mike.

Milio’s, meanwhile, has 45 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska, generally in college communities. With Cedar Rapids stores, Platteville is in “the perfect spot” for a store, he said.

Liautaud expects more business in a “more universal spot” on Business 151. With 10 seats in the new restaurant, Liautaud also expects to increase employment from its current eight to 12 or more.

While the old Milio’s had no seating, Milio’s had a sizeable after-bar-time clientele, open until 3 a.m. Liautaud expects to keep the late hours for weekends at the new location.

• Meanwhile, Domino’s Pizza is holding a grand opening for its remodeled store at 490 E. Business 151 all week.

Unlike most other Domino’s stores, the redesign includes in-store seating for customers, a lobby, open-area viewing of the food preparation area, tracking of carryout orders on an electronic screen, and chalkboards for customer expression.

Domino’s is hiring full-time and part-time positions, including assistant managers, delivery drivers and customer service representatives.

“I actually started out at Domino’s as a manager-in-training in 1983,” said Platteville store owner Eric Lockhart. “I instantly fell in love with the company and now own six stores throughout Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois. Domino’s truly provides a fantastic opportunity to those who show initiative and a desire to advance.”

Online job applications are available at jobs.dominos.com.