Not even two months after Rogues Gallery closed at 134 E. Juneau Ave., a new tavern called Mojo MKE is opening in its place.
According to a bartender there, Mojo MKE hopes to open this weekend.
Rogues Gallery, run for nearly a decade by Nathan Showers, closed on Dec. 30, and Showers sold the business to Todd Wargula, a veteran bar manager and bartender who is opening Mojo MKE.
Signage was installed on the front of the building earlier this month.
According to documents filed with the city, Mojo MKE, like its predecessor, will hire DJs to provide music for dancing and will host karaoke.
Mojo will not serve food but will likely host food trucks during the warmer months, the employee said.
Showers owns Elwood’s at 1111 N. Water St., which opened in May 2019.
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.
