The monkey is moving.
Diane Dowland, one of the two owners of The Monkey Bar, 1517 S. 2nd St., is taking her bar and moving it a few blocks southeast this winter.
She and co-owner Tim Beuth are hoping for a mid-January relocation to the space at 1619 S. 1st St., which formerly housed Viva La Femme.
Dowland says after six years in business, she simply outgrew the space at the Walker's Point location.
"We do a lot of charity events and parties and with the current Monkey, we sometimes over-promote for the amount of space we have, " says Dowland. "It's cramped and there's never enough seating. The new space will allow us to do much more."
But Dowland says even though the space is bigger, patrons can still count on the same "good old Monkey." The "mezzanine level" can be closed off during the week, preserving the bar's cozy feeling.
Additionally, Dowland says the new space will allow for live music and DJs on the weekends. She and Beuth are currently working on the build-out and will set a firm opening date after their Jan. 15 Common Council meeting.
"Once we have a solid date we'll start planning a big grand opening party," she says.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
