Milwaukee's oldest bars: Taverns that have passed the 100-year mark

Think of them as the places where everybody knows your great-great-great-grandfather's name.

Milwaukee has had thousands of taverns over its long history, but only a handful of bars have survived past the 100-year mark.

What for years was considered Milwaukee's oldest bar, Landmark 1850 Inn at 5905 S. Howell Ave., closed in 2022 following the death of its longtime owner, Joseph G. Halser III. Depending on who you ask, the bar dates back to the 1840s or 1860s; Halser contended it began in 1850. (And it could be the oldest again: Urban Milwaukee reported in September 2023 that Halser's family has the property listed for sale but is looking for a partner to reopen the bar.)

Here are some of the Milwaukee bars that are still open and operating as taverns that date back more than 100 years. Because it only includes bars that are still mainly bars, this leaves out a few longtime spots, such as The White House, the neighborhood bar at 2900 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View that goes back to 1891 but became a fine-dining restaurant in 2019; and the space at 322 W. State St., which since 1889 has been a string of bars, from the Stag Bar (which was a men-only establishment until the late 1970s) to the Tamarack and the Daily Planet, but which for the past decade has been primarily a restaurant, most recently State Street Pizza Pub.

There are more to add to this list. Let us know in the comments section.

Puddler’s Hall

Opened: 1873, at 2461 S. St. Clair St.

History: Built in 1872, the building was a union hall for workers from nearby Milwaukee Iron Co. (Puddlers were skilled workers who tended blast furnaces in the iron works.) The hall quickly became a central meeting place for the Bay View neighborhood. It was later acquired by Pabst Brewing Co., which turned it into a company tavern in 1892. When Prohibition hit, Pabst sold the tavern to Frank and Mary Barbieri, who added dance hall space. After the Barbieri family sold the tavern in 1979, it went through a number of names, until new owners renamed the bar Puddler’s Hall in 2002.

The Uptowner

Opened: 1884, at 1032 E. Center St.

History: Built by Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. as part of a binge of neighborhood tied houses — bars selling a specific brewery’s beer — the bar at Center Street and Humboldt Boulevard claims it’s Milwaukee’s longest continuously operating tavern. (During Prohibition, it was as a drugstore that, reportedly on the sly, also sold booze.) The Riverwest tavern operated under different names before becoming the Uptowner in 1950.

Regano’s Roman Coin

Opened: 1890, at 1004 E. Brady St.

History: Opened as a Pabst tied house, the tavern at the corner of Brady and Astor streets has had a colorful history. In 1932, near the end of Prohibition, the bar had a reputation as a center for running liquor in Milwaukee, but when government agents raided the place, all they found was a little alcohol and taps dispensing near beer. Six years later, the bar had the distinction of being the first in the city ticketed for staying open past Milwaukee’s then-new 2 a.m. bar curfew. (The charge was later dismissed.) The tavern went through several owners before Joe Regano bought it in 1966; it’s still in the family, owned and operated by Joe’s daughter, Teri Regano.

Club Garibaldi

Opened: 1907, at 2501 S. Superior St.

History: Built by Schlitz as a tied house, the Bay View meeting and dance hall has been owned for most of its history by what’s now called the Garibaldi Mutual Aid Society. But it wasn’t always the Club Garibaldi. From at least the end of Prohibition to the middle of World War II, it was known as Paradise Music Hall or Paradise Gardens. The “new” Club Garibaldi made its debut in 1943, promising dance bands on the weekends. For the past 20 years, the bar has been an active spot for local music.

Holler House

Opened: 1908 at 2042 W. Lincoln Ave.

History: Constance and August Schachta opened the bar and bowling alley on Lincoln Avenue; a decade later, August Schachta died and Constance married Mike Skowronski. For more than half a century, the south side bar/bowling alley was called Mike’s Tap, Skowronski’s, Skowronski Tap and, simply, Gene and Marcy’s, after Mike and Constance’s son Gene and his wife, Marcy. The story goes that, in the 1970s, a woman retrieved her drunk husband from the bar and complained the place was too noisy; thereafter, it was dubbed the Holler House. Gene Skowronski died in 1990; Marcy took the helm of the Holler House until she died in 2019 at age 93. Still open for bowling by reservation, Holler House is considered the oldest certified bowling alley in the United States.

Wolski’s

Opened: 1908, at 1836 N. Pulaski St.

History: Bernard Wolski opened the tavern in what was then a mostly Polish neighborhood near Brady Street; his three sons ran the bar for more than 60 years. Bernard’s great-grandsons Michael Bondar and Bernard Bondar bought the bar from their third cousin in 1973; their younger brother Dennis later joined them. Michael has retired, but Bernard and Dennis still own the bar, best known for Milwaukee’s most popular bumper sticker, “I Closed Wolski’s.”

O’Lydia’s

Opened: 1916, at 338 S. First St.

History: Frank Terzan operated a bar, called Terzan’s, in the space until the 1930s, serving soft drinks during Prohibition. His son Louis kept it going until he sold the bar in 1981; the new owners renamed it End of the Line, a reflection of the building's location next to a railroad embankment in Walker's Point. In 1995, bar operator Slim McGinn bought the bar and renamed it Slim’s; he sold it in 2011, and it became O’Lydia’s, with a popular fish fry and shuttles to most major sporting events in the area.

The Pressroom MKE

Opened: 1923, at 3105 W. Forest Home Ave.

History: Eddie Wisinski, known as the south side's "peanut king" for handling peanut concessions in local parks and at State Fair Park, opened Eddie's Log Tavern, a family-style spot, during Prohibition. The bar stayed in the family for decades; when it was Gil & Eileen's Log Tavern (Eileen was Wisinski's daughter), the bar had a barbershop attached to it. In 2022, the bar was bought by Robert Holmes III, a former pressman at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's printing plant. Holmes renamed the bar The Pressroom MKE, with newspaper headlines on the walls. (The barbershop is now a game room.)

Sources: Journal Sentinel archives; "Bottoms up: A toast to Wisconsin's Historic Bars & Breweries" by Jim Draeger (Wisconsin Historical Press); City of Milwaukee Property Assessment Data site (assessments.milwaukee.gov)

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