Mint Bar
Milwaukee
Summary
The Mint Bar had one of the longest histories of any Milwaukee gay bar. Opened by Christ Mares on New Year's Day 1949 at 422 W. State Street, two decades before Stonewall, the small, cozy tavern was an early gathering place for the city's gay men and advertised as a "male bar" once GPU News began publishing in 1971. The bar is closely associated with longtime owner Angelo "Angel" Aiello and, after his 1978 death, his wife Bettie Aiello.
When the State Street block was cleared for the Bradley Center in 1986, the Mint relocated to 819 S. 2nd Street, where it survived a few more years before becoming Angelo's and then BJ's Mint.