Restaurants in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward are hoping for cooler temperatures as they prepare to once again install outdoor ice bars later this month.
St. Paul Fish Company, Cafe Benelux and The Wicked Hop on January 18 will kick off the second annual ice bar event, this year dubbed “Milwaukee’s Coolest Festival.”
St. Paul Fish Company on Wednesday announced the festival’s opening date on its Facebook page.
A hand-carved ice bar will be built outside each restaurant, and will stand for as long as temperatures stay below freezing. The structures, which are constructed by Franksville-based ice sculpture studio Art Below Zero, are a hefty investment, so their opening date depends on a promising forecast for at least the following two weekends, said Patrick Nedobeck, bar operator at St. Paul Fish Company.
This will be the third consecutive year the seafood restaurant will install an ice bar outside its Milwaukee Public Market location. Cafe Benelux and The Wicked Hop last year followed suit and the three bars held the inaugural winter-themed festival.
Nedobeck said the size of St. Paul’s ice bar this time around will surpass those of the past two years. The 50-foot-long ice bar at the restaurant will be built around an outdoor tiki-themed bar along Broadway, expanding the seating area from 14 to 27 stools.
More details about “Milwaukee’s Coolest Festival” will be announced in the coming days via Facebook.
