Bars & Rec to open Slingshot Bar in West Allis

Bars & Recreation‘s forthcoming activity bar in West Allis will feature slingshot shooting as its main attraction.

The aptly named Slingshot Bar will open this fall at 6325 W. National Ave., joining the group’s six other immersive entertainment concepts, all located in the city of Milwaukee. Bars & Rec’s expansion into West Allis has been in the works since 2022, when the Milwaukee-based company purchased the former CasTech Inc. building on National Avenue. Plans for the space have been in development and kept under wraps until now.

Slingshot Bar will have an open slingshot shooting range with all necessary equipment and safety training, according to a news release Wednesday. Just like Bars & Rec’s other concepts, it will also have a full bar and private event space for birthday parties, corporate gatherings and the like.

“During the day, we want this to be a fun place for family gatherings and adventurous birthday parties. Then at night, we’re going to create an electric bar atmosphere, complete with the plinking sound of slingshots hitting targets and the cheers of successful shooters in the background,” said chief innovation officer David Poytinger, who co-founded Bars & Rec in 2012 with his wife, Marla Poytinger, CEO.

Bars & Rec described its newest concept as “first-of-its-kind” and pointed to the growing popularity of slingshot shooting, giving rise to local and national competitions.

“Some of the best shooters in the country have been featured on major talent competition shows and have large social media followings,” the company said. “Bars & Rec is looking to be a first-mover in the space, with a concept it hopes will help bring attention to the increasingly popular National Avenue corridor and the work being done to revitalize West Allis and make it incredibly business friendly.”

Bringing Slingshot Bar to life required a complete transformation of the vacant factory building. In 2023, Bars & Rec secured state grant funding and hired Brown Deer-based LF Green Development to carry out a complete environmental cleanup of the property, including in-ground hoist removal and water and soil testing. Construction on the space began late last year.

“West Allis is on the rise, and businesses like Bars & Recreation are fueling that momentum,” said West Allis Mayor Dan Devine. “Slingshot Bar is bringing something energizing and unique to National Avenue, and I can’t wait to see people taking their best shots.”

West Allis has come a long way from its troubled rust belt past marked by the collapse of Allis-Chalmers Corp. in the 1980s. Thanks to efforts in the past couple decades to attract restaurants and retailers back to its main strips and fill vacant lots with both commercial and residential development, the city has earned a reputation as a business-friendly community and destination for visitors.

Bars & Recreation are the operators of AXE MKE and Nine Below, both on Milwaukee’s East Side; Amped and Game Show MKE, which share a location in The Brewery District; NorthSouth Club in the Third Ward, and The New Fashioned, which opened last spring in Deer District. Those concepts are each centered on a designated activity or multiple activities, including axe-throwing, mini golf, giant shuffleboard, karaoke, group game show competitions and HyperBowling.

Bars & Rec and the Poytinger’s entrepreneurial journey was the subject of a BizTimes Milwaukee cover story last year. Check it out here.

More articles about Bars & Rec and its plans in West Allis:

• Bars & Recreation affiliate buys former CasTech building in West Allis
• Entrepreneurs to Watch: Marla and David Poytinger
• Playmakers: How Bars & Rec is redefining Milwaukee’s entertainment landscape