Business & Tech

Bushy's 30 Years Old and Still Going Strong

The venerable Muskego bar-restaurant will celebrate its 30th anniversary Wednesday.

Wayne Bushberger's philosophy hasn't changed in the 30 years he's owned Bushy's Pub & Grill, 14831 Janesville Road. 

As he said in a 1986 Muskego Sun profile about his business—a story that hangs near the door of the venerable Muskego establishment—Bushy's is "only as good as the people in it."

As the bar-restaurant celebrates its 30-year anniversary this month, Bushberger reiterated that message, saying loyal customers spanning multiple generations have sustained the businesses over the years. 

"That's why we're here 30 years," Bushberger said. 

An anniversary celebration for Bushy's is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, with free tap beer and rail drinks, food and local DJ Rob Lucas. 

The setting for Wednesday's event will be a far cry from the scene when Bushy's opened in 1983. 

In the fall of that year, Bushberger and his sister, Lynn Kaurer, purchased a nine-stool bar called Tessie's. 

They remodeled it into a 15-stool bar a short time later, and would expand again after that. 

But they were forced to construct a new building several years ago due to the reconstruction of Janesville Road. A cul-de-sac is now where the original Bushy's once stood. 

Bushy's closed for about four months while the new building was finished. But the owners essentially maintained the original Bushy's look while adding a dining room, Bushberger said. 

Bushberger and Kaurer also bought the church next door and renovated it into a banquet facility, Bush Gardens. 

"If I had to do anything different, I really wouldn't," he said. 

His efforts paid off. Even as the area around the bar went from farmland and snowmobile trails to residential and commercial developments, Bushy's remains a Muskego landmark. 

All thanks to Bushy's patrons, Bushberger said.

"We’re only as good," he says, "as the people that continue coming here."


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