Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
A full house packed with Cheeseheads intently cheering for their beloved Green Bay Packers at Wally’s Wisconsin Tavern last Sunday didn’t realize they were in the presence of Wisconsin royalty.
Kim Flitcroft of Lake Geneva, Wis., who was crowned Alice in Dairyland of 1990, was in town with her husband for a family visit. Naturally, they celebrated game day at Wally’s.
Where else in Denver would a former Alice in Dairyland go to watch the green and gold than Colorado’s best Packers bar?
Flitcroft was too humble to mention her reign, a year-long responsibility that involved representing the state’s agriculture sector at public appearances, but her 77-year-old mother was tickled to tell me. No big deal, you say? I grew up in Wisconsin, so I knew what it meant and was honored to meet her. Flitcroft also is one of the Packers’ 537,460 “owners” who hold 5.2 million shares of stock. It pays no dividends except bragging rights, which are priceless.
Flitcroft loved Wally’s, which is crammed with Wisconsin sports memorabilia and photos. A massive lighted Schlitz sign greets visitors at the front door. Flitcroft and I are old enough to remember when Schlitz was touted as “The beer that made Milwaukee famous.” Flags for the Packers and Brewers hang from the ceiling, along with another that says “Drink Wisconsinbly.”
“I like that you’re out of town, you walk into a bar and it feels like you’re at home,” Flitcroft said. “It’s amazing. When you’re a Packers fan, you’re almost a whole other family together. I don’t care where you go or who you are, it’s like you know each other. It’s just such a special relationship that I don’t think you feel from other teams.”
That’s why I love Wally’s so much. Even though the Packers let us down last week, falling to the Detroit Lions in a rivalry game, we had loads of fun.
Summer Koehn, who moved from Milwaukee to Denver 18 months ago, got to Wally’s four hours before kickoff to make sure she and her friends got a table.
“Everywhere you go, there are Packers fans,” Koehn said. “How fun is it that you come to Denver and there’s a bar specifically for that? It’s loud, it’s fun. We’re a different breed.”
They (OK, we) are. They poke fun at their image and never take themselves too seriously.
“No,” Koehn agreed. “We’re Cheeseheads!”
Green Bay Packers fans RJ Brogis, wearing jersey 23, and Brandon Books, wearing jersey 18, watch the Green Bay Packers take on the Detroit Lions at Wally’s Wisconsin Tavern in Denver on Nov. 3, 2024. (Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Located in LoDo at 1417 Market St., Wally’s is attached to the Rhein Haus German restaurant, which also is filled with Cheeseheads on game days. Rhein Haus was co-founded by James Weimann, a Sheboygan …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
