Here at OnMilwaukee.com, we pride ourselves in being Milwaukee experts. Since it's literally our job to eat, sleep and breathe all things Brew City, we get lots of questions from our readers.

This is where we answer them.

In the "Ask OMC" series, we take your questions, big or small, and track down the answers. Send your query to askomc@staff.onmilwaukee.com. Be sure to include your name and location, and we'll consider it for our next installment.

Our question this time comes from Dave in Cudahy, who asks:

"What's the deal with the two new bars at the corner of Kinnickinic and Lincoln in Bay View? When are they going to open?"

Dave is referring to two properties that are currently in the construction phase. The first is the Sugar Maple, which is located at 411 E. Lincoln Ave., a site that formerly housed the Sikh Temple. The other building, which will be just west of the Sugar Maple, will house Café Centraal, which will be operated by Mike Eitel, Eric Wagner and the Diablos Rojos restaurant group, which also run Trocadero and Café Hollander (which was originally to be named Café Centraal).

The Sugar Maple is farther along in its development. Owners Bruno Johnson and Adrienne Pierluissi, the husband and wife team behind Palm Tavern, hope to be ready for business just after St. Patrick's Day. The sign went up a few weeks ago, which has created some awareness (and probably drew the attention of Dave in Cudahy).

Johnson said that the prospect of starting the new bar from scratch was tougher than taking over Palm Tavern.

"We're going from the ground up," he said. "There was a lot less work (at Palm). There are more headaches here, but now that we've got the walls plastered and the place looks great, you can sense what it's going to be like. In your imagination, you can see it."

Palm Tavern is known for its cozy environment and huge selection of beers. The Sugar Maple, will be much larger inside and will carry 60 draft beers, most of them from Midwest breweries, and Johnson expects some similarities between the new place and the Palm.

"I think definitely going to be able to walk in there and sense, if you've got your wits about you, that they're owned by the same people," Johnson said. "I try to make (Palm Tavern) esoteric on every level. Point is the most recognizable beer I have.

"I'm not going to have mass-market beers, but I'll have Lakefront, Sprecher and others. There will be a lot of Midwest beers. There are so many doing great beer that there is no reason to bring any in from the West Coast or the East Coast."

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16 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by Suicide Squid on Dec. 15, 2007 at 6:20 p.m. (report)

Is this place big enough to support the turnover of 60 taps? Or is there going to be a lot of stank beer? Hopefully there will be some nice big beers that can hold up for long periods of time and that they have a good tap/cooler system. I also hope the taps expand past the midwest. This would be a great place for a beer adventure across the US and world. Unless he has something up his sleeve to get some of the rarer (around here) midwest beers. Dragonmead, Surly, or 3 Floyds would be nice if they find a way to get them into the state. I already know where to go to drink Lakefront, Sprecher, Great Lakes, Tyranena, New Glarus, etc...

Posted by sandstorm on Dec. 14, 2007 at 4:57 p.m. (report)

it's freaking milwaukee. if i wanted to i could walk two blocks in any direction from my house and drink in 8 different places. why drive, cab, fly, skate, bus, cab, crawl, parachute into bayview? i might do any of those to get to the Club G, Palomino, Cactus triumverate, but no other bar over there is worth that hassle.

Posted by CoolerKing on Dec. 14, 2007 at 7:49 a.m. (report)

My original statement about parking had nothing to do with having to walk a couple blocks to bars but about the businesses nearby. I know one of the owners that closed their shop on KK recently and moved to another location because their customers said they had problems parking. Other businesses have came and quickly went as well in that 2 block stretch over the last couple years. I didn't feel I needed to explain this, but since some posters have assumed this was a complaint or a whine it had to be clarified. That said, I look forward to the 2 bars opening soon and will be happy to check them out.

Posted by Z_boy on Dec. 14, 2007 at 7:33 a.m. (report)

Hey deathb4decaf: I'll admit that people should use their vehicles less. I think there are plenty of times a bus or even a bike would work perfectly. But you can't beat the convenience of a car. And I think like a lot of us, our vehicles are paid for -- I don't pay $200 a month because my used vehicle is paid in full. My insurance isn't that expensive because I only insure the other driver. And to call a cab sounds good in theory, but the truth of the matter is that calling a cab and getting it to come is an entirely different ballgame. You can wait over an hour, which is not rare, for your cab to come to your house. Then, when it's time to leave and go home, you can wait another 45 minutes to an hour easily (I'll admit that it's slightly easier to get a cab coming home). As far as the bus system, it usually stops running about 1 a.m., which doesn't do you any good when bar time is 2 a.m. Realistically, who's going to go through that when you can hop in your vehicle and be to your destination in 15 minutes?!? Parking sucks on Brady Street on the weekends. Someone said we're too lazy to walk a block or two, but that's false. We end up circling the blocks to find a spot and have to walk five or six blocks. In summer, that's not the worst thing, but in winter and 3 degrees or when it's raining and you have your going-out clothes on, it sucks, plain and simple. I'm glad you've been able to live without a car, good for you. But to say that it's effortless is being less than truthful.

Posted by college_dave on Dec. 13, 2007 at 8:36 p.m. (report)

Its nice to see more life coming to that corner and it will bring more people irregardless of the parking situation. What Bay View (& Brady Str.) really need is an affordable hotel to crash at nearby the area. Then maybe so many peeps can't bitch about parking related issues. I'd hate to pave over some natural green space for a parking structure and I think the parking complainers would too.