Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Following months of waiting and numerous setbacks, The Drunk Uncle is finally ready to reopen.

Early last fall, owner Neal Steffek decided to address the West Allis wrestling bar and craft beer bastion’s lack of space by temporarily closing for renovations that would essentially double the bar’s square footage. Originally, Steffek figured the ambitious project would take about two months to complete, but lengthy delays in the approval and inspection process put construction on hold.

Finally, back in February, he told us the new and improved Drunk Uncle was targeting a March 9 reopen. However, due to more reasons that were out of Steffek’s control, that date (plus more than two additional months) passed without the bar reopening.

“I guess it was a perfect storm of City Hall and the contractor not coming to an agreement,” Steffek says. “And that pushed things back a couple months.”

As a result, the reopening status of the bar he’d initially expected to be back up and running before last Thanksgiving was once again up in the air. Steffek says this latest roadblock was a nightmarish experience.

“The last month has been great because we’ve been finishing things up, but for about a month, it was hell,” Steffek says. “That’s the best way to describe it.”

After enduring months and months of delays, The Drunk Uncle will finally open its doors to customers this weekend. Saturday’s “Grand Soft Opening Party” will give the bar an opportunity to break in its 48 draft lines and test out the six huge flatscreens (which will be showing AEW action) for the first time. To thank patrons for their patience, all canned and bottled beer will be only $1 on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, the first 100 people through the door will get a free pint of Spotted Cow. There’s just one catch…

“Be warned, things are not going to be 100 percent [ready], but we’ll be open,” Steffek says. “Come on in. If you see something you don’t like, let me know so I can change it in the near future.”

As always, The Drunk Uncle will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, but the bar will resume its normal hours starting next Wednesday. It’s been one hell of a wait, but West Allis’ favorite wrestling bar is coming back bigger, better, with more crazy drink specials than ever before.

About The Author

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Co-Founder and Editor

Before co-founding Milwaukee Record, Tyler Maas wrote for virtually every Milwaukee publication (except Wassup! Magazine). He lives in Bay View and enjoys both stuff and things.