Milwaukee council suspends McGillycuddy's, makes RWB drop all you can drink special
The Milwaukee Common Council handed down a 10-day suspension to McGillycuddy's Bar and Grill and required RWB Milwaukee to end all you can drink nights to avoid suspension after police reports showed an increase of incidents at the bars.
The city made those decisions Tuesday after recommendations from the licensing committee.
The city's licensing committee recommended RWB close for 15 days. Owner Jake Dehne bargained with the Common Council to instead end his Thursday night all you can drink special, which was $10 for college students with ID and $15 for others, which the licensing committee said created issues.
"I was fighting for the two weeks of employees' income," Dehne told the Journal Sentinel. "I did not break any laws or rules, and I'm priced competitively for the same weekday specials for my competitors. We're going to come up with a new creative idea for Thursday nights. We're just not going to do all you can drink."
Dehne said RWB, 1044 N. King Drive, would announce a new Thursday special on Nov. 10.
"We're going to come up with a drink special that appeases our customers and the city, with some restrictions on consumption. That's what the committee was looking for, and I'm there to comply," he said.
The licensing committee reviewed five police incidents that occurred at RWB Milwaukee, which included two fights outside the bar, one fight involving a gun at a nearby parking lot between two parties who left the bar, and two intoxicated customers who needed medical attention. Two of those incidents occurred on a Thursday night.
"Aren’t you kind of asking for problems by having such a permissive flow of alcohol on Thursday nights?" Alderman Scott Spiker asked at the Licenses Committee meeting. "I understand competition is doing it, but if they are bringing in police reports like this then that could be a problem for them as well."
Dehne said he had been doing the special for four years, and that the issues had only come up this year.
McGillycuddy's suspension
The common council decided McGillycuddy's, 1135 N. Water St., would have to close for 10 business days. The suspension will begin on Nov. 30.
It comes after the licensing committee reviewed neighbor noise complaints and two police incidents, one of which included a man who came into the bar with a gun, and then shot it outside the business.
"I think that businesses have kind of seen the same type of influx in certain illegal activities that we weren’t seeing the past. We have been asked to adapt quickly, and they are issues we haven’t seen before and we are learning in how to deal with some of these things," said Andrew Deuster, owner of McGillycuddy's.
The incident that included a man bringing a gun into McGillycuddy's on May 3 prompted Deuster to purchase metal detector wands to be used at the door and to retrain security.
Dehne also added metal detector wands at RWB, based on a recommendation from Milwaukee police.
"Many of the bars in the district decided as a whole to do that, just for deterring anyone bringing in weapons. There have been random acts involving weapons, so we want to prevent that," Dehne said. "We thought it was something that would be alarming, but a majority of customers welcome it. It makes them feel safe."
Earlier this year, three shootings injured 21 people in the downtown entertainment district on May 13, and three people have died by gunfire in the area in 2022.
Milwaukee, among other cities, has seen a rise in crime since 2020.
Experts and local officials in Milwaukee have consistently cited the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted employment, education and social service outreach for millions of Americans; declining police legitimacy, especially after the murder of George Floyd; and the increased carrying of firearms as causes behind the rise in violence.
Elliot Hughes, Ashley Luthern, Mary Spicuzza and Sophie Carson of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: McGillycuddy's closed for 10 days, RWB ends Thursday drink specials
