58 Below

“We’ve got a lot of different bands, from metal bands to country bands, acoustic acts. People seem to want to play here, which is great!” – Pete

Located in the American Legion Post 21 building in downtown Kenosha, 58 Below stands out as a premier destination boasting live music, fantastic drinks, mouthwatering food, and laid-back vibes. Eager to experience the scene, we caught up with Michelle & Pete (Nepo Brother) of 58 Below to see what all the buzz was about.

Q. Can you give us a summary about 58 Below?
Michelle: We started back in 2017. It started out as four of us and now it’s just me. At the time, Dominic, who passed away almost three years ago and I were looking for somewhere, we were talking about opening a bar. We kind of found one and in the works of getting it, but that fell through. And then the Legion came right in our lap. So we partnered up with some people and started 58 Below. And then our partners got out after two years. And then it was Dominic and I. And then Dominic passed away almost three years ago. So now it’s just me.

Q. Not only do you have great drinks and you’re a great bar, but you also have great entertainment. Can you tell us about that?
Pete: Yes, we have live music every Friday and Saturday nights. A lot of great local acts come through, and I think as far as downtown, we’ve got one of the nicer stages around, so it draws bands in, and they want to play here. We’ve got a lot of different bands, from metal bands to country bands, acoustic acts. People seem to want to play here, which is great!

Q. Can you tell us about the great food menu as well?
Michelle: We just started the food menu about a year ago. So, it’s still fairly new. We have a lot of different kinds of nachos. We have different kind of style hot dogs like Chicago style and a peanut butter bacon hot dog. We have wings, burgers, Southwest egg rolls. We have a variety of cheese curds.
Pete: Some good wonton wraps, mozzarella sticks.
Michelle: Yes, those are probably our top seller, the wonton mozzarella sticks.

Q. All right, so what makes 58 Below stand out from all the other bars in the area?
Pete: I would say it’s probably the live entertainment. We stand out a little bit more because of the amount of live music that we do offer, and then in the summertime we have the parking lot where we have live acts play out there, and that’s Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Sundays are usually acoustic to keep it a little quieter, but, you know, this is a good place to see music, rarely is there a cover charge, and it’s free entertainment. Cheap drinks, free entertainment.

Q. What is something about 58 Below that you would want new customers to know about?
Pete: It’s a family owned, started by Michelle and my brother. Since Dom’s passing, this has become a female-owned business, which I think is great. She doesn’t like to be in the spotlight very much, but it’s nice to know that a lot of bars open and they’ll close within a year, and this is a strong female that’s making this place thrive, so that’s awesome.

Q. So what do you guys personally like to do in downtown Kenosha when you’re not working here at 58 Below?

Michelle: I like to walk around and visit the other businesses and other bars and go out to lunch and patronize the other businesses that are down here.
Pete: I can be seen hosting trivia on Mondays and Friday’s downtown. So, my time spent down here a lot of times is working. But when I’m not working, I do love going to the Buzz and grabbing some coffee. And there’s a secondhand shop right down the road (Vintage Underground). I didn’t even know what that was. It’s great.
Michelle: There’s a lot of new businesses down here today. There’s a bunch that have opened that I haven’t even been to yet. That’s the beauty about downtown, there’s so many great stores and owners.

Q. All right, can you walk me through a day of owning and running 58 Below? How does your day start? Tell us.
Michelle: Well, I wake up usually at 6 a.m. by my little puppy, Moxie. And then we start from there. We head down to the bar, usually do some book work, do some cleaning, stocking booking bands, it’s very time-consuming doing the band bookings and trying to figure out the schedule for the whole year and try to get as much done as possible for the first part of the year.
Pete: which is unbelievable because I was doing the booking for a while, and it is a hard job and Michelle’s doing all of the ownerships stuff and booking bands. She is doing a lot, she is a real busy lady, it’s a lot of work.

Q. Well, you’re doing a great job here at 58 Below, you bar is thriving, so I must ask, what is next for 58 Below? Any plans? Anything you want to shout out to the public?
Michelle: Honestly, I would like to grow more outside and have more outside events. I’d like to maybe at some point get a permanent stable bar out there to be open on the weekends all summer long. That’s a goal of mine. Also, a goal to get the whole stage fully running with our own PA system and our own sound guy, so the bands can just come in and hook up and be done.
Pete: In June we celebrate my brother’s Dominic’s birthday, we do a thing called Dom Fest. So, we got that coming up. It is a three-day event with just a bunch of great bands. Also, in September we have our 58th Fest, which is our annual anniversary party. We have a lot of good stuff happening.

58 Below is located below the American Legion Party Rental Hall at 504 58th Street
Follow them on FACEBOOK
Hours: Monday: 6PM-2AM•Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 4PM- 2AM• Friday & Saturday Noon-2:30AM• Sunday Noon-2AM

Check out the interview here

Q&A Photos by Donny Stancato & Jenna Zeihen• Edited by Meridith Jumisko, Jenna Zeihen & Donny Stancato
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