Kiesling

"This Eater Award-winning saloon brings a strong cocktail game to the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. With past lives as a general store, a saloon, and a cop bar, this beautifully restored spot honors its history by maintaining the interior’s immaculate woodwork, exposed brick, and hand-painted mural uncovered during the spot’s renovation. Guests can keep things simple with the bar’s $6 beer and shot special or get creative with a long list of classic cocktails with a twist. Let bar manager, Allison Everitt, who in 2024 was nominated as one of the Best New Bartenders by PUNCH, or a member of her team make you a drink, like the Ordinary Pleasure, described as a vegetal play on a mezcal white negroni, comprised of mezcal, celery root liquor, extra dry vermouth, celery bitters, and saline. During the warmer months, the outdoor patio provides a compact al fresco hideout." - Serena Maria Daniels

"The Eater Award-winning saloon in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood takes a slightly untraditional approach with their “Last Call” Happy Hour, 20 percent off bottled draft cocktails to-go beginning at, you guessed it — last call. The bar also runs a $5 beer and shot special daily and $5 daquaris on Mondays. Hours: Begins at last call." - Courtney Burk

"Kiesling has not reopened for in-person service but is exploring creative service options enabled by new liquor laws." - Courtney Burk

"This painstakingly renovated 1920s Milwaukee Junction saloon-turned-cocktail hotspot features graphic wallpaper throughout the building. This theme continues into the commodes, accessed through antique wood doors." - Brenna Houck

"There’s something beautiful about a bar with a lot of history. Kiesling is one of those places, having over the years been home to a general store, a saloon, and a cop bar before being abandoned entirely. Under its new owners, the bar received a complete restoration that took more than two years with painstaking attention to the woodwork and a hand-painted mural, discovered under layers of paint. The result is a cocktail bar with loads of character and an outstanding team of bartenders assembled by manager Rob Wilson. The style at Kiesling is unpretentious, though the drinks are top notch. It’s the type of neighborhood spot where people not only gather after work, but also seek out for a highly original cocktail." - Brenna Houck