Underground Tavern, the Brady Street bar at 1239 E. Brady St. in Milwaukee, is shutting its doors for good on October 8. The closure comes less than eight months after the business rebranded from its original incarnation as WurstBar, and just five years after it first opened under that name in 2021.
The final-week news was confirmed by Milwaukee Record, which reported that the bar will close its doors for good on October 8. Underground Tavern is marking its last days with an all-day happy hour featuring $4 drinks, a sendoff for a Brady Street spot that has spent its brief life cycling through identities. The bar was formerly known as WurstBar, per the same outlet, before a rebrand earlier this year reshaped both its menu and its look.
From German Sausages to Dive-Bar Burgers
WurstBar first opened in late 2021 as a German-themed sausage spot, the brainchild of owners Scott Schaefer, Andrew Fronek and Darryl Towers, according to Milwaukee Record's earlier coverage of the concept's debut. The trio also owned the Milwaukee Brat House locations downtown and in Shorewood, along with Jack's American Pub on Brady Street, the outlet reported at the time. WurstBar's menu leaned on German street food and beer, serving sausages, German beer and other German-inspired offerings throughout its run.
That changed on February 21, when WurstBar officially became Underground Tavern, the same report noted. As reported by The Business Journal, the owners of Milwaukee's WürstBar broke away from the business's German theme entirely and reimagined the space. Döner kebabs and the lineup of Bunzel's Meat Market sausages disappeared from the menu, replaced by sandwiches, sides, wings and soup, Milwaukee Record detailed in its look at the retooled concept. Burgers and rib-sticking sandwiches took the place of sausages, the outlet added of the post-rebrand menu.
Same Bones, New Look
Despite the overhaul, the physical space stayed largely untouched. The paint job, tiling, flooring and table arrangement remained nearly identical to the WurstBar days, per Milwaukee Record's description of the relaunch. What did change was the decor: vintage beer signs, craft beer tin tackers, sports memorabilia and other touches nodded toward a classic dive-bar identity. The rebrand also brought a notable happy-hour perk — $4 drinks, excluding top-shelf liquor, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the Wednesday special running until 2 a.m.
The Brady Street property itself has a layered past. Underground Tavern is closing its location at 1239 E. Brady St., a building previously home to Green Fields, a smoke shop, and a bohemian store before WurstBar's owners took it over. Schaefer, Fronek and Towers undertook a substantial renovation of the property, which was originally built in 2010, before launching the German concept there.
WurstBar's State Fair Legacy Continues
Even as the Brady Street location folds, the WurstBar name isn't disappearing. Underground Tavern's own closure announcement noted that WurstBar will be back at the 2027 Wisconsin State Fair, continuing a run of fair appearances that has produced some hardware. Per the Wisconsin State Fair's Sporkies competition records, WürstBar took first place in a past year with its Beer Cheese Wisconsin Lava Cake and placed second with its Brat Rangoon; in 2026, the fair listed WurstBar as the vendor behind the Cream City Cone among its Sporkies & Drinkies winners.
The Brady Street closure also lands amid other changes along the same stretch. The Garage and Hi Hat Lounge, located at 1701 N. Arlington Pl., closed effective immediately pending a sale to new owners, according to TMJ4. That station reported that sale discussions had begun earlier in the summer, and that the closures came a week after The Garage became the center of controversy over a purported no-play list that included Black hip-hop and rap performers.
Underground Tavern operates under Heard Hospitality, a restaurant group whose roster includes The Milwaukee Brat House locations downtown and in Shorewood, Jack's American Pub, Nettie's Irish Pub and Wanaki Golf Course, according to Heard Hospitality's own listing. Whatever comes next for 1239 E. Brady St., the Underground Tavern chapter will wrap up October 8 — while the WurstBar name heads back to the fairgrounds next summer.
