A vacant tavern on Milwaukee's Northwest Side could soon reopen as Jana's Pub and Grill, a bar and restaurant proposing karaoke nights, poetry readings, DJs and live bands at 10433 W. Appleton Ave. The application, now pending before the Milwaukee Common Council, would replace Mitchell's Tavern, the neighborhood bar that closed after its longtime owner died in 2024.
Entrepreneur Humphrey Nangah purchased the property, along with an adjacent parking lot at 10417 W. Appleton Ave., in February 2025 for a combined $325,000, according to City of Milwaukee assessment records. As reported by Urban Milwaukee, Nangah bought the site as a turnkey operation, meaning much of the tavern's existing infrastructure is intended to carry over into the new venture. City records assess the tavern building itself at $314,000, with the 15,547-square-foot parking lot parcel valued separately at $31,200.
A Longtime Tavern's Final Chapter
Mitchell's Tavern, previously known as Jim Mitchell's Tavern, had occupied the building for more than 17 years before closing. Its owner, Brent T. Rock, died at age 54 on June 28, 2024, and his family hosted his life celebration at the tavern the following week, according to Schramka Funeral Homes. The building itself dates to 1949 and included a two-bedroom rental unit on its upper floor, a feature that commercial listing records show previously generated $600 in monthly rent.
Commercial real estate listings describe the 3,490-square-foot building as capable of holding 100 people indoors, with 57 parking spaces resurfaced in 2020, a two-car detached garage, and a 0.36-acre vacant lot next door for potential future expansion, per Powers Realty Group listing records. The property, at the corner of W. Bobolink Avenue, sits directly north of Lawrence J. Timmerman Airport along a stretch of W. Appleton Avenue mixing industrial, commercial and residential uses, according to Realty.com. The site is also surrounded by a large surface parking lot, per Urban Milwaukee's reporting.
What's Planned Inside Jana's Pub and Grill
Per the submitted floor plan, Jana's Pub and Grill would include a wraparound bar, table seating, a small dance floor and an outdoor patio. The license application also calls for an outdoor bar and a grilling area. Inside, the bar would feature two pool tables, a jukebox and five amusement machines.
The proposed menu includes burgers, pork chops, chicken, fish, salads and fries, alongside a casual food and entertainment lineup that would include DJs, instrumental musicians and bands, karaoke events and poetry readings, according to the same Urban Milwaukee report. Proposed operating hours would run from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 2 a.m. on Monday, and 9 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Under Wisconsin Statute Section 125.32, Class B liquor license holders must otherwise cease alcohol sales between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays and between 2:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. on weekends, a framework the proposed hours fall within.
Owner's Licensing History Could Draw Scrutiny
Nangah already owns Diamonds Pub & Grill at 7607 W. Hampton Ave., a venue with a mixed regulatory record that the Common Council's Licenses Committee will likely weigh as it reviews the new application. City records show the Common Council imposed a 30-day liquor license suspension on Diamonds Pub & Grill in April 2022 following a police report regarding a shooting and an employee incident. Nangah told the city's Licenses Committee at the time that he cooperated fully with police officers during the investigation.
That was not the venue's first brush with regulators. Common Council records show Diamonds Pub & Grill previously received a 10-day suspension in January 2012 following police report findings, with the Licenses Committee voting 5-0 at the time to approve that penalty. Mitchell's Tavern itself was not immune to scrutiny under its prior ownership: the Licenses Committee issued the bar a warning letter in April 2020 after a police report detailed a physical altercation there, though the previous owner told the committee that violence was rare at the establishment.
All new Class B tavern and public entertainment license applications in Milwaukee must first clear the Licenses Committee, which incorporates police background reviews and public hearings, before heading to the full 15-member Common Council for final approval. The committee routinely evaluates neighborhood testimony and police reports as part of that process, meaning Jana's Pub and Grill's path to opening will hinge on how reviewers weigh both the property's history and Nangah's prior licensing record. Nangah did not respond to a request for comment from Urban Milwaukee by the time of publication.
Property tax records add another layer of financial context to the site: annual taxes on the building reached $6,235 in 2024, based on an assessed value of $271,900, up from $5,203 the previous year — a 19.8 percent jump tied to a municipal valuation increase, according to Zillow property records.
