80s-Themed Bar Planned For King Drive
Summer of '85 is bringing retro vibes to Bronzeville, starting next spring.
2213 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Photo taken Oct. 10, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
Get ready to relive the glory days of 1980s pop culture at Summer of ’85, a new bar and restaurant set to open in Bronzeville next spring.
That means Springsteen and Madonna — just don’t expect Nirvana. Plus U2, Blondie and music still on MTV.
Beyond the soundtrack, the business plans to embody the 80s from top to bottom — or rather, mohawk to legwarmers.
“Everyone who was alive during the 80s has common experiences that shaped us,” owner Julie Lukas noted in her business proposal. “We would like to harness the spirit and vibe of that 1985 culture explosion by creating a destination restaurant and bar focused on bringing people together.”
Lukas, who grew up in the 80s, is bringing her favorite retro games and activities to the new business, with plans to offer pinball, comedy shows and live performances from cover bands and jazz musicians. Guests can also expect a vending machine stocked with jelly bracelets and themed events such as Back to the Future night.
Servers will be clad in 80s style and instructed to use slang like “gnarly” and “radical” to provide a fully immersive environment.
With so much emphasis on the business’s ambience, Lukas plans to adopt a “short and sweet” approach for the food and drink menus, offering TV dinners, lunch box sandwiches and Easy Bake Oven desserts, along with a list of themed cocktails — both non-alcoholic and traditional.
A tentative food menu features six appetizers and six entrees including options like Teenage Mutant Mozzarella Sticks, Wisconsin Chachi Curds with Joanie Drizzle and Totally Tubular Tacos.
Cocktail offerings include the sweet and boozy Karamel Chameleon, Hennessey-spiked Ektoplasm and Red Dawn, featuring Cazadores, orange juice, pineapple puree, club soda and a splash of cherry liqueur.
For dessert, Lukas is heating up the Easy-Bake Oven and dishing out chocolate lava cake and after-midnight cookies. Seeking Susan Sundaes and Rowdy Root Beer Floats will also be available.
The upcoming business plans to occupy a 5,000-square-foot space at 2213 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., the current site of SkyBox Sports Bar. The two-story venue will feature an upper-level entertainment space complete with a large bar, booths, high-top tables and a dining area. The lower level includes a long bar with seating and a lounge area, as well as a handful of tables. The combined space, along with patio seating, yields a capacity of approximately 250 people.
The new venture will be a change for Lukas, who currently serves as vice president of Global Services in the Core Diagnostics division at Abbott Laboratories. Growing up in a family-owned business, however, familiarized her with “the advantages and stressors” of entrepreneurship, she said in her application.
Lukas leads Kismet Activations LLC, described as “a minority and female-owned business with every intention to make a lasting and positive impact.”
Summer of ’85 won’t be the only throwback bar on King Drive. 90s2K Cafe, inspired by the 90s and early 2000s, recently opened at 1103 N. Martin Luther King Jr Dr.
A license application for Summer of ’85 is pending council approval.
Once open, the business’s proposed hours of operation are Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Sunday from 4 p.m. to midnight.
Lukas did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
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Back in the early 1980s, Milwaukee’s WOKY AM radio station became a “Music of Your Life” station, a format that gained national momentum at the time, before the Fairness Doctrine ushered in the era of AM talk radio. WOKY played a lot of Big Band, vocals and standards from the 1940s-50s. My dad would listen to WOKY and my sisters and I would make fun of him listening to the “Music of His Life.” 🙂
Now, I am the age my dad was back then, and places like 90s2K Cafe and Summer of ’85 are right up my alley. I listen to this all the time, and it is the Music of MY Life! I’m looking forward to checking out both of these places soon.