The Barstool Fund - J&B's Bar and Blue Ribbon Tap Room
Up next: J&B's Bar & Blue Ribbon Taproom (Milwaukee, WI)
Home of Milwaukee’s best chicken strips, J&B’s is the No. 1 pre- and post-destination for all events at Miller Park. The local favorite has even offered free shuttles to every Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.
Reader Email
My best friend and his business partner are proud small business owners here in Milwaukee, WI.
J&B’s Bar and Blue Ribbon Taproom was a thriving sports bar, restaurant, and event space in the shadows of the Brewers’ home, Miller Park. They bring in well over 50% of their annual revenue during the MLB season as hundreds gather there before and after each home game, so when the season was put on hold and resumed with no fans, it was a huge gut punch.
Their other largest revenue stream comes from the multiple private parties that they host each week year round, with that busy season being November through February. Given the tight social distancing guidelines and 25% capacity limit imposed by the city of Milwaukee, this has also gone by the wayside. They also don’t have any way to setup outside dining, so the summer months were EXTREMELY rough with people opting to enjoy patio dining or cookouts at home as opposed to visiting J&Bs.
The bar has been open nearly eight years and they have really just recently started to hit their massive potential and blossomed into a local hotspot, having huge years in 2018 and 2019, both of which brought in nearly double the revenue of their previous best year. The owners are all about putting profits back into the bar, which prompted a complete renovation of the bathrooms and event space, leaving them with a small business loan. They also signed on with a marketing agency to manage their website and expand their social media footprint. This was a very exciting step forward but in cruel 2020 fashion, the new event space and taproom was completed late 2019/early 2020 and now it can’t even be utilized.
Also, the food - it’s amazing. This isn’t your usual bar food, it’s all fresh and handmade, not frozen garbage.
They have been fighting through this, and while running more lean than in years past, they have kept their full time bartenders and cooks on payroll. Between paying their employees and all the other overhead that comes with running a business, they’ve been losing money every month.
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This is a business that was built through hard work and dedication, the arrival of COVID could not have come at a worse time for them. There are high hopes of a return to normalcy by spring of 2021 with Miller Park packed again for Brewers games and concerts, but that’s far from guaranteed and we have to make it their first.
Thank you for your consideration and this is an amazing thing that you’re doing!!
Go Pres go
Nick Schultz