Y-Not II Tavern

Tony is the greatest. Terrific bartenders. Bargain beer prices.
What else is there?
Oh… right … Music
Great jukebox.

Female bartender with the lumberjack shirt, dark hair, glasses. Awful service, super rude. This is coming from someone in the industry.

A+ East Side dive bar. Actually, you could just call it an A+ Milwaukee dive bar. I have fond memories of this place from my first few visits to the city before moving here. I ultimately ended up in Bay View but I’ll still go out of my way to hit up Y-​Not II for liter specials, free popcorn and a smörgåsbord of jukebox jams. The bar is spacious, if not also a little worn down, and there are pool tables if that’s your thing.

Interesting HH specials… airline bottles. Excellent, super fun bartender. Don’t miss this place!

Classic MKE dive bar and I say that with all my love. This ain’t no hipster or Bright Young Thing bar. This is the bar for tired union organizers, cranky 40+‘ers who just want a beer and to be left alone, aging punk rockers, and folks who just want a bar that is just a damn bar. Really, does every bar have to have a theme? No, they do not. And no one does straight out «bar» than the Y Not II.
I went here with my hubby the other day. Both of us were tired and just wanted to have a beer and chill out. Really eclectic crowd. Everyone relaxed and laid back. The place is showing its age, but that’s just the way I like it!
Perfection.

Definition of a dive bar. I actually lived half a block away from here last year and took advantage of that often. Drinks are dangerously cheap and yet of good quality. I tipped heavily and often got my drinks equally heavy on booze. Entire liter mugs of beer for 3.50 if they’re on «special» (they’re trying to get rid of it). Mixed drinks for 4.50 (I drank many gin cocktails here…).
Place is definitely worn out. It’s always dark in here, and it isn’t necessarily clean, but then, if you’re complaining about that, you shouldn’t be here. It’s a quiet dive bar that my friends and I would visit to have a few drinks, talk about our pointless lives, and to play a game of pool on their super small tables while munching on basket after basket of free, buttery, salty popcorn.
The bartenders are friendly and willing to talk if you care to engage them. The clientele (at least in my experience) tend to keep to themselves.
Not a bad place to have (more than a few) drinks and spend some time.

My favorite dive bar. A home basement down the street complete with mini pool, darts, jukebox, dog water bowl, airplane bottle shots, year round holiday décor, popcorn machine, and your neighborhood friendly bartenders. Super kick ass chill place to love. Xxx always

Two friends and I stopped here on a Saturday afternoon based on the recommendation of our waitress at a nearby restaurant. I jokingly told the waitress that my one friend likes «dirty bars», (which actually holds true for all three of us) the waitresses eyes lit up, and she described the Y-​Not II, we were sold. Just from the neon signs in the front windows I could tell we were going to love the place. We were greeted by Eric the bartender and a giant friendly black poodle. Two of us enjoyed the $ 6 mini bottle special, and our other friend took advantage of the liter o’ beer special. I played the older style CD jukebox, and it didn’t take long for us to chat it up with some of the locals whom patronized the bar with dogs by their side.
As others have said in their reviews, the patrons were all over the map, old, young, nicely dressed, questionably dressed, but all were very friendly.
All in all, we had a fantastic time in the completely laid back atmosphere.
We’ll be back!

Hi my name is Peter. I’m an addict… an addict to dive bars.
I have been here only a handful of times to drink and have enjoyed every time here. The staff is friendly and it reminds me of my old drive bar with popcorn, cheap beer, and people just wanting to have a cold one in peace.
If you are more into the fancier bars this isn’t your place as you will find mismatched seating, torn seating, dirty floors, and other awesome stuff that make a dive bar super awesome.
Plus…there is a laundry mat next door so you can do your laundry while you drink.
Stop on by on a nice hot day after walking home from Jazz in the Park and you will love the atmosphere.

Descriptive phrase: dark, fun corner dive.
It’s easy to walk by Y-​Not II Tavern on Lyon and Van Buren downtown and miss it. Do yourself a favor late one Saturday night and search it out.
YN2 is very dark, but this helps to mask (what I assume are) some grungy aspects. Sure, the seats are ripped open, but they’re still as comfortable as they were eons ago. The big oval bar has some seating, but most people are tucked away on the outskirts.
1) I’ll love any place that features $ 3.50 liters of beer they’re trying to get rid of (in our case, Oktoberfest).
2) I’ll frequent any place that features delicious, free popcorn. Just go grab some for yourself from the machine.
It’s a varied crowd inside, but that added some charm. My favorite was the man with the movie-​trailer voice helping the bartenders out at bar-​time by announcing for everyone to leave. You couldn’t help but clap for the guy, his voice was better than Morgan Freeman’s.
Y-​Not II Tavern is a fun, grungy, chill bar that contrasts well to some others nearby.

This was my first time at the YNOT II. I’ve been to the YNOT III a few times. The bartender was incredibly nice and the owner was really friendly. They had a surprisingly good selection of beer on tap (including Dortmunder Gold) which is surprising since the YNOT II definitely has a dive feel to it. For 4pm on a Friday it was already hopping with regulars and not-​so-​regulars. People were friendly and willing to chat.
The décor is a cultivated dive. The place is actually quite clean and nice, but it’s dark and designed to feel like a hole-​in-​the-​wall. There was a Golden Tee game in the corner and plenty of televisions (they were showing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when we were there).
We did learn that the tap lines are cleaned twice a month which is a huge deal if you value the flavor of your beer. The tappers are rotated pretty frequently to capitalize on what’s on trend (some classics remain like Peroni, Newcastle, and macros).
I’m giving three stars only because the bathrooms are tiny and there wasn’t a happy hour deal going. I hope to revisit and upgrade. We had three rounds and our tab was a little over 24 $.

