Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.
• First came the ramen. Then came the poke. Then came the axe-throwing bars and the video game bars and the cat-petting cafes. (Also: “foot bowling bars”?) And now, dear Milwaukee contestants, comes the latest thing that Minneapolis was doing a year ago: “game show battle rooms.”
Well, make that Game Show Battle Rooms, because that’s the name of a new business headed to Brookfield this fall. Minnesota-based college buddies (and former pedal tavern owners, natch) David Sauer and Kevin Letnes opened their first Game Show Battle Room in suburban Minneapolis last year, and now plan to open a second in a 2,800-square-foot space at 12565 W. Feerick St., a block south of Capitol Drive. “There’s just a lot of momentum behind experience-based activities,” Sauer told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We thought, why not bring a full, immersive game-show experience to the public?”
So what, exactly, is included in a full, immersive game-show experience? For $29.95, customers get to compete in games like “Wheel of Phrases,” “Friendly Feud,” and “Name That Price”—all hosted by “theatrically minded people” (enter the ghost of Chuck Barris). Sessions last about 90 minutes. The whole thing is all-ages, and there’s no alcohol allowed (exit the ghost of Chuck Barris). Sauer and Letnes hope to open in early October.
“We’ve had 8-year-olds all the way up to 95-year-olds,” Sauer added. “We’ve had senior citizens’ homes come through. They’ve had a blast.” No word yet on whether a tired and exasperated Steve Harvey will materialize anytime someone yells out “FART!” “FLATULATING!” or “PASSING GAS!” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Speaking of this kind of stuff, there’s a new escape room coming to Brady Street in September. [Urban Milwaukee]
• Atomic Glass—which hasn’t been a thing for a while—has been found liable for selling 60,006 packets of synthetic cannabinoid products, and now has to pony up a cool $4.5 million. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
• Stand. Eat. Drink. Hospitality Group is bringing a new concept, Don’s Diner, to the former c.1880 in Walker’s Point. [BizTimes]
• Mark Borchardt directed a video for Tenement and it’s great. [The A.V. Club]
• So long, N. 4th Street (from W. St. Paul Avenue to W. Capitol Drive); hello, N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue [Urban Milwaukee]
• The first event to set up shop outside the new Bucks arena Fiserv Forum will be…Milwaukee Oktoberfest, coming October 5-7. [BizTimes]
• The Tied House, located at 124 N. Water St., has hired a new chef and plans to do a Saturday and Sunday brunch, plus a “gourmet twist on Friday fish fry.” [Milwaukee Business Journal]
• Marcus Theaters will not screen that new Slender Man movie in the Milwaukee area. [Fox6]
• The “Phone Keeps Ringing” for Vincent Van Great and Dana Coppafeel. [Soundcloud]
• Popsicle maker Pete’s Pops will host a grand opening for its new storefront at 3809 W. Vliet St. on August 18. [BizTimes]
• The Riverwest Cafe Corazon will close for a few weeks, beginning September 3, for some “major building maintenance and renovation.” [OnMilwaukee]
• Charlie “Manitowoc Minute” Berens is returning to the Pabst Theater November 3. [OnMilwaukee]
• A new Bay View pie place, SmallPie, is open. [Urban Milwaukee]
• MKE Brewing Co.’s new 9th Street brewery is opening soon. [OnMilwaukee]
• Have a great weekend, Milwaukee!