Men Travel

Multiple Milwaukee bars have reported getting a tap on the shoulder from casting agents for the reality television show “Bar Rescue.”Some local bars have already politely declined the help the show had to offer. Ricky Ramirez owns The Mothership cocktail bar in Bay View. He’s been on the corner of Lincoln and Logan avenues for the past four years. “We’re good for the city. We’re good for this neighborhood. We’re good on this corner,” Ramirez said. So Ramirez was surprised when he received an email from a casting associate for Bar Rescue, a controversial TV show where its host, John Taffer, travels to failing bars and attempts to rescue them. “It makes the bar look bad. It’s just bad for the community in general. It’s just not great,” Ramirez said. Ramirez said The Mothership is all good. “Not a bar that needs to be rescued,” Ramirez said. It’s a sentiment shared by Drink Wisconsinbly Pub’s General Manager, Max Bradshaw.”We do not need rescuing,” Bradshaw said. The Deer District bar got a call from another casting agent for the show. “They would just do their own thing. And again, what we’ve been doing has been working,” Bradshaw said.”Bar Rescue” came to Milwaukee in the past. In 2014 the show came to rescue Campbell’s Irish Pub. It closed its doors in 2022. An empty lot sits where the other bar the show visited in 2014 used to stand. Y Not III became Nick’s House, then it was demolished in 2016.WISN 12 News Reporter Kendall Keys asked Ramirez and Bradshaw if they would trust “Bar Rescue” with their bars. “No. Oh no. No,” Ramirez said.”No,” Bradshaw said.Still, both agreed that a spotlight on Milwaukee could be good for the city, should someone else take “Bar Rescue” up on their offer. “It would be kind of cool to see another Milwaukee bar, like see like somebody’s personality. But I’d hate to see somebody get dogged by him,” Ramirez said. “Yeah, it’d be cool if someone wants to give it a crack,” Bradshaw said.A casting agent for the show confirmed to WISN 12 News that “Bar Rescue” will come to the Milwaukee area for its ninth season.TOP HEADLINESSoutheast Wisconsin braces for another winter storm followed by arctic blastWaukesha firefighters use saw to free man’s hand stuck in snowblowerFather finds 5-year-old left alone on school bus at company’s lot, police say