Boy, oh boy! I wish I lived a bit closer to this gem of a dive.
I’ve only warmed the worn & torn bar seats a few times. But, I plan to visit more frequently now that the charm shined so brightly on my smiling beardface.
In the past, I had only slid in the door late at night with plenty of pops already filling my belly. A recent visit, however, began on sober footing. I looked around the huge space smiling at some of the decorations I remembered. I pointed & marveled at the few hilarious bits that were strangled out of my brain by the bountiful booze that was blissfully imbibed.
Now, however, Y-​Not II stands-​out as a strong & glorious dark tower in my brainscape of Milwaukee. There, it is a windowless tower of Cream City Brick — stained with coal soot — whose black doors open to a staircase that leads only downward, down to a dank dungeon where time dissolves. All holidays are present at once. Bottles of booze flutter into existence at scales Alice would have experienced through the looking glass.
Rod Serling warned us of such places. If you choose to step over the edge, embrace each moment cautiously. «You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension… You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance.»
Let’s go to Y-​Not II & get weird, you freaks.

Good drink specials, and why come everywhere that has a $ 10 minimum charge doesn’t have mini liquor bottles for purchase? Friendly people including the bartenders, can’t believe I didn’t come here more when I went to school nearby.

There is no place like home… except the Y not II. Come and make friends. My life is better because of this place.

This neighborhood dive bar appears not to have changed in the past 15 years. I’m pretty sure even the chairs in the bathroom are in the exact same positions. Scary ancient popcorn machine? Check! Cheaper than cheap drinks? Check! Ripped leatherette? Check. You always know what to expect with the Y-​Not, no more or no less. On the plus side, since the smoking ban, it smells less horrific.

I love a good dive bar and this little guy takes the cake! Y-​Not II has it all. Cheap liters of beer (thier special runs you about $ 3.75) and a set-​up, which includes two mini bottles, a glass of ice, and a soda/​mixer is around $ 6.00.These are prices that keep me coming back!
The atmosphere here is definitively dive. There are old diner booths, a chaise lounge in the corner, and random office chairs all tossed together around a central bar. There are decorations for every holiday perpetually attached to the ceiling. A standard poodle named «Ralph» frequents this place and just celebrated his 14^th birthday!
There is free pool here (although not on a regulation table!) and free popcorn. How fresh the popcorn is depends on the bartender… and once even had frosted flakes mixed in… certainly a unique take on kettle corn! They also offer darts, golden tee, and pinball as well as a couple of tv’s usually tuned into a movie or a sporting event. A jukebox plays in the evening and the selection has not been touched since the early 90’s.
Now the people that come to Y-​Not II are as equally varied and bizarre as the establishment itself. I’ve seen accountants doing business over a lunch beer, welders and roofers, laundry mat patrons just waiting for the spin cycle to end and an assortment of people just looking for a decently priced beverage. There are young folks, old folks, folky folks, just simply a lot of variety!
Get to know your bartender here and you will be infinitely rewarded! Whatever you do though, don’t get on their bad side as their are plenty of people who are unwelcome during certain bartender’s shifts… That being noted, have fun here and don’t take it too seriously!

Fun every time
Excellent beer specials
Nice n’ loud
I love this joint, and there’s no II ways about it. The neon lighting, the busy central bar, the darts in back, the banquette seating, the kitschy holiday stuff on the walls, the MORE neon lighting… all makes this a fun spot. I still smile to myself thinking about the copious amount of Honey Brown I was handed for three measly dollars on special one night — hoisting the thing practically gave my arm a legitimate workout.
The bathrooms are small enough and grody enough that you want to spend as little time in there as possible, but that’s easily overlooked. Some bars are refined; this one is just plain excellent for hanging out with friends and getting drunk. Pretty simple, n’est pas? If your night’s to-​do list includes those two agenda items, put this joint on the itinerary.
Extra testimony — after a toxicology report, my friend’s surgeon told him his appendix had likely burst around the time we were enjoying drink specials at the Y-​Not II… and he didn’t even realize it. See? It was THAT much FUN! So give it a shot. Y Not?

Dive-​y McDive Pants.
Not that other people haven’t said it, but I’ll say it again. Y-​Not II is a diiive.
But… there’s something insanely charming about this idiosyncratic place. Poodles everywhere. Old neons galore. Fatty Christmas lights. Halloween and Valentine’s and Christmas and St. Patrick’s day décor hanging for the ceiling… all together, all the time.
Torn booths and dirty carpeting, and a strange lounge-​y ladies room that’s falling apart.
But…
Free popcorn that’s salty and fantastic, as well as cheap booze and friendly folks. What’s not to like?
I like.

Poodles galore. (you’ll see what I mean)
Dive bar perfection.
Friendly bartenders.
I’ll be back.

Plenty busy for a Saturday afternoon with affordable drinks everything that you could expect in a classic dive bar. Low lights makes most everyone beautiful, neon signs, cozy booths, drink specials, low prices big mugs, mmm-​salty popcorn, darts, pool table, all kinds of imports and local brews on tap, juke box, fake plants, plenty of modern flat screens. Bartender was very attentive. Too bad, no more live bands in the back. I hope they reconsider having live music as this is a fun place.