MILWAUKEE — Tucked away in a little pocket of Milwaukee is a secret neighborhood. You won't find it on any city maps.
“It’s a part of Milwaukee that literally no one knows about," Darnell Hamilton said.
Well, that's until now. Because the secret is out.
“You know, doing this interview with you, I might get hissed at by some folks," Hamilton said.
Darnell Hamilton introduced me to Bartlett Village. The community is named after Bartlett Avenue, which runs through the middle of the neighborhood. You won't find the neighborhood on any city maps because Bartlett Village is what locals call the area within Riverside Park.
“Bartlett Village - we are a really tight-knit community of dog walkers and professionals and really just great salt-of-the-earth kind of people," Craig Rzepka, the owner of OG Bar and Grille, a restaurant in the neighborhood, said.
If you're looking for someone in the neighborhood, odds are you can find them at one of three places: OG Pub and Grille, Tess, or Champion's Pub.
“Some people say Tess stands for 'The East Side Secret," Mitchell Wakefield, the owner of Tess, another restaurant in the neighborhood, said.
It’s a little neighborhood that’s big on family.
“We have the greatest neighbors in Milwaukee, I think," Bobby Greenya, the owner of the bar Champion's Pub, said.
I met with Darnell Hamilton, so he could show me his neighborhood through his eyes and experiences. Everywhere we went and who we talked to was all up to him. Welcome to Bartlett Village.
Darnell Hamilton
“What do I think about my lovely neighborhood? Well, I’ve been over here for 11 years, and there’s a reason why I still remain.”
Darnell moved to Milwaukee from Chicago. He lived in the Riverwest neighborhood and elsewhere on the East Side before settling in Bartlett Village.
“It’s just village vibes. It’s a reason why it’s called Bartlett Village. It’s giving you - everyone knows each other. Where everybody knows your name. It’s a very Cheers-y vibe, and it means well when people remember you when you come back," he said.
One of the big draws of the neighborhood is its proximity to walking trails and the river. The western border of the neighborhood is the Oak Leaf Trail and the Milwaukee River.
"You're just off Oakland Avenue, and you're literally in nature two blocks west of Oakland, where it just allows you to reset. That's how I feel about my neighborhood. It's a perfect reset for you mentally," Hamilton said.
From the dog walkers, to the young families, to the college students, to the working professionals, and to the retirees, the neighborhood is one giant family.
Watch the video on the Bartlett Village neighborhood...
“We’re neighborly, man. Like, at the end of the day, we look out for each other," Hamilton said.
And so, the tour of Bartlett Village began. The first stop Darnell took me to was his next-door neighbor.
Scott Norris
“The people were the biggest thing. It’s just a fantastic neighborhood," Scott Norris said.
He has lived in Milwaukee for about 13 years and moved to Bartlett Village roughly 10 months ago.
“There’s something about this neighborhood, the people, the house. It’s so relaxing. You just come out, sit on the front porch, the back porch. It’s incredible.”
Just like Darnell Hamilton, Norris loves the proximity to walking paths.
“All the trails and all the stores and the neighborhood bars. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else," Norris said.
Easy access to walking paths and nearby restaurants means the neighbors run into each other constantly. That creates a tight-knit community where neighbors are familiar with each other.
“It’s a true neighborhood. It feels like what I had when I was growing up, where you knew everybody. The neighbors are always outside. We say hello to people. You see people walking their dogs and kids riding their bikes. It feels like a neighborhood did when I was growing up, and there’s the nostalgia of that, that I get to live it again, which is really, really nice," Norris said.
Haley Marini
Our next stop was completely unplanned. This has never happened in a My Block story before.
Darnell Hamilton locked eyes with a young woman sitting on her porch, and he decided to introduce himself.
"Nice to meet you," he said to Haley Marini.
Haley was sitting on her porch when we walked up.
“I was just eating a tuna melt," Marini said.
Despite interrupting her in the middle of a meal, she felt strongly enough about the neighborhood to want to share her thoughts.
“Yeah, me and my roommates make an effort to come out (on the porch) a lot, but I also see my neighbors literally just enjoying life on their porch, and it’s so awesome. And then, like, my other neighbor here just has a parrot, and I’ll just watch that," Marini said.
At the time of filming, she had lived in the neighborhood for just about six months.
“I wanted to move here. I just wanted to be more connected to my community," she said.
As we said goodbye to our new friend, Darnell Hamilton noted how friendly the neighborhood is.
“It’s just something about being a stranger in this space. Like, it’s welcomed. Like, the inclusivity of the neighborhood is another reason why one just wants to leave their mark on it."
