Introducing The Green Room, Discourse’s Newest Cocktail Concept

I Who Have Nothing (left) and Cutlass Supreme cocktails from The Green Room. Photo taken July 19, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.

By day, Discourse fills with the sharp smell of espresso as baristas pull, pour and percolate their way to cups of craft coffee and tea.

Like most cafes, its medley of high-top tables, cozy couches and caffeinated beverages make it an ideal landing place for midday meetings, first dates, slow afternoons and everything in between.

Earlier this summer, Discourse debuted a new addition to its Radio Milwaukee location, 158 S. Barclay St., inviting guests to start or end their evenings with a cocktail at The Green Room.

The moonlight concept opens Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings with a menu of both alcoholic and N/A cocktails, plus beer and wine. A list of “special” offerings includes a shot of fernet accompanied by “an actual high-five” and the out-there Mom’s Spaghetti, which features spaghetti-infused Aperol cut with Miller High Life and served in a customized bottle with a side of garlic breadsticks.

And while it’s perfectly acceptable to stop in for a crisp Modelo or a simple glass of red, cocktails star at The Green Room, which founder Ryan Castelaz describes as a “tribute to the corner bar of yesteryear.”

“We’re a place where you can feel equally at home drinking a High Life, a glass of bubbles or a cocktail with mimosa foam or blue cheese infused pear liqueur,” The Green Room’s website states.

A current selection of seasonal cocktails includes an espresso martini with added depth from spiced rum and root beer bitters; Davey’s Marg, which features a garden’s bounty of pineapple, cilantro, mint, jalapeno and lime and the tropical-tasting Night Moves, with High West double rye, creme de banane, Heirloom Liqueurs pineapple amaro and Bittercube Jamaican #2.

On a quiet Friday night in mid-July, The Green Room’s bartender presented a Cutlass Supreme, a refreshing sip laced with black tea, orange and mint. Another drink, I Who Have Nothing, lived up to its “round, warming and boozy” descriptors — the latter, in particular.

Like its daytime counterpart, The Green Room emphasizes vinyl, spinning various genres throughout the evening and selling products from its collaborative retail section with Lilliput Records. The lounge also hosts live musicians on occasion, with upcoming events announced on its Instagram page.

The Green Room is open Monday (industry night) and Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Changes coming to downtown cafe

While Discourse continues to expand its operations in Milwaukee’s Harbor View neighborhood, changes are coming soon to the cafe’s downtown location, 1020 N. Broadway.

Agency, a cocktail concept that’s been colocated within the cafe since early 2024, will soon relocate to a standalone location at the Dubbel Dutch hotel, 817 N. Marshall St.

The move is tentatively set to occur in the coming weeks, according to a July 11 social media post.

Castelaz has also hinted at a new concept, Novel, which would operate at Dubbel Dutch in the morning and afternoon. He informed the Licenses Committee at a May 7 hearing that he plans to “activate the space in two ways:” offering tea service — high tea, tea towers, tea lattes — during the day and opening Agency in the evenings.

The cocktail concept encompasses a fully hybrid menu, with each drink available in its alcoholic or N/A form.

Dubbel Dutch would also host the company’s food program and serve as a hub for pastry production.

“We’re very excited to bring this experience to the downtown Milwaukee area,” Castelaz told the committee.

Castelaz, who first launched the Discourse brand in Door County, operates the business in partnership with Chief Operating Officer Sean Liu. Anthony Valenti is general manager for The Green Room and Caroline White is the principal bartender.

Photos

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