Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• Where does an “activity bar”-obsessed Milwaukee go after netting a cat cafe, a pair of axe-throwing bars, a bunch of arcade bars, and probably 12 more poke/karaoke places that were announced today? A “foot-bowling” bar, apparently. What’s “foot-bowling” you ask, closing your eyes, lowering your head, placing your fingers on your forehead, and sighing? Well…
The object of the game is to be the first team to knock down the opposing teams’ bowling pins by throwing a football at a traditional 10-pin layout on a wooden platform.
Okay. Milwaukee’s new “foot-bowling” bar is called First And Bowl, it’s setting up shop in a Walker’s Point warehouse at 1132 S. Barclay St., and it’s being developed by Bryan MacKenzie and three friends “who don’t want to be named.” Also, it will have pizzas. “This is our long-term plan to get out of corporate America and do our own thing,” MacKenzie told BizTimes. “Plus, Milwaukee deserves a fine place like this to hang out.” [BizTimes]
• Milwaukee was on Jeopardy! again, this time for its key-shaped “parking meters” that collect money for the homeless. Seriously, there’s gotta be a Jeopardy! question/answer writer who’s originally from Milwaukee, right? [OnMilwaukee]
• The most important feature of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft is a driver driving their own vehicle. But what Milwaukee startup WayAround presupposes is: maybe it isn’t? Yes, now you can have someone drive you around using your own car. For $35 an hour. Huh. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Closing operations for the BMO Harris Bradley Center will begin August 10. A total of 651 jobs will be killed because of the closure, though the new Bucks arena will eventually add about 620 new full- and part-time jobs. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The new Tigernite record, Sublunary, is gooooooood. [Bandcamp]
• Want more beer? You’ve got more beer. Component Brewing will open in the Lincoln Warehouse brewery and taproom this June. The space, 2018 S. 1st St., was recently vacated by Eagle Park Brewing. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Tribeca GalleryCafe & Books is open at Freshwater Plaza, 1318 S. First St. The location—Tribeca’s second—features “books for sale, plenty of space for reading or working, as well as breakfast and lunch offerings.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• A new restaurant, Glass + Griddle, will open in the new Milwaukee Brewing Co. complex August 15. The in-development eatery, located at 1130 N. 9th St., will be operated by Pizza Man partners Sarah and Zach Baker. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• The new Amanda Huff record, Hemiptera, is amazing. [Shepherd Express]
• A California-based hamburger chain, Burgerim, will open a Milwaukee location in the old Cousins Subs space at 1001 N. Old World Third St., near the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. An opening date for the burger joint has yet to be announced. [BizTimes]
• Milwaukee has the 17th best park system in the country (4th if you count the squirrel grave). Great job, Milwaukee! [Urban Milwaukee]
• The Milwaukee County Zoo kicked off a $25 million capital campaign to improve its Adventure Africa section. The campaign has already raised nearly $17 million. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• The new Sex Scenes record, h, is fucking great. [Shepherd Express]
• You know that crappy, bizarrely out-of-place Burger King on the East Side? (And don’t get us wrong: we love BK.) You know, the one at 2045 E. North Ave.? Well, it’s closed. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Plans to renovate and reopen the Grand Theater at 2917-23 N. Holton Ave. (as opposed to the downtown Grand Theater that’s also being renovated and reopened) are moving forward. [OnMilwaukee]
• Kohl’s wants in on those “millennials” they’ve heard so much about. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Northwestern Mutual is donating a cool $600,000 to Discovery World. [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• “There was a very handsome lizard of some kind sunning himself on the rock.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Have a great Memorial Day weekend, Milwaukee!