By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
A downtown Wausau business owner is transforming a 100-year-old building on the city’s west side into a new diner and lounge that will open in the coming weeks.
Westsider Diner & Lounge, 628 Third Ave., was built in the 1920s and changed hands multiple times before Tyler Vogt snapped it up. Vogt, who owns and operates Malarkey’s, has been gradually working on his vision for the diner and is nearly ready to unveil the renovated space. Westside Diner & Lounge is next to Jerry’s Music, across the street from Grebe’s, and just north of Bridge Street in Wausau’s Liberty Gardens neighborhood.
Vogt said that the diner will initially be open Tuesday through Sunday, but will eventually expand to seven days a week. In the early stages, the diner will open at 4 p.m., but eventually Vogt will add lunch and breakfast. The final plan, Vogt said, is to have food available from 7 a.m. to midnight daily. Once up to full speed, patrons can expect breakfast, a daytime happy hour, and a transition to a laid-back, conversation-forward lounge in the evening hours.
Vogt told Wausau Pilot & Review that he knew the space was far from perfect, yet ideal for the project he envisioned the minute he walked through the door. He began renting the building in 2017 and finalized a purchase in 2022, when work could finally begin. After extensive renovations, the interior now looks like an upscale urban oasis, with exposed brick walls, comfortable booths and colorful artwork on the walls.
A soft opening is planned for May, with a full opening to the public likely by early June – if all goes as planned. Follow the renovations and progress at the Westsider Diner & Lounge Facebook Page.
