The Vanguard isn’t afraid to shake things up. Though the sausages the Bay View restaurant and bar serves up on a daily basis are deserving of the oodles of acclaim from local and national dining sources alike, ownership has shown no hesitation to occasionally break format during their first two years in business. On top of cycling new menu items in, once turning its patio into a pop-up record store, temporarily serving ribs and fried chicken, and kindly giving plucky upstart publications a sausage for a weekend, The Vanguard took things to the next level for a few hours last Halloween weekend, when the business changed its name to Golden Dragon and specialized in Chinese cuisine.
Since that single-night redressing resulted in an incredible turnout and the Golden Dragon running out of all its menu items by night’s end, the brat shop’s brass decided to change its concept again. On Saturday, October 29 from 5 p.m. to close, Vanguard will be celebrating Halloween as a seafood restaurant called “Hook Line & Sinker.”
Promising “off the hook seafood,” we’re told Hook, Line & Sinker will serve specialty takes on many of the expected crustaceans along with other seafood restaurant sides. After Vanguard closes at 2 p.m. that Saturday, the interior will experience an extensive decorative overhaul. While the one-night crab shack’s menu has yet to be finalized, Hook, Line & Sinker—on ambitious concept alone—is worth adding to your Halloween weekend itinerary.
“We basically want to be the destination spot before people go out to shows,” Vanguard/Hook, Line & Sinker co-owner Chris Schulist tells Milwaukee Record. “Oh, and costumes are encouraged.”