E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Pals Brewing Company coming to Wisconsin Dells by the end of the year

A new brewery restaurant is coming to Wisconsin Dells at the end of 2024 in a joint venture between Chula Vista Resort and a Nebraska-based brewery, Wiscnews.com reported on January 1.

Pals Brewing Company, which has its first location in North Platte, Nebraska, is opening an indoor-outdoor facility on the west side of Wisconsin Dells in a partnership with the Kaminski family, which owns Chula Vista Resort. The future brewpub and family restaurant, which will also be called Pals Brewing Company, is slated to seat just over 500 guests between its indoor and outdoor facilities and will serve a wide array of foods, deliver pizza, and feature a large assortment of beers and related drinks, nearly all of which are company brews.

“It literally is like your friend,” said Pete Oettinger, a co-owner of Pals. “The tagline is ‘Come as strangers, leave as pals.’”

Mike Kaminski and his family, along with the Oettinger family, which owns Pals, teamed up to begin the venture roughly three years ago. The Wisconsin Dells Common Council approved plans for the family restaurant, which is slated to open on Dec. 1, 2024, and will feature three bar areas, roughly 20 beer taps, a dog-friendly outdoor area, and a live entertainment stage. A large indoor dining area will be available for private gathering reservations and additional guests.

Pals Brewing Company will be open year-round. Despite the bar space, Kaminski emphasized that Pals will be a brewpub and family restaurant . The facility will be at 710 Trout Road, a land plot owned by Kaminski which currently has an abandoned former Travel Mart gas station that will be expanded as part of the brewpub project.

The entire outdoor area will be between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet, and the entire facility will be considerably larger than the North Platte brewpub, Pete Oettinger said.

“About three years ago, Pete (Oettinger) said, ‘Come on, I want to take you out to North Platte,’” Kaminski said. “I told Pete that I had this piece of property down next to the AmericInn on Exit 87, and over the course of a year or two, we got the group interested and thought it might be kind of fun to build a second (Pals Brewing Company location). The stars kind of aligned, and the Dells became the second opportunity.”

Partners in the Pals Brewing project in Wisconsin Dells include Kaminski; his wife, Ann; brothers Paul, Pete, Mark and Phil Oettinger; and Rebecca and Mendy Oettinger, Pete and Mark’s wives, respectively. Paul Oettinger’s ex-wife, Amy, is also involved with marketing for the project, Pete Oettinger said.

Paul Oettinger is the family’s brewmaster, Pete said, and began the Pals trademark along with concocting the beer recipes. The upcoming Wisconsin Dells location may feature one different beer each month from another area brewery, which Pete said is a way of supporting local breweries. Rebecca Oettinger said Pals also works with other breweries to get ciders and other gluten-free beer products. Pals also sells beer growler cans to go in North Platte and plans to continue that in Wisconsin Dells, Kaminski said.

Pizzas at Pals are homemade recipes by Mendy Oettinger, Pete Oettinger said. The North Platte facility also uses Wisconsin cheese curds from Farmer John’s, a cheese producer in Dodgeville, and the ownership group plans to continue that in the upcoming Dells location. Much of the food at the Dells location will be the same as in North Platte, plus some additional fare including a Friday night fish fry, a possible daily special and artisan breads. The Pals menu is on the company’s website.

Kaminski said food decisions, particularly the menu variety, will be based on hiring, as well as kitchen planning. Pals has also partnered with Baraboo-based Driftless Glen Distillery for spirits in North Platte and plans to do so at the Dells location.

“It’s going to be designed around great quality,” Kaminski said, adding the brewpub will be tailored toward families and other demographics that may be in Wisconsin Dells at a certain time, including business groups and golfers.

The Kaminski-Oettinger partnership has also brought Pals Brewing Company beers to the taps at Kaminski’s Chophouse at Chula Vista, where they have been served for several years, Mike Kaminski said.

“We were very familiar with the quality of the products,” Kaminski said.


03 January, 2024