Bay Street Pub, south side Denny's and Star Grocery recommended to reopen after city meeting

The Common Council Licenses Committee made recommendations to approve the licenses for Bay View's Bay Street Pub, a south side Denny's with a suspension on late-night operations, and Riverwest's Star Grocery corner store at its May 7 meeting.

The licenses of those establishments had been put on pause due to issues over the past year.

The committee's recommendations will go before the city's full Common Council at its meeting on May 21, where approval would reinstate the businesses' licenses.

Bay Street Pub to reopen

Bay Street Pub, 338 S. Bay St,. can reopen after its license expired on April 14. It did not receive a provisional license to stay open while awaiting its hearing because of police reports related to the previous owner of the bar.

New owner Elizabeth Cueto Coronado and her partner took over the bar in January and have not had any police interactions since.

Under previous owner Mark Paschal, police were called to the bar three times in August and September 2023. Two incidents included fights inside and outside the bar where people were injured and reported the presence of firearms, though in both incidents police never found firearms or casings.

The third incident occurred on Sept. 30 when police were called to the bar at 2:51 a.m. for a subject with a gun. The person who called said a subject had pointed a firearm at them and were told to leave the bar.

When police arrived, the bartender was unresponsive to police and was cited with obstructing an investigation. Police found the suspect in the basement of the bar.

Paschel arrived on scene and said that the camera system was inoperable and he did not intend to fix it because he was closing the business soon.

Police followed up on Oct. 2 and checked the basement for a firearm. Officers found a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine, with a firearm underneath.

"This is all before I took over," Cueto Coronado said. "Now we have a lot of local guests, neighbors of the bar, they are wonderful."

Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, who represents the bar's district, said that this, along with other license issues relating to change of name or ownership, were creating some issues for her. That includes the rebranding of Blackwood Brothers Restaurant that recently opened as a different restaurant but under the same owner.

License records show the request for food, liquor and entertainment licenses be transferred to Cueto Coronado was submitted on Dec. 13.

She told the Journal Sentinel that she and her husband had always wanted to own a small business together. They learned about the bar going up for sale from a mutual friend of her husband and Paschel.

"The place, it has old pictures and history of it being there, and being a good place for people who just want to hang out and have a drink," she said. "It's a small space with potential. We haven't had any problems. Maybe it has to do with us being there all the time and the customers and neighbors."

Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, who represents the bar's district, requested that the bar's public entertainment premises license be held until Bay Street Pub can hold a meeting with her and the neighbors.

Cueto Coronado said that was acceptable for now, but wanted to have further discussion about it because her customers like to play games while enjoying their drinks.

"I could uninstall them, store them, but it's not something that I would want to get rid of and not have a further conversation," she said at the meeting.

The committee recommended the food and tavern license be renewed, but held the entertainment license.

If the Common Council accepts the committee's recommendation, Bay Street Pub can reopen on May 21. It did not have an active provisional license as of May 14, which would allow Bay Street Pub to reopen earlier.

South side Denny's can reopen

Denny's at 3801 S. 27th St. is set to reopen after its food and late-night premise licenses lapsed on April 30.

The licenses were in front of the Licenses Committee after police reports showed that 17 police calls had been associated with the restaurant's address in the last year.

One incident included an instance when a shot was fired at the ceiling inside the restaurant in an attempt to break up a fight around 5 a.m. on Dec. 9, according to police.

Other incidents included multiple calls of theft, including people walking out on their bills, two armed robberies, an employee stealing money, and multiple calls for medical for intoxicated people and an overdose incident in the parking lot.

Multiple police reports noted that there was no security on site during the incidents.

Attorney Zak Wroblewski, who appeared on behalf of Denny's, said that restaurant terminated a problematic manager in June last year and hired a new security company that was more reliable in April this year.

Ald. Scott Spiker, who represents the area, recommended approval of the food license with a 15-day suspension for its extended hours establishment license, which allows operations from 2 to 6 a.m.

"This is a huge number of items on the police report and some of them involve weaponry and are very disturbing," Spiker said. "I will be clear with the applicant that I expect these problems will be arrested by the new security and if they're not, I will urge more drastic action next go-around."

The committee approved Spiker's approval and 15-day late-night suspension, which will go to the Common Council for full approval. If approved, Denny's can reopen on May 21 and can resume late-night operations on June 6.

The Licenses Committee could change the suspension recommendation given it would have served the 15-day suspension while fully closed. No committee member has publicly stated a recommendation change, though it would not be unprecedented.

Denny's did not have an active provisional license as of May 14, which would allow it to reopen earlier.

Muhrod Dharod of Lexus, Kansas, was listed as owner of the restaurant and did not immediately return a request for comment.

Star Grocery food and liquor licenses reinstated

The committee also recommended the food and liquor licenses for Star Grocery, 2500 N. Booth St., be reinstated. The corner store's licenses were flagged for review after employee Marouf Dahir harassed inspectors at the Milwaukee Health Department.

According to a Milwaukee police report, an employee made several racist comments to a Black inspector on Aug. 24. The employee also made a comment that he would "kill" the female inspector, and laughed about it.

The Health Department said they were not seeking charges but called police to talk to the employee about the inappropriate behavior.

Police contacted the employee and informed him that it was a crime to threaten a government official. Dahir said he did not mean to offend anyone. On Sept. 19 the health department returned to Star Grocery with a police escort due to the previous incident. Dahir was on the scene and apologized.

His son, Mohamad Dahir, is the owner of the store and said that his father's comments were inappropriate and were due to English being his second language. He said he suspended his father for two weeks, had him take human resource training, and that his father would be fired if it happened again.

Ald. Andrea Pratt encouraged the Health Department to pursue legal action if a similar instance occurs in the future.

The store can resume sales for food and alcohol starting May 21 if approved by the Common Council. Star Grocery did not have an active provisional license as of May 14, allowing food and alcohol sales earlier.

Dahir did not answer a Journal Sentinel question asking if the store had been open and selling items not involved with the suspended licenses, and he did not wish to comment further on the incident.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bay Street Pub, south side Denny's recommended to reopen