Holler House is a corner tavern on W Lincoln Avenue in Milwaukee’s Lincoln Village, the city’s historic Polish South Side. From the street it looks like a classic neighborhood bar: a brown two-story wooden building with “HOLLER HOUSE” spelled out in white letters above the front windows and an old Pabst Blue Ribbon sign hanging out front.
The real surprise is downstairs. The basement holds the oldest sanctioned tenpin bowling lanes in the United States, two wooden lanes that date back to the building’s opening in 1908. There are no automatic pinsetters here: pins are still set by hand, scores are kept on paper, and the lanes are oiled the old-fashioned way. Polish eagle crests above the lanes are a nod to the neighborhood’s roots.
Upstairs, the bar has been run by the same family for more than a century and has been named one of the best bars in America by Esquire. It’s a laid-back, cash-friendly spot for a drink and a slice of local history. If you want to bowl, call ahead so the staff can arrange pin setters for your group.
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