Bringing new life to a historic Port tavern

The former Sundance Tavern in Port Washington, which has been closed for a decade or so, is about to get a new life.

James McMahon, who owns Big Ed’s Smoke Pit in Belgium and The Bay in Whitefish Bay, bought the building at  551  N. Wisconsin St. and is renovating it into a bar and restaurant with an eye toward opening in October.

McMahon said his business partner, who he declined to name, had been looking for an establishment for a while.

The Sundance building was “on her radar,” he said, adding, “This one just resonated with her.”

In December he looked at the building and it “ticked all my boxes,” he said.

He hadn’t necessarily been looking for a new establishment to open, he noted.

“I wasn’t seriously searching for it, but if something made sense, I was open to the opportunity,” he said.

“The bones here are good,” McMahon said. “The previous owner did a good job keeping the facility clean and well maintained.”

“I wasn’t looking for a fixer-upper,” he said, adding the fact there was an upstairs apartment he could occupy was a plus.

The building, which is on a main street with plenty of traffic, also had that intangible something he was looking for, McMahon said.

“I’ve always been interested in small corner bars, bars with that small community feel,” he said.

And the Sundance building had history, noting it is a former brew house that was home to one of the city’s first breweries, McMahon said.

“It feels like everybody in the area has a connection to Sundance,” he said.

He recalled dropping off some food for a catering job and meeting a woman whose father had operated Larry’s Marine Bar from the building.  She gave him a matchbook and token, which he plans to frame for his new establishment.

McMahon said he and his partner have gutted the building and are “basically starting over.”

“It was one of those decisions — do you put money into the equipment and try to restore it” or just start over.

They opted for the latter and are now working to create a new bar and restaurant to be known as Lucky Devils. The name, McMahon said, combines his enjoyment of gambling and his partner’s love of rockabilly.

The place will embody an “upscale dive bar,” McMahon said, a place where people can feel comfortable in any type of clothing and in any circumstance.

The restaurant will have some barbecue — after all, he owns Big Ed’s — salads, sandwiches and other casual fare.

He envisions the place complementing the other bars and restaurants in the city, providing a comfortable vibe.

That’s something McMahon knows a thing or two about. He went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a degree in economics but also got an informal degree in running a restaurant.

He had worked previously at Six Flags in Gurnee, Ill., but during his last semester in college worked at the Buffalo Wild Wings on State Street in Madison. He eventually became a part-owner in nine privately owned Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, and when the corporation bought them he used the money to open The Bay in Whitefish Bay, which he’s owned for 11 years. It specializes in casual dining and fresh American cuisine, he said.

About five years ago, he and the chef at The Bay, Ed Tucker, opened Big Ed’s Smoke Pit. Barbecue was Tucker’s passion, McMahon said, “and when I see other people’s passion, it invigorates mine.”

McMahon said he learned a lot from Tucker and bought him out a couple of years ago.

The duo opened in Belgium, he said, because the band he was in rented the back of a retail space there for its practices.

The band, Jow, still practices there, he said.

On Thursday, the Port Washington Plan Commission will consider a conditional use permit that will allow McMahon to make use of a small patio on the side of the building for outdoor dining and a zoning issue related to the property.

And if all goes well, he and his partner will be prepared to open Lucky Devils in October.

To increase interest in the building, the pair have been working to keep the changes hidden from view, hoping that it will intrigue future customers who will stop by to see the new business and building.

“We want to have that anticipation, that sense of what’s going on,” he said.