The New Fashioned will bring self-serve beer and more to Deer District in Milwaukee at former Punch Bowl Social spot

The latest addition to Milwaukee's Deer District, The New Fashioned, will celebrate its grand opening April 5-7, the owners announced at a news conference Tuesday.

The new concept is bringing self-serve beer and custard, Wisconsin-themed food, street curling and the revival of the Waxwing shop to the 24,500-square-foot former Punch Bowl Social space that can hold up to 1,000 guests.

Bars and Rec — which owns Axe MKE, NorthSouth Club, Nine Below and other venues around Milwaukee — are the new owners of the space.

On the first floor, The New Fashioned will have a 50-line self-serve tap wall with local brews and Sprecher soda, along with a self-serve custard stand. It also will have a "tailgate lounge," a to-go food stand facing the north wall, which has garage doors that can open to The Beer Garden and its giant outdoor television.

The first floor is open to the Deer District, the plaza adjacent to Fiserv Forum, and is a space where customers can take food and beverages to-go when there are events on the plaza.

The New Fashioned also will have activities like bowling, as did its Punch Bowl Social predecessor; dartball, a mix of darts and baseball; and year-round curling — a form of curling played on an iceless, synthetic surface — on the patio and second-floor deck.

To craft the menu, Bars and Rec partnered with the Benson Restaurant Group, which owns AJ Bombers, Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria, The Edison, The Bridgewater Modern Grill and more. Items on the menu include butter burgers, hot ham and cheese, mac and cheese, and more. The bar will serve Wisconsin-themed drinks, including an old fashioned flight that is muddled table-side.

Steph Davies of The Waxwing, a Milwaukee shop that closed its retail location in 2020, will curate a retail component in the space featuring Milwaukee-centric goods.

While Punch Bowl Social struggled in the Deer District location for years, CEO Marla Poytinger is confident they have the formula to operate the huge space.

"We're going to be doing a lot of programming that I think that the former tenant didn't lean into as much," Poytinger said. "We can host things like euchre tournaments and live music — so excellent opportunities to drive our own guests into this location, eat the delicious food, drink the amazing local brews and drinks that we have, and we don't necessarily have to rely on Fiserv Forum. That's the icing on the cake for us."

For more information, visit newfashionedmke.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The New Fashioned announces opening date in Milwaukee's Deer District