The Deep Groove Hums of History

The Deep Groove, 1200 E. Brady St. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

There are a number of perils that might face the owners, staff and customers who participate in the modern ritual of a tavern’s “soft” opening.

Any drink order more complex than a can of Pabst and a shot of brandy immobilizes the bartender; the waitstaff are not sure of which tables they are to serve; the sound system needs a tune-up; the music is lousy; the furniture is cheap and the customers are impatient. Yet somehow the bathroom looks like it has been unattended for months.

However, we are expected to endure these hardships for the pleasure of saying to others, “Oh! You haven’t been there? Why, I was at the soft opening.”

None of these problems arose at The Deep Groove when it held its tryout weekend, kicking off on Thursday, January 15th after 20 months of preparation. The bartender could whip up a Caipirnha ($14) just as easily as if it came out of a tap, and no fussing around trying to find the bottle of Cachaça, either. The staff negotiated the intimate space with the precision of a drill team; the sound system is an audiophile’s delight; the music was a mellow Miles Davis album spinning on a turntable; the furniture is vintage, with not a stick of particle board or plywood; the customers were plentiful and sated. The bathrooms were immaculate with sparkling Kohler fixtures and quality tile floors and wainscoting.

Altogether, there were no minor issues whatsoever at the soft opening of the Deep Groove. But there was a major problem simmering that weekend in the oldest commercial building on Brady Street, forcing the owners to announce in a Facebook post it would not be open as expected on Sunday, January 18th:

Well Milwaukee, you successfully drank us dry

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to support us for the first weekend of our “soft” opening! We initially had planned to be open today but the response the past 3 days has been so incredible that we have to take Sunday off to restock and get prepped for next weekend. Cheers to all and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Back to its Roots

The building originally addressed as 852-Franklin Street appears on the City of Milwaukee tax rolls in 1875. The brick-clad wooden structure had a prominent northeast corner location fronting on busy Brady Street. Casimir Sikorski built it and ran a tavern/grocery on the site, while he and his family lived upstairs taking in boarders for extra income. Revenue was also generated by renting out part of the first floor and basement to tradespeople like barbers and tailors.

The Malt and Hop Shop

Prohibition put a halt to its saloon status that lasted for 104 years, which is only now being remedied with the arrival of The Deep Groove. The Great Depression found a dizzying number of businesses cycling in and out of the three commercial spaces, and the 2,360 square foot basement, with its subterranean mysteries. An enterprising Frank Rosenek took advantage of the social disruption occasioned by the Great Experiment. He dusted off the shelves and restocked them with bags of fragrant hops, barley malt roasted to your specifications, or sold in tin cans as a syrup. Pabst offered a syrup with “added hops for nutritive benefit.” There were kettles, thermometers, bottles, and bottle-capping devices, manufactured in Chicago with a patent date of 1919.

All packaged in quantities suitable for the home brewer. Entirely legal, as well. In a way the malt and hop shop was a precursor of the head shop of the hippie era in that each offered legal items for illegal use.

The Futon Era

In 1993 Brady Street Futons opened, providing quality space-saving crash pad furnishings in an area saturated with tiny bedrooms. After a brief period working at the store, Kurt Bauer bought the business, and then, in 2000, the building itself, paying $255,000 for the property. In early March, 2024, Bauer announced that the business was to close and the building would be sold. Its run of 31 years would be the longest tenancy the old commercial space had ever seen in its 150 years. Before the month was over, and the last custom futon mattress was shipped out the door, 1200 E. Brady Street was sold for $600,000 to Emerald Needle, LLC., Kimberly A. Forbeck, Registered Agent. Forbeck and her husband Todd M. Dunsirn had been thinking about opening a quiet little corner place for some time. Now that they owned it, it would take some time to restore the space to its original function.

The Tavern Today

Dunsirn, his son Henry and others set to work on the old store. Their ambitions were boundless, as were the challenges of dealing with a building that dates to Custer’s Last Stand. Fortunately, the Dunsirns are accomplished craftspeople, and were able to perform expensive, labor-intensive projects themselves right in the store. As they worked their way through the space, Todd pulled out a pegboard wall, revealing crumbling plaster. This was removed to the studs, and was replaced with oak wainscoting set beneath three mirrors, with vintage sconces set between them, all topped by a confection of an original tin ceiling. He also built from scratch a bar, with a back bar that features top shelf liquor bottles in equal measure with vintage vinyl and a gleaming turntable that never stops spinning.

The original maple floors shine, and the numerous mirrors are most attractive. In addition to sounding like a record store, the place looks like a house museum, with an abundance of mostly period furniture arranged in comfortable and cozy vignettes throughout. One spot has a window-sized gap in the interior finish. This truth window reveals courses of Cream City Brick believed to have blocked up a previous doorway. Head into the north room, with the mirrored wall, and you will find cabinets with games, puzzles and even boxes of crayons and coloring books for the little ones. This room, too, has lovely furniture and splendid light fixtures. It would be ideal for small gatherings.

