By Ricardo Torres
It has the appearance of being straight out of The Godfather with its a vintage looking 1920’s gangster style furniture and paintings of the old country, no customer is left unsatisfied at Papa’s Social Club on 7718 W. Burleigh.
On most nights you’ll find Richard Heil a.k.a. Dickie, serving drinks with a bevy of attractive waitresses, or chatting with the regulars. One particular night at Papa’s I ran out of money, the drinking was over for the night, or so I thought. Dickie opens another bottle of beer and places it in front of me.
I told him I didn’t have any money left to pay for it, but the look on his face said it all.
“Just take it, it’s on me,” Dickie said to me.
I thought about protesting, but I could see in his eyes that not taking the free beer will just make him angry.
Dickie has been a bartender for 15 years, the last several years he’s been the bar manager at Papa’s Social Club. All the drink specials and all the entertainment is thought-up and arranged by Dickie himself.
The weekly specials stand out amongst themselves.
In the summertime nothing beats brats, beer and the Brewers, especially at Papa’s on Tailgate Tuesday during a Brewers game. Half off drinks and all you can eat brats while you watch the game on a 15 foot screen on one of five plasma screen TV’s.
Wednesday nights are 50’s and 60’s nights and the air is filled with the great music and outfits of that era.
Thursday nights are half off rail drinks, and a dollar off bottles. There’s also a DJ blasting the hottest songs or taking requests from the locals while some come to dance the night away. Papa’s has the perfect size dance floor, not too small so plenty of people can dance, but not so big that it takes over the whole bar.
After a long week at work, one of the best places to relax is at Papa’s on Friday and Saturday nights while listening to some of the best local music artists in southeast Wisconsin. On these nights for $5, every customer can enjoy great bands and a variety of music ranging from original tunes to 80’s cover classics.
It can get crowded during these nights, so take my advice from personal experience, and get there early. Seats are based on a first-come, first-seat mentality and being fashionably late means being stuck in the back.
Currently Papa’s is looking to attract some more mainstream music acts to perform.
“We’ve been working on trying to get Fall Out Boy,” Dickie said. “I’m about 80 percent sure they’ll come.”
Dickie said if Fall Out Boy plays a show in Chicago and Green Bay, they’ll most likely be performing at Papa’s.
Some of the bands from outside of Wisconsin include DOT DOT DOT, from Chicago, which played at Papa’s last April.
And some weekends when there isn’t a band, Dickie will get out from behind the bar and into the DJ booth to keep the weekend party going.
Wisconsin’s new anti-smoking law prohibits anyone from smoking indoors. But Papa’s has got you smokers covered with a beer garden and outdoor patios under cover so all you smokers can drink and smoke to your lungs and livers content.
Papa’s Social Club is a north side bar with a Capone attitude. It has the warmth of and Italian home and everyone treats you like family. At Papa’s, you never go against the family.
About the Author
I was born and raised in Milwaukee and I bleed all Wisconsin sports especially my alma mater UW-Whitewater where I received my bachelor’s degree in journalism. While I was in high school I got an article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Since then I’ve written for Wisconsin Public Radio at their offices in Milwaukee, WGN Radio 720 in Chicago and several college publications. Currently, I’m pursuing a master’s degree in journalism from Roosevelt University in Chicago, but I always have time for Wisconsin, where my heart is.
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