Walking up to the Shorewood Village Pub (4488 N. Oakland Ave.), you suddenly see double. Whether you’ve been on a bender all day, or you’re looking for your first drink – you see double. On the right, the sign says, “Village Pub.” On the left, the sign says, “Village Pub.” Under each, there’s a door. I had to look around to make sure this wasn’t some highly strategized prank. No visible cameras or people giggling, just an active Oakland Avenue. Then I noticed the “Enter Through This Door” sign on the right-hand door, which calmed my paranoia just enough to give it a shot.
What do you know; the sign on the door was right! I entered into the main bar area as TVs prepared for Monday Night Football and an early inning of Brewer baseball. I wandered to the far end of the bar to get the best people watching seat and one situated between MNF and the Brewer game – head on a swivel.
After taking in my surroundings and chatting with the bartender, I discovered that the original layout of the bar had consumed the former George Webb restaurant next door, hence the two entrances, two signs and the interior symptoms of bipolar disorder. Let me explain.
The original bar (the right-hand entrance) echoes your standard neighborhood tavern/pub/bar in that, well, there’s a bar, taps with a few local brews, a bar back candied with liquor, some pub tables, a few video games, darts and multiple TVs. (Note: the only major difference I noticed was the pay to see your blood alcohol content machine – blow into a dispensed straw and you find out how many drinks it takes to go over legal limit and what time you need to call your mom for a ride.) So, the classic bar is just that, classic.
Now, when walking into the other side of the establishment, the former GW, it feels like you have just traveled 323 miles north to a Spooner, Wis. bar. The walls are covered in log siding, there’s Lienenkugel gear, a picture of a polar bear and a reindeer drinking a High Life and a bar top and tables with fishing gear and weaponry buried under an inch of clear epoxy. I feel like if I walk out the door I’ll step right into someone’s deer camp among endless rows of pines and thickets draped in blaze orange.
Regardless of the pub’s bipolar disorder, it’s still a welcoming change from the bars a few miles south on North Avenue. Here, it’s your neighbors: a dude in a suit, a few college kids, a couple sharing hot wings, single fellas high-fiving and spilling their Miller Lite, a mother and daughter grabbing some apps, and me, staring at all of them, writing down notes, drinking my Riverwest Stein Lager. Also, it was a Monday, and the special was 45-cent wings and a $1 off all drinks, so I had to indulge myself and take advantage of a good deal. Missing a good deal such as this would only upset my mother.
The rest of the week continues with specials and deals. Tuesday is $1 PBR cans and cheap rail drinks (nice for the penny pinchers); Wednesday is trivia night with $2 off pitchers and the chance to win Village Pub gift cards (great for the drinkers and thinkers); Thursday is $7 Miller pitchers and build your own burger night (bleu cheese and bacon, please); Friday is, of course, fish fry-day; Saturday has a special beer of the day; and Sunday is chock full of food and drink deals (perfect for your cheap roommate who still owes you for the last two months of cable).
For the outdoorsy crowd, there still may be a few afternoons/evenings to take advantage of the Village Pub’s outdoor seating area along Oakland Avenue. There’s something about sitting outside, and it’s always enjoyable to sit amongst pedestrians and busy traffic. Drivers and walkers always look at you with jealousy; there you are, sitting with a beer, relaxed and chatting with your friends, while those in their car are en route to someplace much less enjoyable, with no beer and no friends. So, go ahead, sit outside and rub it in. (You might want to bring a sweatshirt.)
The Shorewood Village Pub is a place to hang out with people like you; and that statement applies to everyone. All are welcome, all have visited and all will return. But, depending on if the Village Pub has taken its medication (which I’m pretty sure they quit doing years ago), you’ll experience a bipolar patient with whom you’ll have a great time. I just wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.
