Over its more than half-century serving on the East Side, Beans & Barley had seen neighbors like Vitucci’s, Pizza Man and countless other beloved Milwaukee spots disappear from North Avenue. On Wednesday, the restaurant announced that it would soon join their ranks.
Jim Neumeyer, who owns Beans & Barley along with Polly Kaplan, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that their recently extended lease was subject to plans from the new owner of the building, which had been listed for $2.25 million by Brickway Commercial. It now seems those plans don’t include continuing Beans & Barley’s 52-year commitment to promoting healthy eating — and living.
The Milwaukee institution traces that history back to 1973 and its beginnings as a health-food store on Murray Avenue. The restaurant came into the picture in 1979, when the business moved to its longtime home on North Avenue. Beans & Barley continued in its current form for decades — through a fire in 1993 and the neverending cycle of road construction. But the recent sale will bring its story to an end.
Neumeyer and Kaplan, who bought the business in 2012, shared a closing date of Jan. 31 in a letter that also offered a few words of wisdom for the community. It’s something that deserves to be read in full, so we’ll include it in its unedited form here:
Since 1973 Beans & Barley has had the honor of serving our community, neighbors, friends, and families. Our time on the Eastside has meant so much to all of us. It is incredibly hard to have to say this, but Beans & Barley will be closing its doors permanently on Jan 31, 2026.
We want to send our utmost gratitude to all who have come through this building as customers and employees these last 52 years, they have been truly incredible. The time has come for Beans to be done and our stewardship of this beautiful entity to end. Our building is being sold and we are not in a position to buy it. We hope that these last few months will bring a chance to see all of you here for one last time, and to give this legendary business the send off we think she deserves.
If you are an employer in the hospitality business we strongly urge you to hire someone from our incredible staff, any of you would be lucky to have one of our 70 employees doing the great work for you they have done for us. We hope you can find a way to patronize us again and enjoy our space for the last time. In this invitation we also want to implore you to, should you have the means please, please, frequent and support your local small businesses: restaurants, venues, bars, maker spaces, gift shops, toy shops, vintage stores, artists, book shops, healers, record stores, support your local radio, theatres, performing arts spaces etc. They will not make it without you, they make up your community, they are what makes this city incredible and they need you.
We will miss you all, Jim, Polly and the Beans & Barley Staff
