MILWAUKEE — As I've come to learn after living in Wisconsin for 6 years, bar dice is the state sport of Wisconsin dive bars. Neighborhood and corner bars are institutions in the state. Many of them are community hubs.
While I definitely appreciate a dive bar, there is no one who champions them more than Jared Schutz.
“It’s always dive o’clock somewhere," he said.
You may have seen his videos before. He runs the online account Wisco Dive Bar Reviews. He travels the state visiting dive bars. Since January 14th, 2022, he has been to 951 bars in all 72 counties, from Trempealeau to De Soto to Racine to Milwaukee to Green Bay and everywhere in between. I met with him at Snarley's in South Milwaukee.
“Coldest beers and the warmest hearts. That’s what I tell people. That’s what a dive bar is," Schutz said.
He posts all of his reviews, which are only positive, to his Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube accounts. He has more than 245,000 combined followers and reached more than 100 million people in 2024. His website also has a map with all of the bars he visited.
Watch Jared Schutz's story and see his bar reviews...
What Schutz is doing is not a drinking fest. Often, he will have just one drink at abar. More so, it's a celebration of Wisconsin bar culture. He wants to promote the patrons and owners.
"Tell you what, these dive bars have got the nicest people in the world. And I think it's just, you know, people can relate to it," he said.
In many neighborhoods and communities, the dive bar is the main gathering place. It's the original social media. Dive bars often organize fundraisers for police officers, people going through medical procedures, or if someone's home burned down. They are integral parts of a neighborhood.
“You can go to a benefit, and somebody could be raffling off a $100 bill. At a benefit, somebody’s going to pay $125 for that $100 bill.”
Because that’s just what the regulars do when their neighbors need support. Schutz wants to highlight that and the quirky side of dive bars all while still promoting safe and responsible drinking too.
“No drinking and driving. It’s always smart to do things the safe way.”
That means he takes a lot of Ubers.
While doing this, dive bar owners from across the state have recognized and appreciated the publicity he gives to often overlooked establishments.
“I’ve watched his videos a lot of times and always thought it would be cool to be on there once. And I never reached out or anything. He just showed up randomly, kind of," Brent Narloch, the owner of Snarley's in South Milwaukee, said.
Despite averaging 1.38 bars a day over the last three years, this isn’t Schutz's main job. He’s a full-time carpenter and makes trips on the weekend.
However, he has been able to make the bar reviews a good side gig. Schutz's content is monetized, so he makes money from social media video views. He sells merchandise, has brand deals, and partnered with the NFL Draft.
“It’s been crazy, but I love every single second of it.”
For me, dive bar culture has made such an impact that I will actually have my friends teaching people to play bar dice at my wedding. I wanted to show the non-Wisconsinites how we do it here. Maybe one of them will even roll a 56 in 1 (that's for the bar dice players out there reading this). I also want to give a shout-out to pull tabs. I won't have those at my wedding. But they are fun.
Back to Schutz and his reviews. Most importantly, he wants people to experience the community these bars offer. Many were hit hard during the COVID pandemic, and Schutz hopes to help keep them open by bringing patrons to the barstools. That’s why he’ll continue to visit bars across the state.
And ultimately, that might make him the only person who can be called a regular at every bar in the state.
Also, to answer a few common questions he gets. The diviest bar he has ever been to is White Creek Tavern in White Creek, WI. As to how many beers he has dranken: “Lots. A semi load. Probably."
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