One Wisconsin name has advanced to the finals of the 2025 James Beard Foundation Awards, which celebrates chefs, restaurants and more. And it’s in the “more” category that we find our nominee. Agency Bar, created by the team behind Discourse Coffee Workshop, is one of five vying for the title Best New Bar.
Agency (located inside the Dubbel Dutch Hotel, 819 N. Marshall St.) is not a stereotypical cocktail lounge. It’s fully hybrid. What does that mean? It means every drink on the menu can be made alcoholic or completely booze-free, with the promise that the N/A version isn’t a pale substitute. In the months leading up to Agency’s opening in late August 2024, the concept was operating as a pop-up inside Discourse’s Downtown café (1020 N. Broadway).
Prior to opening, founder Ryan Castelaz talked about how Agency’s name reflects its mission, which is to give people “true agency over their drinking experience. It’s not choosing, ‘Do I go to a dry bar or a wet bar.’ It’s just choosing ‘Do I drink this round with alcohol or without.”
The Beard winners will be announced at the awards ceremony held June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
