On July 24th, 1925, Anton Trochta established his Kinnickinnic Ave. roadhouse, built in 1885 as a stagecoach stop, as a “Restaurant”. Five years into Prohibition, Anton took out a permit with the city for an icebox, a couple floor drains and a bar connection making his restaurant along the well traveled route between Chicago and Milwaukee to be a well known safe haven on the outskirts of Milwaukee for refreshing beverages and the illicit trade of liquor coming up from Chicago. From that day on the entire building has been used as a tavern and a family apartment.
In 1934, with Prohibition ended, Catherine Trochta, a widow since 1932, filled out the application, listing the previous use of the building as “Tavern.” But we knew that all along. She added that no new equipment was to be installed in the building. Those 1925 bar fixtures worked just fine.
In 1935, Catherine did something truly groundbreaking, she established one of the city’s first known restrooms dedicated to women in a drinking establishment. This was an indication that women would be regular customers, not occasional visitors relegated to the family apartment’s toilet when nature called. From such small steps, the march of women’s liberation was launched. Notice to this day the change is evident as the ladies’ room door is smaller and of a later vintage than the adjacent men’s room door. You can see the little one-story bump-out on the north side of the building.
On July 1st, 1977, Catherine’s son-in-law, Robert Underberg, sold the building to Larry Nord who ran the tavern as L&N Tap.
Just a year later, on December 22nd, 1978, Nord sold the building to Michael Stephen Romans. Mike made many improvements to the building over the decades that followed. He decided to specialize in import and craft beers, ignoring the corporate beer history of Milwaukee. This became a successful niche and for years his bar appeared on numerous lists of the best beer bars in the nation.
Mike Romans was a hands-on owner up until his passing in the summer of 2023. He always adhered to the best of the old-time South Side tavern tradition. The guy behind the bar owns the business and the building. This was his show, and you were invited to appear, to participate and to behave yourself. You were never distracted by loud music or argumentative patrons. The only person who would have argued with you was the owner. On the South Side, after all, certain traditions must be upheld. Mike fought to maintain the bar experience for his many loyal patrons. There were never pub crawls nor birthday parties to distract his attention from his regulars. And no fussy cocktail business involving shaking, muddling and garnishing unless maybe you want a cherry in your Old Fashioned. That could be done.
Click here for a detailed history of the building from Urban Milwaukee’s Michael Horne.