Kenosha group complete epic pub crawl in 2022; 135 … – Kenosha News

Brian Falcone, who created and organized the mission, said it was a way to get together as a group throughout the year.

“I didn’t want to make it a race, because I know there would be some people who would finish it in two weeks,” he said.

Falcone and his group, which started with 27 people and finished with about a dozen who were consistent participants, set the boundaries of the yearlong pub crawl, including any non-chain establishment from State Highway KR south to the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, and from the lakefront west to just past I-94.

The group only visited local establishments, with the caveat being there had to be a physical bar inside.

“On week one, we picked two to three places to frequent as a group (as much as we can),” Falcone said. “We took a picture at each place and posted it to a private Facebook page.”

From there, the group continued to visit two to three bars each week, on average, but did hit more as a group while doing the pedal tavern tour Downtown.

“You couldn’t work ahead, but if you missed a week, you could go back,” Falcone said. “It was a fun adventure.”

Group member Francis Flex said it was easy to fall behind — and fun to catch up.

“If I missed one, then I had three or four to make up,” she said.

Group member Anna Toth agreed, saying she was behind in the pub crawl visits at one point, too.

“There was a point where I was 20 bars behind,” she said.

At the start of the year, the bar count totaled 135, but between some bars closing and new bars opening, the group ended up visiting 136 places.

By the time New Year’s Eve hit, the group only had three spots left to visit: Soon’s Sushi Cafe, 2100 54th St., which has a small bar space on the inside, The Coffee Pot, 4914 Seventh Ave, which has a bar in its back room; and The Hobnob, 277 Sheridan Road.

At the Dec. 31 gathering, Falcone planned to rank and review the bars they’d visited through the year.

“It’s been fun to visit places we’ve never been to,” Falcone said. “Usually, we go to familiar spots. We revisited some of the new places we went to because we had such a great experience.”

Pam Falcone, Brian’s Falcone’s wife, said the pub crawl encouraged the group to leave their comfort zone.

“It forced us to go to places we would never go to,” she said. “But we went to new bars we’d go back to again.”

The pub crawl was also a reason for the group to get together.

“This was something for the group to do all year long,” Pam Falcone said.

Some members of the group found the pub crawl gave them a reason to explore new spots in a city they’ve known for many years.

“I’ve lived here my whole life, and we went to bar I’ve never been to,” said Todd Yunker.

Other members found the experience took them to unfamiliar neighborhoods in the Kenosha area.

“It was fun to get into other neighborhoods,” said Steve Ziccarelli.

The experience even opened the members to find new go-to drinks.

“Someone, I don’t know who, suggested I try this drink and now it’s what I order,” said Sherri Donnelly.

What’s head for the group in 2023?

Brian Falcone is thinking bigger: Trying a beer from all 50 states, possibly counting Washington D.C. and a separate territory to bring the number up to 52 weeks and complete the year.

On New Year’s Eve, the group continued to mull over options during their celebratory drinks at the Hobnob.

At the end of the pub crawl, Brian Falcone’s loose math calculated the group contributed some $40,000 back into the local community.

We’ll drink to that.