A tarot-themed cocktail bar called Hermit's Keep hopes to bring new life to 1686 N. Van Buren St., the East Side building that spent more than three decades as Angelo's Piano Lounge before closing in 2024. The team behind the concept has filed city license applications proposing a November 6 opening, though that date depends on approvals still working their way through Milwaukee's permitting process.
The plan, first reported by Milwaukee Record, calls for Hermit's Keep to operate as a tarot-themed bar and cocktail lounge inside the former Angelo's space. Social media posts for the bar promise scratch cocktails, desserts and charcuterie; its Instagram account uses the tag “sot.mke,” as shown in an Instagram post
.
Angelo's Piano Lounge was named for founder Angelo Mortellaro, who died in January 2016. The property itself has an older history: according to Urban Milwaukee, the tavern space dates to 1927, while sections of the rear house date to before 1894 and 1910. The space later housed a pool room and a grocery store before becoming Third Generation in 1985; it became Angelo's on December 5, 1989.
A Building With a History of Repairs and False Starts
Mortellaro sold the building to Hybrid Lounge owner Nate Fried late in 2015, before Mortellaro died in January 2016. Fried sank $100,000 into structural work, including a new roof and fixes for drainage problems that the same Urban Milwaukee report traces back to 1989. Those investments didn't guarantee a smooth handoff to the next tenant, though. In 2024, commercial painter Donnie Dries tried to open a bar called Donnie's in the space after a year of planning, but that concept never came to fruition.
Dries had previously launched two other East Side spots, Baccara Bar and Cafe Terrazza on Oakland Avenue, in 2023. Per Urban Milwaukee's coverage at the time, both closed after six months.
Veteran Bar Owners Behind the New Concept
Hermit's Keep is set to be owned and operated by Jay Stamates, Zavion “Ink” Thompson and Haley “Fox” Yates, a trio with deep roots in Milwaukee's bar scene. Stamates already owns Walker's Point dive bar Sabbatic and downtown dive bar Stella's; he opened Sabbatic in December 2009 by converting an 1895 former working-class saloon at 700 S. 2nd St. into a punk- and rock-inspired tavern, according to OnMilwaukee.
Thompson tends bar at Bryant's Cocktail Lounge, which opened in 1938 as Milwaukee's oldest cocktail lounge and serves drinks without a printed menu, per Travel Wisconsin. Yates works as a bartender at Stella's, rounding out a leadership team with hands-on experience across several of the city's established niche taverns.
Proposed Hours and the Path to Opening
According to the license applications, Hermit's Keep is proposed to operate from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 3 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Those hours still have to clear a formal public hearing and review by the Common Council's Licenses Committee, a required step for any Class B tavern license before it can reach full council approval, per the City of Milwaukee.
Hermit's Keep also arrives amid a small wave of esoteric, theme-driven bars opening on Milwaukee's East Side. Astrology-themed Star Bar also opened on Milwaukee's East Side on August 13, according to OnMilwaukee's coverage. Whether Hermit's Keep can clear the licensing process in time for its targeted November 6 debut remains to be seen.
