Milwaukee council suspends licenses for Uptown and New Entertainers bars
Two Milwaukee bars had their liquor licenses suspended at the city's Common Council meeting Tuesday, temporarily shutting down their operations. Uptown Bar and Grill, 3535 W. Villard Ave., had its license suspended for 30 days, and New Entertainers, 5321 W. Green Tree Road, was suspended for 15 days.
Uptown Bar and Grill's suspension comes after police said they received 14 reports related to the bar in 2023.
Calls were related to instances of shots fired outside the bar or in the parking lot, underage people drinking in the bar, a party in the storage space above the bar, and an instance where the bar's security personnel shot at a car.
Uptown owner Tonia Otis told the council's Licenses Committee at a Jan. 5 meeting that some of the police reports had nothing to do with her business, including one incident that started near the corner of North 37th Street and West Villard Avenue, about a block to the west, then moved in front of her bar. She said other calls were from an anonymous caller who "is a disgruntled person."
"I’ve had one person who wants to buy the bar, who lives in the neighborhood and lives in the neighborhood and keeps harassing me. He told me he was coming after me for my license," she told the committee.
Alderwoman Andrea Pratt said there were still enough infractions to warrant a suspension, including an incident where a mother called about men with guns entering the bar while her underage daughter was there, the after-hours party upstairs, and multiple instances of the bar's doors being locked when police arrived.
Otis told the Journal Sentinel she did not want to comment further on the charges.
The bar had been closed since its license expired in December. Otis said she was not granted an extension before their hearing on January 5 and served the first 20 days of the suspension before the council approved it on Tuesday.
The bar has 10 days left to serve on its suspension and can reopen on Feb. 16.
New Entertainers' 15-day suspension
New Entertainers received a 15-day suspension after multiple police reports that involved firearms were associated with the restaurant and bar.
It had received a warning letter in October due to police reports, and owner Justin Jackson was ordered to appear in front of the Licenses Committee again after the additional incidents.
Alderwoman Larresa Taylor, who represents the district, said there were gun-related incidents on each of the three days following the issuance of the warning letter. Taylor witnessed one of them herself when she was a patron at the establishment.
Taylor told the Licenses Committee at a meeting on Jan. 17 that she watched another patron leave New Entertainers, followed by people yelling and running in the street. Four gun shots were fired. The patron came back into Taylor's view, and she witnessed him fire two gun shots.
Other police report incidents included two suspects firing at the building; Jackson said they allegedly had a problem with the security guard who worked at New Entertainers and was let go after the incident. Another incident happened when a victim left New Entertainers and had a gun pointed at them outside the establishment. Jackson said it was a dispute between two people in a relationship.
Jackson met with police in December and made the following changes in hopes of alleviating some issues:
Closing at 1:30 a.m.
New dress code
Cover charge for men
Age restrictions requiring men to be 25 years old and women to be 21 years old for entry
ADT security system alerts
New Entertainers has been in business for two years. Taylor said there were no issues the first year, but the second year was riddled with them.
She said residents were worried about the shootings happening around the establishment, including one resident who had a stray bullet fly through their window, but they have not testified out of fear of retaliation. Taylor asked that concerned residents submit testimonies, but she has received none.
"My initial plan was to issue non-renewal because of the gunfire, but since I don’t have physical reports from residents, but I do have the attempt to make those changes from Mr. Jackson, I have decided to make a recommendation that he is given a 20-day suspension," she said during the Jan. 17 Licenses Committee meeting.
She asked that he reduce his hours to a 12:30 a.m. closing time on weekdays while keeping the 1:30 a.m. closing time on weekends. Jackson wanted later hours because he serves late-night food.
Alderwoman Milele Coggs said she wasn't convinced that Jackson wanted to make improvements to stop gun violence.
"When you have an establishment that has had a couple incidents with gun play, whether it was direct patrons or people shooting at patrons, or whatever. When you have an establishment that has somebody’s home nearby that caught a stray bullet, and when you have an establishment that the aldermen themselves have witnessed gun play in the streets with patrons and crowds around the establishment, it is interesting that after sitting here for quite some time that we are nitpicking over 30 minutes, of whether to be closed or open," Coggs said during the meeting.
Jackson responded that he was upset because his business was at risk.
"When you’ve invested your savings into something you can lose, I don’t think anyone would be happy," Jackson said. "I have to worry about someone I don’t even know taking it all from me. They have the power to put me in that position."
Jackson and the committee eventually agreed on a compromise to end liquor sales at 12:30 a.m. during the week, closing the restaurant at 1 a.m., plus a 15-day suspension.
The Common Council passed the recommendation on Tuesday. The suspension began Feb. 1 and will be lifted after Feb. 15.
Jackson told the Journal Sentinel that he felt the punishment was unfair.
"We can't control people who are outside," he said. "I don’t think that it's fair for that reason. I don’t think anyone wants to live around issues, though. I wouldn’t want to live around issues, either. It would be easier to keep people quiet if we could hire police or make sure the crowds leave.
"I can't help it that a lot of people like to come because of my food. There's nothing a bar can do about it," he said.
Jackson went on to say that small businesses were more often hurt by crime and that they don't get enough support to keep it away. He suggested more police could monitor the area.
"Hopefully all the changes I've made will keep the ignorance away," he said.
In the same council meeting that Uptowners and Entertainers received suspensions, Axel's on the east side avoided a suspension and was issued a warning letter. The bar had originally faced a 20-day suspension related to an underage raid that went viral on social media last year. Nine people received underage drinking tickets during the raid, and about 40 more fled to avoid a ticket.
In 2023, three Milwaukee bars had their licenses suspended for 15 days, and another three bars were issued a 30-day suspension.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee council suspends Uptown and New Entertainers' licenses
