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The Badger Herald

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Wine and dine: Two Willy Street restaurants expand with new bars

Wine+and+dine%3A+Two+Willy+Street+restaurants+expand+with+new+bars
Picture courtesy of Daniel Bonanno

Willy Street restaurant A Pig in a Fur Coat serves the pig from snout to tail — and is now getting a new bar.

The new bar brings with it a selection of interesting high quality cocktails, but owner Dan Bonanno said the establishment remains primarily a restaurant.

Bonanno said his establishment provides a casual dining experience with high quality food and a relaxed atmosphere.

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“We have the whole dining experience,” Bonanno said.

According to Bonanno, the new bar seats six and features classic cocktails made exclusively from locally distilled liquor.

He said more people have become increasingly “cocktail literate,” so he said he tries to provide a diverse range of drinks at his restaurant.

“We don’t have Jack Daniels, we serve local things like Deaths Door and Green Lakes,” Bonanno said.

To feature the new bar addition, the restaurant will host a number of community events, including one this upcoming June featuring Spanish wine with a porron, a traditional glass wine pitcher, Bonanno said.

The restaurant also offers a robust selection of craft beers and imported wine.

For drinks, Bonanno said he recommends the Sazerac with either bourbon or whiskey.

“Sazerac is the famous New Orleans cocktail,” he said. “It’s a simple, amazing drink.”

Bonanno said he chose Willy Street for the location of his restaurant three years ago because it was a growing neighborhood.

“It’s a growing street and a good street,” Bonanno said.

A second Willy Street restaurant, Grampa’s Pizza, which opened two years ago, has also opened a bar next door to accommodate waiting customers or those who wish to lounge, owner Gilbert Altschul said.

The new bar, called Gib’s, is a two-story structure; the first floor features a bar layout while the upstairs is primarily a lounge, Altschul said.

“Grampa’s Pizza only has about 40 seats and we had long waits, and we needed somewhere for people to wait,” Altschul said.

Altschul said he chose Willy Street because of the popularity of the neighborhood.

Altschul said his restaurant and bar will host many small events during the year, including wine tastings, to keep things interesting.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Grampa’s Pizzeria. 

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