"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs -- including guides, the latest trends, rapid bar reviews and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!

Editors' note: This is the fourth installment in a series written by Dave Mikolajek, a longtime bartender and friend of OnMilwaukee.com.

Once a month, Mikolajek -- aka "College Dave" -- gathers a group of friends and embarks on an evening pub crawl to four local establishments, focusing much of his attention on smaller places that are a bit "off the radar" and don't get a lot of attention.

A lot of my friends quit "suckin' the sauce" in February, because, well, it's the shortest month of the year, it's a bit depressing weather-wise and it's good to cleanse every once in a while.

You know what I say to that?

"Whatever!"

Here's the deal: my friends and I dominated four satisfyingly succulent spots, and every single one of us had the absolute time of our especially social lives. Our evening was controlled, captivating and quenching. We hit Champions, Swigs Pub & Grill, Mamie's and Sarge's Corner.

Champion's Pub
2417 N. Bartlett Ave., (414) 332-2440 championspub.com
Bobby Greenya is the third-generation owner of this praised pub and longtime regular Scotty Stone tells me, "It's been fun watching the evolution from father to son to grandson." Scotty knows his stuff, too; he was long a barkeep at Giovanni's and Eddie Martini's.

Champions opened in 1956 in the building which now houses the Jazz Estate on Murray Avenue. Then, 18 years later, Greenya's grandfather moved to the current location on Bartlett Avenue.

Bobby, clearly knows the neighborhood where he grew up. When he was 3 years old and after his mother had just delivered twins, he decided to take a little walk on his own. When his mother and grandmother noticed him gone, they frantically called his grandfather at his tavern screaming, "Bobby is missing! Bobby is missing." Bobby's grandfather then replied, "Well, he just walked in the front door of the bar." He took a four-block walk to the bar at age 3. Amazing.

"I just loved the bar from an early age and always wanted to be there," he chuckles. I laughed and had to admit I could relate and said, "At the age of 5, I could smell a urinal cake from a block away!" We both laughed so hard it hurt. We are now friends for life.

Champions has a great feel, a high comfort level. It also has a beautiful shuffleboard table which is free, Golden Tee Live and Silver Strike Bowling. And, if you're there when the weather changes, it also has a nice deck and backyard for your drinking pleasure.

Check it out. This is what its all about. A Milwaukee tavern with a Milwaukee history at its best.

Swigs Pub & Grill
3143 S. Clement Ave., (414) 431-1229
Salt of the Earth people, Chris and Theresa Brown bought the former Rumford's in 2003. When Chris told his mom the news of his purchase, she said, "I used to make fish fries there with your aunts and grandmother back in 1954 and '55." Little did he know, his family once owned the bar -- known as Quinlan's Tap -- and that story from his mom nearly floored him. Another great Milwaukee story. He says, "It's absolutely funny how things come back to you." Unbelievable.

When our group arrived at Swigs, I could just tell that everyone really loved it and just fit in quickly. Bobby from Champion's, who joined us, sprinkled the infield (bought a round), and that's when we let the games begin. A couple shots followed ... fun.

I introduced fellow bar owners Chris and Bobby to one another, and they shared stories as I visited with my fellow barkeep and tavern scribes, Tom Julio and Laura Heller, who met us there. Those two ended up joining the crew, too.

Swigs is open at 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at 8:30 on Sunday. They have some nice specials, too, including a daily fish fry special. On Monday, you can get a 12-inch pizza with two toppings and five shorty beers for 10 bucks. So, basically, if you bring what the old-time gamblers call "a half-a-yard" to spend, you can buy five pizzas and 25 shorty brews. I know where I'm throwing my next intimate party.

Thank you for your hospitality, Chris and Theresa. Everybody loved the place.

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