OG Pub and Grille
The next stop on the tour of Bartlett Village was to one of the three watering holes: OG Pub and Grille.
“I call it low-brow bougie. I like to have some higher-end things because I come from fine dining, but I’m also a dive bar kind of guy, so I kind of try to mix the two together a little bit," Craig Rzepka, the owner of the bar and restaurant, said.
The restaurant has been open for about a year.
"You know, it’s a place we want people to gather, have a good time, have some good food that’s not breaking the bank," he said.
Some of the food specialties include the smash burger, wings, and cheese curds. As far as drinks go, the most popular items are the craft cocktails.
“You know, hospitality, as far as bars and restaurants are concerned. (Bartlett Village is) just a great little area that I don’t ever want to leave," Rzepka said.
Tess
Across the street from OG Pub and Grille is your more traditional fine dining experience - Tess.
“We call it contemporary American cuisine. Some people say Tess stands for 'The East Side Secret'. Kind of an acronym we came up with, but we’ve been here since 2002, about to celebrate our 24th anniversary in a couple weeks," Mitchell Wakefield, the owner, said.
Wakefield grew up in Shorewood and has lived on the East Side the majority of his life. Currently, he lives about five blocks away from the restaurant.
“I always tell people being off the beaten path is kind of a blessing and a curse. A lot of people walk in, and it will be their first time here, and they’ll ask me, ‘How long have you been here?’ And they’ll expect me to say six months or a year, and I say 24 years, almost. They’re like, ‘no way. How have I never heard of you?’”
Bartlett Village wasn't off the beaten path for Wakefield. One of his core memories as a teenager happened in the neighborhood on a snowy evening.
“Shortly after I got my driver’s license at 16 years old, I was driving down this very street, Bartlett,” Wakefield said. “Coasted into a parked car, and I ran into Champion's for help because I didn’t know what to do as a 16-year-old, and I knew my parents were friends with the owners. Ran in there and asked for help. This was before cellphones, if they could contact my parents and have them come get me.”
Thankfully, the call was made, Wakefield was picked up, and all was okay. After forming a core memory of his own, he is now helping others do the same as they dine at Tess to celebrate anniversaries, graduations, weddings, engagements, and birthdays.
“You never know who is going to come in. I see friends. I see parents of people I grew up with. I see friends that I grew up with. When they come back to Milwaukee, they pop back in here to say hello," Wakefield said.
Champion's Pub
The final stop on the tour of Bartlett Village was Champion's Pub.
“When I talk about a place that literally feels like home because everybody in the neighborhood frequents there and this space welcomes everybody, we’re headed to Champion's, Champion's Pub,” Darnell Hanimlton said.
The bar has been family-owned and operated ever since it opened back in 1956.
“This is our 70th year in business. My wife and I bought the bar from my uncle Timmy, who lived in the neighborhood, in 2000, and now we’ve had it for 26 years," Bobby Greenya, the owner, said.
This bar is basically all Greenya has ever known.
“Since I was 5 years old, this is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do," Greenya said. “My commute tripled from when we first started. We lived upstairs. I was 15 steps down, and now I live 45 steps across the street.”
The pub is clearly a staple of the community, but Greenya has also become an integral part of the neighborhood. Not just for being the owner of the bar. But because he helps shovel the sidewalks whenever there is a big snowstorm.
“There are people that can’t shovel their walks. There are people that don’t shovel their walks. I walk my dog in the neighborhood, and it’s just nice to be able to traverse," Greenya said. “Some other neigbors have also got on to that, so that the areas that I didn’t get, they will take care of.”
While he does it out of the goodness of his heart and for the neighbors first, there is one ulterior motive.
"And it also helps customers get to my bar," Greenya said.
One Last Question
As is tradition in the My Block series, the tour guide gets the last word.
Before that happens, here is how you can be part of the award-winning series. Reach out to me, James Groh, to nominate your neighborhood or a neighbor to be featured in the next story. You can fill out this submission form or contact me at james.groh@tmj4.com or call/text at (414) 254-8145. The series covers all types of neighborhoods and communities. Previous examples include stories on a mother-daughter duo revitalizing Metcalfe Park, a rural neighborhood where the same families have lived for 186 years, how one woman is keeping a watchful eye on her neighborhood, the Dharmic temples of Pewaukee, how Latino immigrants adapt to life in Milwaukee, and many more. Watch the other 35 My Block stories here.
Now back to Darnell Hamilton.
“So to be a part of something that is so inclusive of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, know that Bartlett Village is welcoming of you. It welcomed me. I’ve been here for 11 years, and I plan to continue building in this space because it’s home.”
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