The much-anticipated opening of Steny鈥檚 Lake Country is only a few weeks away. Owner Ryan Steny announced Friday the sports bar will be opening its doors Memorial Day weekend after more than a year of drastically renovating the building that had been the home of Boomers Sports Pub & Grill, N29-W24483 Watertown Road in the City of Pewaukee.
On Monday, Steny will start interviewing for the initial 60 positions that Steny Lake Country will need to fill.
For those who went to Boomers when it was open, such as for volleyball games like Steny鈥檚 wife, Brittany, who is also an owner of Steny鈥檚 Lake Country, they will hardly recognize the place, he said.
Essentially, Steny said it鈥檚 almost like a whole new building with walls knocked down, the main bar being located where the old volleyball court used to be and a kitchen that was added onto the building. (Steny described it as the most state-of-the-art kitchen he has seen.) Even the entrance to the building is in a new position. Steny鈥檚 dad, Jerry Steny, who opened the original Steny鈥檚 at 800 S. Second St. in Milwaukee 39 years ago, oversaw the remodel. He also remains an owner of the Milwaukee location with son Ryan.
For those familiar with the Steny鈥檚 in downtown Milwaukee, the food and drink menus will look familiar. That includes the recently added entrees to the Milwaukee location which Steny said 鈥渉ave been a hit.鈥 Those items are a meatloaf entr茅e, a pasta dish, gourmet mac 鈥榥 cheese and a steak fajita bowl.
Like the Milwaukee Steny鈥檚, Steny鈥檚 Lake Country will have 28 beers on tap, but will also have four taps for craft cocktails. Steny said this will mean that a cocktail will taste the same no matter who the bartender is. They will be made in-house and then dispensed through the tap system. Steny said cocktails on tap will include an old-fashioned, a margarita and a paloma. The fourth cocktail may be a seasonal option.
And speaking of cocktails, Steny鈥檚 Lake Country will be making its famous bloody mary (which they tried in the tap system but quickly learned it was too thick). Steny said he wants to make the Steny鈥檚 old-fashioned as popular as its bloody mary so they have been continuously working on perfecting the recipe. In addition to alcoholic beverages, there will be nonalcoholic beer and cocktails.
While Steny鈥檚 has built a reputation around its bloody mary and wings, many people also have come to rely on the sports bar for its shuttles to Brewers and Bucks games. The Lake Country location will also take customers to the games, but instead of running several shuttles back and forth, Steny said there will be one trip in each direction for a sporting event so people will need to sign up for a spot on the 55passenger bus that was recently purchased. Also, the shuttles won鈥檛 start right after Steny鈥檚 Lake Country opens, but will begin in a few months. The same goes for its volleyball court. Volleyball leagues are expected to start in spring or summer 2025.
Like so many remodels, revamping Boomer鈥檚 was a 鈥渨ay bigger project than we ever expected,鈥 Steny said, adding it was important for him to do it right.
Despite the challenges, Steny remained committed to the City of Pewaukee location. He had been looking for a good site in Lake Country when the Boomers opportunity presented itself.
鈥淚 love it out here. Most of my college, high school friends live out this way,鈥 he said, adding he often heard from customers that it was hard to get to the Milwaukee location, especially if they had kids.
鈥淏usiness after Covid has been unbelievable,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e kind of needed a second location to break it up.鈥
Also appealing to Steny was the fact that he and his wife and two kids moved to Pewaukee recently.
鈥淚 have always had my heart set out on something out here,鈥 he said of opening a second location.
He appreciates how the location on Watertown Road can draw customers from Pewaukee, Hartland, Sussex and the entire Lake Country area.
More area restaurant news:
- Panga Bar under new ownership
- 18 Acres听Biergarten offerings announced
- Jake's Restaurant closed for remodeling
- Meiji Cuisine plans second location
Have a Waukesha County restaurant news tip? Email Katherine Beck at听kbeck@conleynet.com.
