As the last few years have come and gone, a resurgence of small-scale establishments have come, too—and stayed, hopefully for good. Excelling in a particular food or drink style, they’ve taken their passion and run with it, and then they’ve shared it with us.
Take Café Corazón, for example: Located on the north side of Riverwest, it seems the Mexican bar and eatery has effortlessly crafted its décor, menu and ambiance to perfection. You know exactly what type of experience you’re in for as soon as you walk in the door. There may be a wait—because the place is delightfully tiny—but the service and food are impeccable, and if you wouldn’t feel so guilty about staying for a few post-dinner drinks, given the waiting list, you probably would.
Milwaukeeans, you are in luck. The owners of Café Corazón, Wendy and George Mireles, unveiled a new bar, Impala, on Saturday night, located at 701 E. Center St., formerly home to River Horse Bar.
Every first Saturday of the month brings local vinyl lovers and radio DJs for 91.7 WMSE (as well as Alterra Coffee Roasters employees), the Wax Addicts, made up of Samuel Martin and Mickey Comerford, to Corazón for a post-dinner dance party. But given the occasion, they spun their way over to Impala to pump the jams for the masses. If the Wax Addicts know one thing, it’s how to cater to a room, and they couldn’t have played more crowd favorites, keeping people on their toes, scream-singing along. (Though, to be fair, that also partially may have been thanks to the $2 Tecate beer special.)
As it stands, Impala’s décor falls in the realm of simple-chic, with neutral-hued walls and little artwork—save for the prominent deer head mounted front and center behind the bar—and classy lounge seating along the right side wall in the front room, leaving plenty of space for showing off your fancy footwork. Go through a small hallway past the bathrooms, and you’ll find yourself in a cozy back room, complete with an L-shaped vintage couch and an arcade game, for those who prefer a quieter space to sit back and sip in.
In the weeks to come, patrons can expect a specialty drink list to be finalized as the bar gets its feet wet in the West Center Street nightlife scene. Buzz about the soft open could be found nowhere but on a Facebook event created by the Wax Addicts, yet the place was hot as an oven for the event, given the number of bodies in the establishment. If Saturday night is proof of what’s in store for Impala, I’d say that Riverwest’s newest watering hole will have smooth sailing from here on out.
Stayed tuned for a more in-depth article on Impala—and their cocktails—including words from owner George Mireles, in May.
