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!”
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 native who named Wally’s in honor of his father. A huge photo taken at Wally’s wedding hangs in the bar. When Weimann started the Rhein Haus in 2015, the space now known as Wally’s was a side bar for Rhein Haus. In 2017, it took on its own identity and Packers decor.
The menu has lots of Wisconsin foods, including bratwurst, cheese curds, potato pancakes, giant pretzels, fried pickles and the “Lombardi Burger,” an Angus beef patty with cheddar cheese topped with fried cheese curds. (Alas, no Schlitz.)
Flitcroft’s mother, Judy Nettesheim, and I were kids when Schlitz ruled and Vince Lombardi’s Packers won five NFL championships in seven years (1961-67). We like to remind fans of other teams that the Packers, founded in 1919, have won the most NFL championships (13).
“In our family, your blood ran green and gold,” Flitcroft said. “It was just our life.”
Darryle Brown grew up in Virginia but fell under the spell of the Packers when Brett Favre was quarterback. He was dressed for the game with a Packers hard hat, jacket and bib. A Packers medallion with a light inside hung from a huge chain around his neck.
“I like the fact that it’s a good atmosphere,” Brown said. “It stays packed with my tribe of fellow Cheeseheads. Every time we score a touchdown, the celebration here is electric. It’s just a wonderful experience.”
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