Bar Time

Each Tuesday throughout the summer, throngs of Milwaukeeans will venture to Bay View’s Humboldt Park in search of great, free local music. For those who aren’t ready for their night to end when the music stops, the closest place to imbibe is none other than Toni’s Moody Blues (2813 S. Howell Ave.), a dingy-yet-charming neighborhood bar brimming with character. My friend and I walked into the tavern just in time for first pitch of the Brewers game and just in time to see bullets ricocheting off RoboCop, midway through the classic 1987 film bearing the character’s name playing on the…

Sure, with approximately 800 bands performing on 12 stages for 11 days, Summerfest is a music festival first. However, as an event that occurs both in Milwaukee and during some of the hottest days of summer, the festival is also a cause for liquid celebration. Fortunately, Summerfest has attendees covered in the beverage department. Miller Lite is the event’s official beer—stage sponsorship and all. But if the prospect of “great taste, less filling” doesn’t get you on the next shuttle bus to Henry Maier Festival Park, rest assured there’s a bevy of beverages on hand to wet the whistles of…

I can count on one hand the times I’ve waited on pins and needles for a new bar to open. Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub: Downtown (1203 N. 10th St.) accounts for one of my five fingers. Since reading an article about the pending opening of the Brewhouse Inn and Suites this winter, I anxiously awaited the day in May that would mark the second location of Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub. If one bar could be used to illustrate the heritage of brewing in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, it should be Jackson’s Blue Ribbon. Off-the-beaten path of downtown Milwaukee, the former Pabst Brewery…

Berghoff has been brewing in some capacity since 1887. Since its inception, the classic beer has undergone a number of changes in regard to brewing site, business model and taste. Most recently, Berghoff was the crown jewel in the corroded crown of Monroe, Wis.’s cheap beer magnate Minhas Brewery. However, the longstanding libation sought to rebrand itself to better fit the reputation of its popular upscale Chicago gastropub. Labels were redesigned, recipes were altered, brewing operations relocated to Point Brewery headquarters in Stevens Point (soda production remains at Minhas), and new brews were added to Berghoff’s arsenal. The stark changes…

Image via 42 Lounge.  In episode seven of Sex & The City’s sixth season (entitled “The Post-It Always Sticks Twice), Samantha brings Carrie to New York’s hippest new night club, B.E.D., to help her get over Berger, who’d recently coldly dumped her via Post-It note. Let’s not focus on why a 28-year-old man vividly recalls a 10-year-old show whose key demographic was women ages 35 and older. Instead, let’s talk about the nightclub. Like many places the ladies seemed to frequent throughout the series, B.E.D. — an acronym for “Beverage, Entertainment, Dining” (which actually existed!) — operated by a specific,…

Blended margaritas at Fajutas Grill Centro.  There are establishments that decide to do a few things well instead of trying to offer something for everyone. The former would be true of Fajitas Grill Centro (530 E. Mason Street), which opened earlier this year after relocating (and slightly rebranding) from Fajitas Grill on the Lower East Side. Now within eyeshot of my office, I’ve visited Fajitas Grill Centro a handful of times for lunch with co-workers. But I refrained from testing the bar until I took one of my team members out for celebratory drinks for her graduation. Yes, some people…

Through its ardent support of independent local radio stations and by way of my scant exposure to its sister restaurant (Bay View’s LuLu Café), I’ve been aware of Wauwatosa bar and restaurant Juniper 61 (6030 W. North Ave.) almost as long as the nearly-five-year-old establishment has stood at the corner of 61st and North. However, I rarely visit Milwaukee’s northwest neighborhood, making an unpremeditated drop-in impossible until recently. But one too many “… brought to you by Juniper 61”s on the radio, combined with an especially idle Wednesday afternoon found me trudging to the heart of ‘Tosa to get a long-overdue…

Image via Shutterstock.  Back in December, I visited the re-branded bar and restaurant Bourbon & Tunns Tavern (221 N. Broadway) (formerly Palms) in the Third Ward. After having a less than stellar experience, I vowed to return after Christmas to give them a fair shake.   A week later I received an iMessage from a friend that read “There was a fire at Bourbon & Tunns!” After checking my Twitter and Facebook feeds, I learned that no one was hurt by the fire that started in the building’s basement. No reopening date was set, so all I could do was…

While most Milwaukeeans haven’t entirely put the possibility of one more 30-degree day with snow flurries out to pasture yet, the meek and delayed introduction of spring is finding locals stepping out from the dim, indoor drinking establishments and taking to the outdoors to imbibe as the mercury level climbs. Sitting on the lakefront of one of North America’s largest bodies of water and with a couple rivers cutting through the landscape, there’s no shortage of apt sites either on or near water in which to drink in the sun. But none have the character and industrial charm of Barnacle…

Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood was once regarded as a working class region that, if you ask certain longtime residents, was a little rough around the edges. Lately though, time and the recognition of the area’s appeal has seen young families, professional types and swanky businesses coat the edges of Kinnickinnic Avenue. Today, Bay View residents are treated to tasty craft cocktails, high-end salons, niche grocers, as well as tremendous cafes and restaurants. Still, a few holdovers of old Bay View remain, preserving the un-homogenized, no-frills feel once emblematic of the neighborhood. Amid the gentrification and gastropubs, bars like At Random,…