By Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer Published Apr 20, 2018 at 9:02 AM

Belly up to these bar stories, brought to you by Miller Brewing Co., that explore well-loved but lesser-known taps and taverns from all corners of the city and beyond.

Paulie’s Pub has been a West Allis destination since 2004, when Paul and Kristine Budiac opened the bar and restaurant across from State Fair Park at 8031 W. Greenfield Ave.

Thanks to great food  this fish fry and wings are especially recommended  live music and a lively, neighborhood vibe, Paulie’s is often rockin’.

For the past five years, however, the Budiacs have also offered another, completely different experience just steps out the back door.

In 2013, they bought the Lois’ Derby, two doors south at 1430 S. 81st St., and transformed it into Paulie’s Field Trip, which felt like a revelation when I first stepped inside.

That’s because the Budiacs completely refurbished the tiny neighborhood tap, creating a little bit of Up North Wisconsin in the heart of the state’s biggest metro area.

Up a few steps from the sidewalk, you enter a different world.

There are a couple tables on the left, with the bathrooms beyond. On the right is a gleaming bar  with tap handles revealing the intimate place’s Wisconsin focus  and above there’s a recessed ceiling (pictured below) that adds a little height to a diminutive tavern. In the back there’s a dart board and some video games.

It's wood paneled, cozy and warm.

"Like three days after Prohibition, it went to a bar," says Paul, who took me to see the place on an, ahem, field trip, from Paulie's at lunchtime. When we visited it was empty because the bar opens at 5 on weekdays (11 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays).

"Before, it was a general store. It was Lois’ Derby and before that it was Ron’s Derby. It was always called the Derby, but we wanted to change it a little bit."

The Budiacs already owned the everything on that side of the block up to the bar and figured adding the former Derby to their portfolio would be a good idea.

"In some areas, smaller bars like this can be detrimental to (businesses like) our bar, so to make sure that things were run on the up and up, and to more have an overflow ... that's why we did it."

Paulie’s Field Trip really can serve as a pressure valve for Paulie’s, which on some nights can get crowded and, with live music, sometimes loud, says Budiac.

"There's a good group of regulars, probably 30 that come in two to three times a week and for sports games, different things like that," Paulie says. "There's some customers that we've had over there (at Paulie’s) for years that like this a little better, because we have bands over there so sometimes it gets too loud.

"We have a jukebox over here. We have cans over here, and we have bottles over there. Some people love cans, and the overhead over here is a little bit less than over there, so I can adjust prices accordingly."

Budiac says some nights, folks move back and forth between both bars. And because there’s no kitchen in the Field Trip, patrons can order food to be brought over from Paulie’s.

And, if you’re at Paulie’s to ride the shuttle to Summerfest or a Brewers game, patrons at Paulie’s Field Trip are, of course, welcome to ride, too.

One thing both places have in common is a passion for Wisconsin, its teams and its beers. And at Paulie’s Field Trip, the Wisconsin theme is amplified, even if the music isn’t (though there are occasionally live musicians in that back area at Field Trip).

"We've got our 12 beers on tap that are all from different breweries around the state," Budiac says, "but then we take it further. We try to do their specialty beers instead of like the ones that generally ... like we put Spotted Cow back on tap but every time (New Glarus) comes out with a different one, like a seasonal, we put those on instead, so it's something that people can get in a limited quantity."

You can also get classic hand-muddled brandy old fashioneds at Paulie’s FIeld Trip and they’re just $2 all days on Saturdays and Sundays.

"It’s just a nice little spot," Budiac says  and I agree  "but the thing we are missing is food."

That could, however, change.

"We are in talks with the city to see if we can put a limited kitchen here and do maybe like small bites, and you know like three street tacos, or a sliders plate, a cheese board or something like that, maybe 20 menu items."

In the past, the Derby had a grill behind the bar. Budiac removed it during the remodeling and is pondering adding a kitchen on to the back of the building and maybe reconfiguring the stairs up to the apartment (which he rents to family) to create a pathway that would allow him to move the restrooms back there, too, clearing room for a couple more tables in the bar area.

"I’d do a small kitchen, because we wouldn't need a whole lot of stuff," he says, to create the 20 menu items, which Budiac believes would be plenty. After all, two doors down he can recommend another bar that has 76 items on offer.

And if a patron wanted that plethora of options, they could turn the tables and go on a field trip to Paulie’s.

Bobby Tanzilo Senior Editor/Writer

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.

He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.

With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.

He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.

In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.

He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.