Angelo’s Piano Lounge, located just off Brady Street at 1686 N. Van Buren St., is in the midst of a name change. According to a sign outside the building and some social media posts, the iconic spot is set to become a new business called Donnie’s.
Also: Did Angelo’s ever officially close? It was opened by namesake Angelo Mortellaro in 1985 and went through a series of ownership changes over the years—the most recent in 2020, right before the pandemic—but it never really closed, right? Like, it was still kinda-sorta open in 2023? Huh. (Mortellaro passed away in 2016.)
An Evening At Angelo’s from Kara Mulrooney on Vimeo.
Anyway, the upcoming Donnie’s (a sign says “OPENING SOON”) appears to be the work of Donald Dries. Dries, the owner of Dries Painting & Restoration, made news in 2023 when he opened an Italian restaurant called Cafe Terraza and a bar called Baccara in the old Oakland Trattoria/Black Rose space at 2856 N. Oakland Ave. (Original plans named the businesses as Dries Ristorante and Donnie’s Pub). That was summer 2023—by December 2023, both Cafe Terraza and Baccara were closed. Dries told Urban Milwaukee that he “chose to close the businesses and negotiate out of the lease as a result of consistent noise complaints from the landlord.”
So we’ll see how this one goes! We’ve reached out to Dries for more information.
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