Your Office Is New and Truly Unique

Your Office, 763 N. Milwaukee St. Photo by Sophie Bolich.

In September 2015, Urban Milwaukee published a story entitled “My Office: the Bar that Never Changes.” In it, Jack Fennimore summarized the opinion of then-longtime owner Brian Peterson:

The last thing he wants is for My Office to turn into a snootier place that serves $15 martinis.

COVID-19 and a fire in 2020 displaced Peterson from the bar his mother bought in 1979, which he owned since 1996, and where, in true dive bar fashion, he lived upstairs.

After an extended period of vacancy, renovations to the tavern space began this summer, and “My Office” has reopened under new ownership as “Your Office,” billing itself as an “Elevated Dive Bar.”

How elevated is it? The wood paneling has been removed, revealing the original 1880s Cream City brick walls. That’s a step up. Two new unisex bathrooms have been installed. That’s a giant leap.

To dive back to earth, you can get a Hamm’s on tap for $3.50, and fetch a $1 hot dog at happy hour. (Business hours, including food service are from 7:30 a.m. until bar closing time, another nod to the past.) Beckoning behind the bar are pickled eggs, pickled Polish sausage, pull tabs and a dice cup for you to take your chances on the shake of the day.

Today, if now modestly snootier than My Office, Your Office is not yet the place for $15 martinis: the most expensive item on its inventory of “Liquid Assets” is the “Manhattan Office,” priced at $12.

Something Funny Is Going on Here

I think the whole business about being a dive bar is a distraction. As I see it, the model here is that of a theme bar. The best example in Milwaukee is the Safe House, a nationally recognized espionage-centric spot just three blocks west. There, the spy theme is played up in such items as the “Mission Impossible” burger, the “Bay of Pigs Mac” and, from the Kid’s Menu, “Goldfinger” chicken tenders.

Here the office theme is undeniable, and permeates the place with a tremendous wit. I’ve been to comedy clubs that were not as funny. The breakfast menu is called “Morning Meeting,” and features the Morning Commuter and HR Violation sandwiches. Around noon, expect the “Off the Clock” menu, featuring “The Promotion Patty,” and the “Timecard Turner.” In the “Liquid Assets” menu, I note a statement I never encountered in years of seeking regular employment: “No Drug Testing at Your Office.” Below that was a list of the THC-infused drinks available.

Recently, a “Mandatory All Team Meeting” was called to announce Your Office’s Grand Opening to be held from Friday, November 14th to Sunday, the 16th. The Agenda includes free koozies and live music Friday, a Meat Raffle with free prizes every 10 minutes Saturday from 2-5 p.m. and a Sunday Carr Valley Cheese Raffle, same terms from 3-6 p.m. But a mere menu does not a theme bar make. You need some props, and Your Office is loaded with them.

Obsolete Office Equipment Once Ubiquitous, on Display

In Milwaukee, and elsewhere, offices are increasingly being converted to other uses, generally hotels or apartments. This follows a trend dating to the 1980s when factories and warehouses likewise found new life, sparking the resurgence of the Historic Third Ward. The reasons for the shift are profound and many faceted, but center on the growth of the internet and personal communications devices.

The ripple effect even affected Wisconsin industries like paper manufacturing. Mailrooms and office supply rooms were emptied out, along with typewriters, check-embossing machines, file cabinets, and all manner of other appurtenances. Many are now on display on the walls and shelves of the bar, to capture one’s imagination. “What did they use that thing for?”

There are other visual puns: a neon “Money Orders” sign glows above an ATM. The westernmost unisex bathroom has a rack of gentlemen’s ties hanging on the wall, and a filing cabinet next to the sink. The eastern one, with a changing station, has two engraved plaques hanging above. They include Patent No. 5,489,282 issued in 1996 to Bruce Siebers for a novel “Newborn Growth Adjustment & Absorbent Diaper Having Overlapping and Non-Overlapping Ears.”

Ha-Ha! Diapers have Ears! That’s a potty joke. While you wash your hands and powder your nose, note the white circular glazed tiles set in grey grout covering the bathroom floors. The same material has endured for a quarter century at Fink’s, where it serves as the bar top.

With its abundant good humor, great location on The Hop, lengthy hours and polished service, Your Office shows promise as a spot for regulars (including those moving into vacated office towers) and tourists who are staying in hotels built in such towers, which abound in the immediate vicinity.

When my check arrived, it was clipped to a late 20th century device once vital to computer operations. I tried to remember what it was called. The answer came to me later: it was a floppy disk. My, how time flies.

On Tap

• Hamm’s (Milwaukee)
• Miller Lite (Milwaukee)
• Riverwest Stein Beer (Milwaukee)
• Spotted Cow (New Glarus, Wisconsin)
• Alagash White (Portland, Maine)
• Half Acre Way Bird (Chicago)

Photo Gallery

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The Verdict

• Name: Your Office
• Location: 763 N. Milwaukee St., City of Milwaukee
• Neighborhood: East Town
• Subdivision: Plat of Milwaukee in sections (28-29-33)-7-22 block 11 N 1/3 lot 5 BID  #21
• Phone Number: 414-240-1125
• Website: https://yourofficemke.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/your.office.mke
• Description: Small two-story brick building mashed between two other, taller buildings. Barstools right on the sidewalk
• Restrooms: 2, new construction and amusingly furnished
  
• Year Established: Tavern since at least end of Prohibition. Was Ticker Bar from 1933-c.1958 and My Office since 1975
• Year Building Constructed: 1880
• Annual Rent: $46,320. Lease expires 05/01/2030
• Property is assessed at $144,000 for the for the 2,400 sq. ft. lot ($60/sq. ft.) and $343,600 for the 3,268 sq. ft. building for a total assessed value of $487,600.
• Property taxes: Approximately $11,000 per year
• Property Owner: Colby Abbot BLDG LLP, C/O Charles F. Kahn Jr.  Registered 12/11/1996. Status: 10/01/2025: “DELINQUENT”
• Legal Name: Your Office, LLC. Shawn G. Rice [Rice Business Law] Agent. Registered 05/05/2025
• Business Owners: Lisa D. Proeber, 33% [D.O.B. 05/02/1984]; Nicholas R. Starr, 33% [D.O.B. 08/03/1987]; Michael R. Sorge 33% [D.O.B. 07/07/1982]
  
• Business: Full Service restaurant, Cafe/Coffee Shop, Tavern, Deli or Fast Food restaurant, Cocktail Lounge
  
• Walk Score: 98, Walker’s Paradise. City Average: 62
• Transit Score: 72, Excellent Transit. City Average: 49
• Bike Score: 84, Very Good. City Average: 58
• Bike Rack: One at door in sight of bar. Bar Bike Rack Paradise
  
• Entertainment: 5 amusement machines
• Aldermanic District: 4th; Robert Bauman
• County Supervisor District: 3rd; Sheldon Wasserman
• Police District: 1

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