"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs -- including guides, the latest trends, rapid bar reviews and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
Today, we announce the winner of the best bar in a restaurant and reading that article made me realize that most bars I visit these days could also be called restaurants.
With a household that now is twice as large and with an average age around half what it was a few years ago, I don't spend many nights out in bars these days.
But that doesn't mean I can't have a beer in a pub. It just means I do it with the kids. We pick a place that's family friendly, such as Cafe Hollander in Tosa Village -- though there are more options than ever, especially now that smoking is kaput -- have lunch and while they enjoy a cow-sourced beverage, I opt for a tall cold one.
Because I have the kids, I am reminded to drink responsibly and I have just one. And you know what? It's cool. I like it. The days of enjoying being stinking drunk and hungover the next day are long gone for me (if I ever really did enjoy it).
These days I enjoy hanging with my kids more than almost anyone, and having one beer that I really like means I savor every sip. That's not something that was true when I was in bands, playing a couple nights a week and drinking crap beer like water.
I'll take this experience over that one any day.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