The furniture, it turns out, is Forbeck’s domain. She scours consignment shops and estate sales for her discoveries, all of which are restored with the care you’d expect of a museum curator.

East of this room is a space hidden behind a curtain. When pulled back it reveals Todd preparing food from the galley kitchen he designed. Olives ($9), served warm with a rosemary orange, a Charcuterie board ($20) consisting of local cheese, meats, cornichons and crackers and a tin of smoked mussels from Ekone Oyster Co. of Shelton, Washington ($12) are soon on their way to customers.

As Dunsirn told Sophie Bolich of Urban Milwaukee in July 2024, when he had hoped to open by the end of that year:

“It’ll be a very warm, inviting environment filled with vintage furniture…. There’s so much new stuff, and there’s always new things. Sometimes it’s fun to pull from the old and kind of preserve it.”

Sometimes it takes longer than expected, but The Deep Groove was not to open until every detail was worked out.

From a Facebook post in December with photos of the renovation:

You won’t find another building anywhere in Wisconsin that has received the level of love and craftsmanship that this historic building has. We’re super excited to share it with all of you!

Before You Leave

Please be certain to pay a visit to the restroom on the north wall. It is beautifully realized with a mosaic tile floor, a wainscot of black subway tile, Kohler fixtures and a vintage brass toilet paper dispenser that may date to the invention of rolled, perforated tissue, one of Wisconsin’s top exports.

On Tap

Guinness Original Stout [Ireland]

Vennture Bip Bip Pils [Milwaukee]

Three Sheeps Lemongrass Pils [Sheboygan]

Vennture North Avenue Pale Ale [Milwaukee]

Saison Dupont Farmhouse Ale [Belgium]

Eagle Park Set List American IPA [Milwaukee]

Unibroue La Fin du Monde [Canada]

Hinterland Maple Bock [Green Bay]

White Hag Little Fawn IPA  [Ireland]

Photo Gallery

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The Verdict

• Name: The Deep Groove
• Location: 1200 E. Brady Street, a.k.a. 1702 N Franklin Place, City of Milwaukee. Original Address 852-Franklin Place
• Neighborhood: Lower East Side
• Subdivision: Partition of Plat of SW 1/4 of NE 1/4 Section 21 Town 7 Range 22E
• Phone Number: None Found
• Website: None Found
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/The-Deep-Groove-61558061747561/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/thedeepgroovemke/
• Description: A laid back listening lounge, The Deep Groove occupies the first floor of the oldest commercial building on Brady Street. Curated vintage furnishings throughout blend seamlessly with new cabinetry and fixtures expertly crafted by owners in magnificent yet cozy space sheathed lavishly with tin ceilings and walls
• Restrooms: 2, New construction and elegantly outfitted with tile flooring and gleaming Kohler fixtures. Brass toilet paper dispenser looks like it dates to the invention of perforated tissue paper
  
• Year Established: 2026. Was originally a tavern. Had countless other uses over the years, and now returns to its original purpose
• Year Building Constructed: 1875
• Annual Rent: N/A Operator owns building
• Property is assessed at $59,000 for the for the 2,360 sq. ft. lot ($25/sq. ft.) and $545,300 for the 3,166 sq. ft. building for a total assessed value of $604,300.
• Property taxes: Approximately $12,500 per year
• Property Owner: Emerald Needle, LLC., Kimberly A. Forbeck, Agent. Registered 03/09/2024.
• Legal Name: The Deep Groove, LLC. , Kimberley A. Forbeck, Agent. Registered 03/26/2024.
• Business Owners: Kimberly A. Forbeck, 50% [D.O.B. 03/09/1971]; Todd M. Dunsirn, 50% [D.O.B. 12/18/19??]. Owners are married
  
• Business: Cafe/Coffee Shop, Tavern
• Source of Sales: Alcohol 40%, Food 40%, Entertainment 5%, Secondhand Goods 10%, Other (“Arts, Crafts, Used Vinyl Records & Furniture”) 15%
• Capacity: 77
• Walk Score: 96, Walker’s Paradise. City Average: 62
• Transit Score: 60, Good Transit. City Average: 49
• Bike Score: Biker’s Paradise. City Average: 58
• Bike Rack:  Two at the Brady Street door; One on the parking meter there. Take your chances and hitch to the garbage can or the abundant iron stoop railings and gas meters in the vicinity. Let your imagination run free! A bar bike rack paradise
  
• Entertainment: Instrumental, Bands, Comedy, DJ, Patrons Dancing
• Aldermanic District: 3rd; Alex Brower
• County Supervisor District: 3rd; Sheldon Wasserman
• Police District: 1