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Mandy Timm started the note “West Allis Bar Adventure” on her phone on January 26, 2023, while visiting Scooter’s Tap. 

The retired West Allis schoolteacher is meticulous about this.

In mid-August 2024, Timm and his friend Julie Myszkowski had dodged in 42 West Allis drinking establishments – many of which are dives. Everyone receives a rating – thumbs up or thumbs down – along with notes such as “bathrooms – definitely no.” Tap City has been praised for its $4.25 mini pitchers. “A lot of these places have deals that are just amazing,” says Timm.

Forty-two bars may seem like a lot, but Timm still has a lot of work to do. It seems like almost every block in Stallis, even in its heavily populated neighborhoods, has a bar, and the vast majority of them read as bars serving drinks and beer. As of August, the city issued 135 Class B tavern licenses, or 12 for every square mile.

One of the reasons West Allis has so many dive bars is its industrial roots, dating back to 1900 and what became Allis-Chalmers Corp. The company was once known as the largest gasoline engine manufacturer in the United States and later as a tractor manufacturer. . 

“You can’t throw a rock without hitting a corner bar in West Allis,” says dive bar owner Jay Stamates, whose seven Milwaukee-area bars include Schotskis in West Allis, which he started again two years ago. “I felt like an upholsterer because I’m not from West Allis. And West Allis let me know I was a baggage handler.

Walk into a place like Camp Karma at Becher and 70th, with a sign on the front door warning not to step on the owner’s dog and with “The Nightmare Before Christmas” decor and you won’t be surprised. may not immediately feel welcome. But ask about the stuffed animals that fill two shelves behind the bar, and you might be invited to play a dice game (in which stuffed animals are used).

Karma might stand out a bit. “When I think about West Allis, even though there are a lot of new places, it’s still very traditional,” Timm says.

So far, she’s had no bad experiences – even dives that seem scary on the outside aren’t scary on the inside – and just one disappointment. “Our only regret,” says Timm, “is that we didn’t get to Slurp-N-Burp before it closed.”