You can find a number of places to eat or drink around Greendale, but you probably can’t find one more Greendale-y, one more Greendale-obsessed, than the Panther Pub, located at 5651 Broad St. 

 

 

 

 

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The neighborhood bar and eatery takes its name from the local high school mascot – and then some, with an interior entirely plastered with photos from village sports past, present and future. There are images of a local 1930s baseball team, all its players passed away now, sitting right next to a snapshot of a Little League pitcher no older than 20 today.

Even chatting with owner Mike Drilling, most of the conversation detoured away from the bar itself and toward the village it calls home, discussing its past (one of three government-built villages, complete with a downtown drag, from the Great Depression), its present and its future.

While there to talk about the bar – celebrating its 10th anniversary in a few days – Drilling instead seemed far more interested in talking Greendale and everything around his establishment.

“I graduated from Greendale High School. My kids graduated from Greendale High School. My grandkids are in the Greendale school district. I lived in Greendale for a long time,” Drilling explained. “It didn’t evolve well at a certain point. All of those staple places went away and got replaced by big boxes, so there wasn’t a lot going in Greendale for a while.

"But then Greendale’s own Roy Reiman – he’s like the patron saint of Greendale –bought both sides of the downtown and really rejuvenated Greendale.” 

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Panther Pub has been a part of that rejuvenation, opening after Drilling sold his previous business. At 50, Drilling found himself looking for his next project, his next step for his life – and he found it nearby in the form of a shuttered for-sale Associated Bank building on the south end of the Greendale main drag. 

“It was kind of an impulse buy,” he jokingly recalled. “I felt downtown Greendale was missing food and beverage at that time.

“I never wanted to open a bar – I don’t even drink alcohol. I wanted it to be a place the community could gather, where you could bring your kids and your grandma, and everyone’s comfortable. I’ve been to Ireland and England, and saw what the pubs are like over there – pet-friendly, kid-friendly, just friendly. I tried to bring that feeling here.”

It took some effort to turn the cold former bank branch of reinforced concrete and steel into a warm neighborhood pub. (You can still see a few remnants, from the thin pillars at the entrances to turning the vault into the eatery’s walk-in cooler.)

But in summer of 2013, the Panther Pub officially roared to life, bringing its hyperlocal twist on the neighborhood tap. 

A decade and several new fellow foodie neighbors later – including Drilling’s own Dia Café and Noche Restaurante just down the block – it’s still serving up local love with a side of bar favorites and a tasty beverage to wash it down.

Everywhere you look inside the warmed-up wood interior, you can find a piece of Greendale history – from pre-WWII sepia-toned photos of old-school basketball players and baseball teams repping the earliest Panther kelly green to images of downtown Greendale’s evolution over the years to a giant village scoreboard hanging over the doors to the spacious covered outdoor patio. 

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“I got the photos from the historical society, the high school, individuals who had photos which were historic,” Drilling explained. “It kind of traces the history of Greendale going back to its origins, to the present.”

For those stopping by with a hankering for more than just history, the Panther Pub of course offers a hearty menu of classic pub eats, including bar apps like nachos and wings, salads, sandwiches, burgers and – the eatery’s most popular and lauded dish – its classic Wisconsin fish fry. 

“When we first opened, I hired four guys who were No. 1 line cooks, and I said we’re going to have a competition: You’re each going to make a beer-battered fish. You each have your own recipe; you make it, we’re all going to try it and pick a winner,” Drilling recalled.

“Each one made a slightly different version, and we ended up landing on a fish fry with Riverwest Stein in a tempura batter. Even the guys who lost the contest were like, ‘It’s better than mine.’

“A lot of times, that’s just how we do it: You have the cooks back there try something and everyone tries it, and if they really feel strongly that they’ve got something to bring to the table that’s really good, you give it a shot. You encourage that kind of creativity.”

When they’re not putting the beer into the fish fry, the Panther Pub pours eight regularly rotating taps of craft options as well as several macros and a number of seasonal cocktail options, like the watermelon Mexicano mule or ginger peach sweet tea – all for $10 or under. (Except if you want a summer sampler, offering swigs of all four current drink specials for $22.)

Still, the most notable special on the menu at the Panther Pub is the welcoming atmosphere, inviting for neighbors from just down the street or from across the city.

“You’re never going to do everything right, 100 percent of the time – no restaurant does – but you try to make people happy at the highest percentage you can,” Drilling said. “If you always have your mind on that, on making a pleasant experience for someone, that’s how you grow a business.”

In Panther Pub’s case, that’s how you stay in business for a decade, a milestone the neighborhood tap will celebrate this summer when the calendar flips from July to August. When asked about the last 10 years, though, Drilling admits he’s not very nostalgic – ironic considering the sepia photos and historic images peppered across his eatery’s walls.

“I tore the rearview mirror off, metaphorically, a long time ago and threw it out the window,” he said. “I look ahead; I don’t really like looking back all that much.”

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So what about the next 10 years then? Go figure: It’s all about Greendale as a whole.

“It’s unique, it’s historical and there’s a story to be told here,” Drilling said. “What does that evolution look like, where you strike that balance between ‘here’s our history’ and ‘here’s our future’? You have to progress but also pay homage to the history simultaneously.

“It’s just a friendly place where you don’t have to worry about anything. The food is good and affordable; it’s a place you can come and watch your sports and have a nice time. That’ll never change. Ten years, 20 years, 50 years from now: As long as this place is standing, it’s not going to evolve into something different. It’s always going to be about the community.”