Four years after closing its bar-restaurant at Bayshore, Glendale-based Sprecher Brewing Co. is gearing up to again serve its line of craft beer and soda at the neighboring shopping center.
The Sprecher Taproom is slated to open May 17 at 5689 N. Bayshore Drive, Glendale, adjacent to the central town square and green space known as The Yard. The space was once home Sprecher’s Restaurant & Pub, which closed in 2019.
The new taproom will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, serving a selection of beverages from Sprecher’s lineup of 20 sodas and 12 craft beers as well as bar fare such as a giant soft pretzel, locally made popcorn, root beer popcorn, cold Ellsworth Cheese Curds, Vern’s Cheese Whips and Vern’s Cheese Party Snack Packs.
Credit: Jake Hill
“Glendale is our brewery’s official home, and we are excited to again be partnering with Bayshore to offer our great products to the people of greater Milwaukee,” said Sharad Chadha, president and chief executive officer of Sprecher. “There is nothing better in summer than coming out to a free concert and enjoying one of our great craft beers or sodas. It’s a true Wisconsin treat.”
Chadha led an investment group that purchased Sprecher Brewing in early 2020 and has since been working on ambitious plans to grow the brand’s national presence.
“A lot of people call Sprecher a hidden gem of Milwaukee and Wisconsin and that truly has shown,” he said in an October 2022 interview with BizTimes Milwaukee. “The gem is being polished by us and shining bright. We are in 40-plus states now in distribution, through beer in soda distributors and also direct through customers like Costco, Walmart and Menards and local (stores) like Sendik’s. That’s what’s helped us grow – we’ve put our product on more shelves in 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 retail outlets and as we do that, more consumers and Americans, people all over the world get a taste of Sprecher, and they love it and come back for more.”
Sprecher’s headquarters facility is located at 701 W. Glendale Ave., in Glendale, less than two miles south of Bayshore. The retail center last year hosted the Root Beer Bash, an annual event put on by Glendale’s visitors bureau and Sprecher. The event will return to Bayshore this year on Saturday, Aug. 5, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in The Yard.
Sprecher joins a growing list of tenants that have joined or returned to Bayshore in the past couple of years following a multi-million-dollar redevelopment by owner Cypress Equities. Sur La Table recently reopened a store there after exiting the mall during the COVID-19 pandemic, and co-working space Regus is in the midst of renovating its former space in the Silver Spring Office Building.
In addition, Omaha, Nebraska-based ACX Cinemas will reopen Bayshore’s 42,951 square-foot movie theater, bowling alley and restaurant space (formerly operated by iPic) and West Hollywood-based Kids Empire will open a children’s entertainment venue in the former LensCrafters space on the northern end of the property this summer.
Since efforts got underway in 2018 to downsize the mall’s retail space and demolish or convert existing buildings for other uses, Bayshore has drawn a wave of new tenants, such as Nike, Total Wine & More, Target and Crumbl Cookies. A Culver’s restaurant was built on the north side of the property, alongside the under-construction 311-unit Bayshore Residences apartment development.
“The Sprecher Taproom is the perfect addition to create a lighthearted, lively environment for our guests and community,” said Mary Mokwa, senior general manager of Bayshore. “Sprecher will be a great fit to help curate an energetic summer environment where our guests can truly take advantage of everything Bayshore has to offer.”
