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December 29, 2025
OSHKOSH – Mabel Murphy’s has raised the bar in Oshkosh – literally.
For the first time, residents and visitors alike can enjoy year-round rooftop libations and views of the lakeshore city, Co-owner Sean Felker said, courtesy of the establishment’s new second-floor bar.
“The view is really cool, because there are your local businesses and… as you look out, there are trees [and] you can see quite far,” he said. “There are no buildings in the way or anything. So that’s awesome.”
In the April 7 issue of The Business News, Felker said he and his business partner – Carl Schuelkef – took ownership of the bar and dance club building in 2019 shortly after it burnt down.
During reconstruction, Felker said he and Schuelkef considered adding a rooftop bar to the “drinking place” at that time, but the project “wasn’t in the cards” for them until last year.
“We wanted to do it in the beginning, but it was just too expensive at the time,” he said.
But, earlier this year, Felker said the idea officially came to life with the grand opening of Oshkosh’s only rooftop bar at Mabel Murphy’s, located at 701 N. Main St.
“It’s still early, but it’s been fantastic,” he said. “People are loving… [the] outside seating here up high in Oshkosh.”
The six operational garage doors encasing the rooftop bar, Felker said, allow the space to be open year-round – offering customers a winter reprieve.
“We have a couple of heaters outside, so we just close down whichever [garage doors] you need to close down if it’s raining or if there’s cool air coming in,” he said.
Since officially opening the new space, Felker said Mabel Murphy regulars and new patrons alike have offered an “outstanding” response to the new addition.
“I definitely have [had] some new people coming in,” he said. “It’s great [because] people have fun up there. It’s a different vibe from downstairs at times, which is awesome, because [we play] different music up there.”
Though they have hosted “a couple of private parties,” Felker said he and Schuelkef don’t anticipate formally advertising the rooftop bar as a venue.
“We can do it, it’s just hard to close [the rooftop] off,” he said. “There’s just too many people that want to go up there on a regular basis, and I’m not alienating regulars.”
Felkler said the addition of a rooftop bar also led to an increase in Mabel Murphy’s workforce to cover the additional space.
“We definitely had to add more people,” he said. “Right now, it’s a little hard because it’s obviously wintertime, and it’s not as busy, so you don’t need as many people, but we definitely added to our crew.”
With future plans to increase the scope of Mabel Murphy’s clientele – including plans to establish a golf league – Felker said the rooftop bar is “only helping” the half-century-old nightclub formerly owned by his father, Ron, continue to make a name for itself.
“I’m looking forward to this year to see what’s to come,” he said. “We’re getting new people, [and] we’re getting people who want to do things, and it’s great.”
For more on Mabel Murphy’s, visit its Facebook page.
