Monthly Archives: January 2009

Brocach Irish Pub | Milwaukee, WI

I don’t even know where to start, so I ask Lisa, “Where do I even start?” She says, “Well, the service sucked.” So I’ll start there… The service sucks. We arrive and the place is empty. It’s zero out and we’ve been walking. We’re frozen and ready for a drink. We ask for a table. [...]
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Trocadero | Milwaukee, WI

I went three years without stepping foot in Milwaukee and the one weekend I get back, my pal Mr. PDO had coincidentally made his way north from his home of Chicago.  Not bad luck if you ask me. I called PDO and he told us a group of them were having drinks at some place [...]
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Sprecher Brewery | Milwaukee, WI

So, not exactly a bar, but you drink beer here, so I think it counts… Sprecher Brewery was started in 1985 after Randy Sprecher returned to Wisconsin after being stationed militarily in Germany. He brewed some beers for Pabst, returned to UC Davis for further study, returned to Wisconsin for more brewing, contemplated a California [...]
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The Safe House | Milwaukee, WI

The first time I went to the Safe House I was obsessed with James Bond and probably around 13. My grandma got one of their signature drinks in one of their to-keep glasses. I called my then-girlfriend from the phone booth and told her I was at a tennis match (because the booth had sound [...]
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The Modern | Linen District, Boise ID

If Chandler’s is the swankiest, then The Modern is the hippest.  It’s a favorite of one of my friends who’s an interior designer and it looks just like its name.  The bar is small and can be loud as hell.  You’re either sitting or standing at the bar, sitting in the lounge area just to [...]
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Stocks and Blondes | The Loop, Chicago

Ceilings are 7-footers, tops. And up until the smoking ban the place smelled like shit. But it still smells like shit, thanks to the fryalators. Which also give the menus a nice sticky sheen. This is one of the best bars in the loop. They always seem to have good beer, something unusual, and compared [...]
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The Flat Iron | Wicker Park, Chicago

Graffiti on the walls (or is it street art?), a cavernous feel, patrons with piercings and serious eyeliner, and two pool tables, all behind a discreetly-labeled door that has ‘The Flat Iron’ spelled out in the exact same letters you’d use if you had an aluminum fishing boat in Wisconsin and needed to display your [...]
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Black Duck Tavern & Grille | Lincoln Park, Chicago

I have a problem. I think things are closer than they are. I think everything I want to get to is within four blocks of wherever I currently am. Ben and I had been drinking closer to Webster, when I suggested we head to the Black Duck. I was pretty sure it was around Armitage, [...]
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Jeff’s Restaurant and Bar | Oak Creek, WI

To my mind the only thing better than a townie bar is a ‘Sconie bar, and three things Wisconsinites love are the Packers, drinking and eating. Jeff’s takes care of all three. We had arrived at my in-laws a few days before Christmas, and before I even had my shoes off my wife’s stepdad asked [...]
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Club Brady | Milwaukee, WI

My wife, her brother and I walked across the street to Club Brady from The Nomad for a number of reasons: the music at The Nomad was so loud we couldn’t talk, there were a number of drunks singing along to the music and dropping bottles, and they had apparently not cleaned up from New [...]
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