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 effects that you could use to pretend you were anywhere). I had milk in that glass for the next 5 years. Fast forward too many more years, and the place has hardly changed. Which is great.
You enter with a password (or a pride-reducing dance) off the shortest street in Milwaukee, Front Street, very near the larger beer gardens of Water Street. They still have drinks that include the glass they’re served in, including a beer mug with $2.50 refills. They still have the false-front entrance with the moving bookcase and fake walls. There’s still a variety of stuff around spy-related including bullet-proof glass and Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc (perhaps one of the few updates).
The only thing that’s changed is that I now realize the genius behind it. It’s basically a bar that opens into an alley. What to do? Make it a Safe House with a hidden entrance (because that’s probably all there’s space for, and how do you convince people to walk down a dark alley?). It’s taking what you have and making it great uniquely instead of riding the greatness of others (how many faux-rish bars do we really need?). I love it, and I’m not waiting another decade and a half to return again.
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 effects that you could use to pretend you were anywhere). I had milk in that glass for the next 5 years. Fast forward too many more years, and the place has hardly changed. Which is great.
You enter with a password (or a pride-reducing dance) off the shortest street in Milwaukee, Front Street, very near the larger beer gardens of Water Street. They still have drinks that include the glass they’re served in, including a beer mug with $2.50 refills. They still have the false-front entrance with the moving bookcase and fake walls. There’s still a variety of stuff around spy-related including bullet-proof glass and Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc (perhaps one of the few updates).
The only thing that’s changed is that I now realize the genius behind it. It’s basically a bar that opens into an alley. What to do? Make it a Safe House with a hidden entrance (because that’s probably all there’s space for, and how do you convince people to walk down a dark alley?). It’s taking what you have and making it great uniquely instead of riding the greatness of others (how many faux-rish bars do we really need?). I love it, and I’m not waiting another decade and a half to return again.