'Bar Rescue' visits downtown Milwaukee bar Tropic MKE

Downtown Milwaukee bar Tropic MKE is getting a visit from John Taffer and the "Bar Rescue" team this week. The reality television show visits what it believes are failing bars around the country in an attempt to spruce up the space and improve operations.

A representative of "Bar Rescue" pulled a special event permit with the city of Milwaukee for television filming that is valid from Sept. 16 to 21.

On Sept. 18 multiple trailers and production assistants were outside Tropic MKE, 518 N. Water St. A sign outside Tropic said that people who enter the bar must consent to being taped.

A person on the production team who did not give their name said a small group of guests would be allowed inside Tropic at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, and again on Friday, Sept. 20, for a grand reopening.

A representative of Paramount Global, the parent company of Paramount Network, which the show airs on, did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Tropic MKE

Tropic MKE opened as Tropic Jamaican Kitchen & Cocktails in April 2022; owner Hyacinth Nembhardt also owns Concoctions, 1316 E. Brady St.

On Wednesday it advertised its happy hour starting at 7 p.m. with things like $5 rum punch, $4 Coronas and $6 pizzas.

The bar also offers jerk wings, frozen drinks, hookah and more.

'Bar Rescue' in Milwaukee

The Paramount Network show, which formerly aired on Spike TV, has only visited Wisconsin twice in its nine seasons; in those visits, the show "rescued" two now-closed Milwaukee bars: Y-Not III and Packy's Irish Pub.

Y-Not III, a sister bar to the still existing Y-Not II, 706 E. Lyon St., was featured on "Bar Rescue" in an episode that aired Dec. 7, 2014. In the episode, it was rebranded to a 1970s-themed bar named Nick's House, after its owner Nick DePalma. The bar at 1854 E. Kenilworth Place closed in May 2016 and the building was demolished later that year.

Packy's Irish Pub, 4068 S. Howell Ave., was featured in a "Bar Rescue" episode that aired Dec. 14, 2014, when the bar rebranded to Campbell's Irish Pub after 14 years of business. It remained open another eight years after its "Bar Rescue" visit until it closed in April 2022.

Earlier this year, bars across Milwaukee said that representatives from "Bar Rescue" reached out to them. In January The Mothership posted an email from a "Bar Rescue" casting agent on social media.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee downtown bar Tropic MKE getting 'Bar Rescue' treatment