SOLD OUT
Join Historic Milwaukee for a Behind the Scenes tour of Bryant's Cocktail Lounge with owner John Dye (1579 S. 9th Street). Originally a Miller Brewing tied house, this legendary establishment houses the oldest cocktail lounge in Milwaukee, and one of the best preserved cocktail lounges in the country. Learn about Bryant's evolution from beer bar to craft cocktail lounge while enjoying a classic cocktail.
HMI Members: $25 | Non-Members: $45
Tickets include one featured craft cocktail
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SOLD OUT
Join Historic Milwaukee for a Behind the Scenes tour of Bryant's Cocktail Lounge with owner John Dye (1579 S. 9th Street). Originally a Miller Brewing tied house, this legendary establishment houses the oldest cocktail lounge in Milwaukee, and one of the best preserved cocktail lounges in the country. Learn about Bryant's evolution from beer bar to craft cocktail lounge while enjoying a classic cocktail.
HMI Members: $25 | Non-Members: $45
Tickets include one featured craft cocktail
Advance Ticket Rquired
https://historicmilwaukee.wufoo.com/forms/behind-the-scenes-at-bryants-cocktail-lounge/
John Dye is the owner and operator of Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, Milwaukee’s oldest cocktail lounge. While he never intended to be the owner of a cocktail lounge in Milwaukee, every step in his life prepared him to do exactly that. Even at a young age, John had a passion for historic buildings and, specifically, historic bars, restaurants, and hotels. While his friends played sports, John would draw floorpans for hotels or create menus for the dream restaurant he would own someday. At the age of 14, John landed his first job in a kitchen of the Windbag Saloon, a historic restaurant and bar in his hometown in Montana. From there, John went on to hold nearly every position in a restaurant, from dishwasher to manager, and eventually bartender.
Even as he pursued a “real” career, bartending was always something he did on the side to pay the bills. In 2000, John moved to Milwaukee to pursue a PhD in Architecture with a specialty in Environment Behavior Studies. It was here that John realized his passion for the built environment was something that couldn’t be satisfied in academia and that he needed to work hands on with the history he was so fond of. In 2004, he left his PhD program and started renovating houses and working in real estate until 2008, when he found out that Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge was for sale after the passing of it’s second owner, Pat Malmberg. It was at this moment that his seemingly unrelated passions came together and his path was clear— he purchased Bryant’s and began the process of restoration and reinvigoration. In eight years he transformed Bryant’s from a shuttered memory in to a Milwaukee landmark that consistently receives national attention. Recently, John purchased another Milwaukee landmark, The Jazz Estate, which he plans on infusing with the same passion and energy he put in to Bryant’s. Stay tuned!