MILWAUKEE — The telephone is ringing.
The cell phone is buzzing.
Folks are waiting.
And Omar Shaikh is trying.
Those lovable, National League pennant-winning Brewers have turned Milwaukee upside down, and Shaikh is the man everyone wants to see.
“Omar, you have any extra tickets?"
“Omar, can I meet Christian Yelich?"
“Omar, can I get a table at your restaurant?
""Omar, can I get some autographs?"
“I’ve never seen anything like this," Shaikh tells USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve never felt anything like this. This is insanity.
“People are losing their minds."
Shaikh, one of Milwaukee’s premier businessmen as owner of Carnevor – voted last year by USA TODAY as one of the Top 20
Most Beloved Steakhouses in America and the co-founder and co-owner of the 3rd St. Market Hall – ranked third this year by USA TODAY as one of the best food halls been besieged ever since the Brewers clinched the pennant for the first time since 1982 with the World Series starting Friday in Milwaukee at American Family Field.
“I was there celebrating with the Bucks after Game 6 when they won the NBA championship," Shaikh said of their 2021 season. “The entire Packers team celebrated with me when they won their last Super Bowl [in 2011]. But this is completely different. I’ve never seen anything like it in this town.
“I’ve got people coming up to me and saying, 'Oh, my cousin has cancer, it would mean the world to me if we could go to the game together. This is what I’ve waited for my whole life, can I get tickets.?' And on and on and on.
“I’ve got four tickets, that’s it. I can’t help."
Shaikh, born and raised in Milwaukee as the son of a Pakistani college professor and Korean library system director, with one sister an internal medicine doctor in Wisconsin and the other a professor in environmental economics at the University of Chicago, can’t believe what he’s seeing.
But, oh, does he ever love it.
Glad I could catch up with boy @ChristianYelich . It gave me chills when he said he wants to win it all for Milwaukee. I know why Murph made him the 1st Captain ever for the @Brewers. He has been the heart & soul of this team and honestly one of the best humans I have ever met. pic.twitter.com/4ckRjyIpE2
— Omar Shaikh (@OmarMKE1) October 1, 2026
His steakhouse, which seats 100, is so packed that even with recently extended hours he still is turning people away. Everyone wants a table, with the restaurant constantly filled with celebrities and VIPs, everyone from Derek Jeter to LeBron James to Jelly Roll. And if you’re famous, and a regular, you might even get your own custom steak knife.
“The phone is ringing like crazy," said Shaikh, whose restaurant also caters the clubhouse food for the Brewers and visiting teams in town. “It’s really challenging to get everyone in."
There’s rarely an evening on a Brewers’ non-game day when several players aren’t dining at Carnevor with their families. He squeezed in 20 Dodgers executives last week at three different tables before the NLCS, and were so appreciative that they even left playoff tickets for the two chefs.
“This is just so great for our city," says Shaikh, who has been business partners with former Brewers great Ryan Braun and now Brewers captain Christian Yelich. “This is a blue-collar, hard-working town. We’ve always punched above our weight.
“Really, we’re a reflection of our team. Never-say-die. Never quit. Always humble. It’s not glamorous, but it’s filled with people who work their ass off.
“People are seeing now that we’re a world-class city."
The city of Milwaukee, with a population of about 560,000 is one America’s best-kept secrets in the summer with the country's largest music festival, “SummerFest," the River Walk, the Harley-Davidson Museum, Laverne and Shirley tours, and, of course, three dozen breweries. They hosted the Democratic National Convention in 2020 and the 2024 Republic National convention.
“Everybody has their eyes on Milwaukee now," said Shaikh, recently named as one of Milwaukee’s top 20 power brokers and a member of the Wisconsin Center District board of directors, and former board chairman for VISIT Milwaukee. “Hopefully, people will come here, see Milwaukee, and want to move here. What the Brewers have done is put us on the international map.’’
The hope for every Wisconsinite and Cheesehead now is that with four more victories, a World Series championship, and a downtown parade, and the Brewers will be forever known as the greatest baseball team on the planet in the year 2026.
“I was talking to Yeli [Yelich] at dinner the other night," Shaikh says, “and he kept saying how much he wants to win it for Milwaukee. He wants to see people crying in the stands, crying on the streets, and crying at the parade.
“We all know what this would mean for this city, for this community and the entire state.
“It would mean absolutely everything."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Milwaukee braces for first World Series in generations: 'People are losing their minds'
