A longtime player in the Milwaukee-area restaurant scene is opening Growlers, a new craft sports bar in the former home of Red Dot in Wauwatosa (6715 W. North Ave.).
For years, Jason Growel had heard people in Tosa wishing for a local place where they could watch the game and have a burger. He’s teaming up with co-owners and brothers Mario and Pietro Balistreri, who own the 4-year-old BB’s pizzeria five blocks west on North Avenue, to fill that void. Growlers is also filling a high-profile spot on North Avenue that has been vacant since the Red Dot bar & grill closed after a fire in 2018.
The name? “It’s a play on my last name and the big glass containers people can fill and take home with them,” Jason Growel explained. If you made moonshine, this is the kind of jug you’d use. “Growlers have always been around,” Growel said. “It’s a great way for craft beers to be distributed.”
Growel said they are hoping to have a soft opening at the end of February, get the kinks worked out, and open in early March.
He’s originally from Waukesha and went to UW-Milwaukee, originally a communications major before gravitating to the food and beverage industry and working with many well-known Milwaukee restaurateurs. Along the way he had some good mentorship with Jerry Steny at Steny’s, as well as at Kelly’s Bleachers. After that, Growel owned The Eastsider on East North Avenue in Milwaukee for 11 years before it closed in 2021.
At Growlers, the full menu will feature scratch-made bar fare in a space with a throwback, sports-themed aesthetic. “We’re going to have a heavy sports theme featuring nostalgic art, growlers picked up from around the country will be showcased,” he said.
The former Red Dot interior has been demolished divided into two equal sized spaces; Growlers is taking the west side of the building. The other side will be rented to another business.
With a capacity of 99, patrons won’t be overwhelmed with crowds, Growel says – and that’s just the way he wants it. He’d rather people have the opportunity to commiserate, rather than be jammed in.
His restaurant philosophies are simple and direct. “I know I have to stay true to our concept,” he said. “This is an upscale craft sports bar, and we’re doing something different. One of those different things is a smoked old fashioned. That’s just as it sounds. The bartenders will put the finished drink into a smoke unit. Wood chips are used as a flame and the smoke will encompass the drink. We sat down with a mixologist and learned the process.”
In terms of what to expect with ambience, Growel said if one of the Wisconsin professional sports teams is playing and on television, that’s all that’s going to be on – with sound. “I certainly will switch gears if there are no games on, settle things down a bit.”
Also in the plans are a golf simulator. “We probably won’t do that until October,” Growel said.
Staffing has been a concern for many restaurants since the pandemic. “We’ve had a lot of applicants for open positions,” Growel said. “I’ve heard horror stories from a lot of people. I want to create a space where people want to work, to be part of a family. If they earn a good wage on top of that, they’ll stay. I’ll do any job at any time in the restaurant. Take care of anything that’s needed. We’re all in this together.”
