Milwaukee’s Iconic Bars Don’t Need Saving, Just Some “Shine Up”

John Dye might not be a native Milwaukeean, but he’s most definitely an avid convert. In 2000, he moved to the city to pursue a Ph.D. in architecture, but found himself enchanted by the unique local bar scene, which is proudly working class, with deep ties to German beer heritage and a strong affinity for friendly neighborhood spots. Turning his back on academia, Dye pivoted. He has spent nearly two decades since as the caretaker of several iconic Milwaukee bars.

Beginning with his purchase of Bryant’s, the city’s oldest cocktail lounge, in 2008, Dye has dedicated himself to renovating and preserving local cultural landmarks, where “long-term owners just kept and held on to these spaces, out of love for the spaces and the customers and the staff,” he says. Sometimes that preservation is simple, but other projects are more involved: His revamp of The Estate, a moody and intimate lounge, took more than a year and a half and involved gutting the space, adding all-new electrical, plumbing and heating systems, and having a structural beam installed. His goal, though, is never to drastically change a bar. To him, the expense and effort pay off when guests barely even realize that the place has changed.

In June of this year, Dye closed on his most recent bar rescue, Von Trier, a German tavern on a busy corner of the city’s east side. Originally called Rieder’s and opened in 1949, the bar changed hands and name in 1978, gaining its appellation from then-owner Karl Lotharius’ hometown in Germany. The space is classic Milwaukee corner bar: high ceilings, knickknacks everywhere, warm wood and stained glass, and even a deer antler chandelier that once hung in the Pabst mansion. “Von Trier is on one of the busiest corners in the city. It definitely would have been a bank drive-through or something, had somebody had the money to buy it out,” he says. “It’s an iconic, historic Milwaukee bar that just needed some shine up.”

Here, Dye shares his outlook on preservation, memory and history, and how they play out in the physical spaces of legacy bars.