MILWAUKEE — Like other bars and restaurants across Wisconsin, Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee has felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The once bustling beer hall now sits nearly empty on a Monday night. However, employees say business has been helped thanks to finding unique ways to keep customers socially distanced. 

One indoor approach has been converting Bernie’s Chalet, which was once housed at the old Milwaukee County Stadium, into a “date night” dining venue. It is kept separate from the rest of the restaurant and couples, or whomever wants to rent the space, can enjoy a dinner away from other patrons. It is a dining option that has proved popular. 

“There hasn’t been a date in the Chalet that hasn’t been booked out,” says Lakefront Brewery President Russ Klisch.

It isn’t the only socially distanced option Klisch says has proved popular. The brewery installed five heated greenhouse-like structures on their Riverfront patio to keep customers sitting outside into the winter. Klisch says it cost the brewery roughly $12,000 to purchase the outdoor units and the heating equipment to go with them. While it was an investment, Klisch says it has more than paid off. 

“The amount of money we have taken in compared to what I have spent is two to three times the amount and winter still has at least a few months before we can go sit on the patio,” says Klisch.

He says the greenhouse units can be repurposed in the summertime to grow vegetables, and can then go back to their current purpose in future winters.