Lucky Clover Celebrates Grand Opening

The Lucky Clover, a new Irish bar in the Westown neighborhood, has a full slate of events lined up for its weekend-long grand opening celebration.

The pub got a jump start on the weekend Wednesday with its VIP Night and will officially open to the public Friday. DJ Cloroxx will spin for Friday’s grand opening and DJ Spex will perform Saturday. Both nights will feature $3 select taps and $6 doubles from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and $4 Guinness taps and $3 Jameson shots from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m.

Located in the former Brüdd Cafe space at 1048 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. (formerly Old World Third Street), the pub is marketed as a classic Irish bar with a modern twist.

The full bar setup is complemented by 24 taplines. The pub plans to debut its food program in October.

Sydra Group founder and director Jake Dehne opened The Lucky Clover with operating partner James Manke. Dehne noted that in 20 years of working in the Old World Third Street Entertainment District, the area only saw one (short-lived) Irish bar.

“There really hasn’t been that that kind of the concept or or an Irish bar on the street in quite some time,” he said.

In line with the Irish theme, Dehne recruited Zoli’s Woodcarving to create a giant clover statue that guests can touch for good luck. Another dose of luck is a few steps away at the bar, which is entirely covered in pennies—23,000 of them, according to Dehne. They’re all are heads up  — except for a few. “You need to find where those are,” he said.

Aside from late-night DJs, the Dehne said there will be live music at upcoming happy hours. The bar also has five TVs that will show football and other sporting events.

The forthcoming food program will feature Irish-inspired dishes like corned beef nachos, potato skins, Guinness-infused cheese and onion dip, baked reuben rolls, Irish stew and pot pie. Other pub fare like pizza, chips and salsa and cheese curds will also be available. Desserts will be an assortment of pies and cakes.

The 3,000-square-foot Lucky Clover space is connected to Wisconsin Cheese Mart. Owner Ken McNulty was also owner of Brüdd Cafe, but closed the business earlier this year. The cheese store remains open.

The Lucky Clover also shares a building with another one of Sydra’s ventures, the Red, White and Blue (RBW) tavern.

While RWB is a dance club that draws in a mostly college-age crowd, Dehne said The Lucky Clover is likely to attract business-casual patrons during the early evening while complementing RWB during late-night service.

Advertised as a “perfect pregame or happy hour event spot,” the pub is located in close proximity to Fiserv Forum, Turner Hall, the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and the Miller High Life Theatre.

Aside from Lucky Clover and RWB, Sydra also owns and operates Buckhead Saloon, Red Elephant Chocolate and Nicole’s Third Ward Social, which closed in April with the intent to reopen in a new location. Sydra opened State Street Pizza Pub a block southwest of Lucky Clover in June.

The Lucky Clover would be open Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m. to bar close and Saturday and Sunday from noon to close.