About Us — On The Clock Bar & Grill | A Milwaukee Tavern Since 1903

A meal here comes
with a little history.

This beautiful building was raised in 1903 by the Huelsbeck family and opened as an elegant cocktail lounge — not a plate of food in sight. The woodwork you see today is the very same they installed: gumwood shipped up from South America, crowned with two mahogany carvings, untouched and original to this day.

More than a century later, three families have kept this corner of Howell Avenue alive — a place to clock out, raise a glass, and settle in. The faces change, but the welcome doesn't. There's no wrong time to stop by; after all, it's always the perfect time.

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The Gumwood Bar

Carved from South American gumwood and topped with two mahogany carvings, the bar is untouched and original to 1903 — woodwork you simply can't commission today.

Original Leaded Glass

The leaded windows are original — and a stained-glass "H" still marks the front door, set there for the founding Huelsbeck family.

The Fireplace That Never Burned

A decorative fireplace with no flue — built purely as a show of wealth. Folks still swear they've warmed up by its fire; strange what a little brandy can do.

A Cocktail Lounge First

When the Huelsbecks opened the doors, this was a lounge — cocktails only, no kitchen. Food didn't arrive until decades later, and it's been made from scratch ever since.

Over a century
of keeping time.

The Huelsbeck family ran the lounge for sixty-two years before passing the keys to Roland Krueger in 1965 — the first owner to serve food, cooked at lunch and on weekends out of the family kitchen. In 1978 Krueger sold to Robert Krause, who still runs the place today.

1903The Huelsbeck family build the lounge — gumwood, leaded glass, and the stained-glass "H" on the door.

1965Roland Krueger takes over and serves the first food from the family kitchen.

1978Robert Krause buys the bar — and remains the owner to this day.

TodayKnown as "Roberts" for years, the bar was rebranded On The Clock to welcome a wider crowd.

Many people will swear they sat in front of a fire here… strange what a little brandy can do! — House lore, On The Clock

One thing hasn't changed: every sauce and soup is still made from scratch using Mama Krause's recipes, alongside half-pound Angus burgers, hand-built pizzas, and a deep bench of craft beers and classic martinis.