Vier North, a bar and restaurant, plans to open in the former Vitucci's space on east side

A new bar and restaurant is preparing to open in the former Vitucci's spot on the east side.

The spot, Vier North, at 1832 E. North Ave., plans to bring a limited menu and drinks to the space, which was a tavern owned by the Vitucci family for 85 years.

The new project has four owners, Bryan O'Boyle, Adam Jansen, Faisal Ahmed-Yahia, and Gus Unholz, which gave inspiration to the name Vier, meaning four in German.

"We wanted the neighborhood to inspire themes for the bar, and given the German heritage of Milwaukee, we thought it made sense," Jansen told the Journal Sentinel.

The owners are using the Vitucci style "V" on signage for the "V" in Vier to pay homage to the previous bar. They hope to open the bar-restaurant by the end of summer or early fall.

"We have high expectations. We want to make it another place that is nostalgic and has the same following that Vitucci's did," Ahmed-Yahia said.

Aside from the logo, there is not much remaining of Vitucci's.

"It's been a complete gut," Jansen said. "We want to open the space more and out into the street as well."

The owners moved the stage and dance floor area to the south side of the building. They took out both bars to create one large bar, and they moved the restrooms to the north end of the building.

Vier North will have large garage doors that open to the patio, which will be in the same space along North Cramer Street as the previous patio, but elevated on a deck to be at the same level as the tavern.

"We like everything to be nice," Ahmed-Yahia said. "It was old and dated. We didn’t want to have a bar to just have a bar. We wanted to make it our own. It's going to be nice."

The remodel also includes exposing more Cream City brick and having beams throughout to make it look "modern, but not too classy to be unwelcoming to the average person," Jansen said.

They plan to make a majority of their sales off of alcohol, according to their liquor license filed at the end of April. A limited menu will include burgers, wings, appetizers and salads. They are hoping to build on the menu in the future.

The group purchased the space in June 2022 for $770,000. This is their first restaurant venture.

Prior to the purchase, the space was home to Vitucci's for 85 years, from 1934 until it closed in 2019. The family would still occasionally open the bar for pop-ups until they sold the building.

Earlier versions of the article incorrectly listed Melanie Petersen, who is an agent on the liquor license application, as an owner of Vier North, instead of minority stakeholder Gus Unholz.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New Milwaukee restaurant bar plans to open in former Vitucci's spot