The Painted Pelican finds niche between Green Bay, Door County

Sue Grossardt

Contributor

August 26, 2024

DYCKESVILLE – The Painted Pelican (6449 Sturgeon Bay Road), which opened in June, has found its niche.

Located north of Green Bay and south of Door County, Co-owner Braeden Speer said visitors to the inn and customers of the restaurant and cafe are finding the waterfront sweet spot.

Speer – who shares ownership with several other family members – said they sought after the happy medium from a location standpoint, menu selection and price point.

“Door County is just slammed all the time, and their pricing (tends to be) high,” he said. “People who travel to Door County choose to stay in the crowds up there and also know that the pricing is crazy. Customers are paying Green Bay prices which aren’t terrible, or Door County prices which are astronomical – we wanted to be that happy medium.”

Speer said The Painted Pelican tries to offer a relaxing getaway vibe on the water – “a kind of escape.”

“We have customers who come from Green Bay and Appleton just to stay with us because it’s enough of a getaway,” he said. “(The Painted Pelican) is a nice, relaxing place to hang out and to be away.”

Getting things ready

The timing of finding the property, Speer – who studied finance and commercial real estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – said, was fortuitous, as the previous owners wanted to get out and they wanted to get in.

“My mom was driving around and found out that this place was up for sale,” he said. “It was kind of a diamond in the rough.”

Speer said The Painted Pelican was formerly Lipsky’s On The Bay, Inc., a motel built in the ’90s by the Lipsky family, changing hands after that.

“It got worn down over the years and needed an update and a fresh new look,” he said. “It was a classic Wisconsin bar.”

Speer said the renovations of both the restaurant and the inn took about two and a half years, with the official opening in June.   

“A lot of the work that was done in here was done by my stepdad and I and a few very skilled carpenters, as well as some family and friends,” he said. “We didn’t really hire out aside from plumbing and electrical.”

All 17 rooms on the property, Speer said, were renovated, along with some living space. 

“We worked with the late Ben Schenkelburg, an architect who is known for his work at the maritime museum in Manitowoc and a remodel of the Republic Chophouse in Green Bay,” he said.

The entire project, Speer said, has definitely been a family endeavor. 

“It’s been a full-on family support project with all hands on deck,” he said. “My stepdad, mom, sister and her husband (Kerry and Nicholas) – who moved back from Minnesota to be a part of this – (are all involved).  (Kerry and Nicholas) handle the coffee shop, bookings and maintenance for the hotel.” 

Speer said he and his girlfriend Annie Schoepke manage the restaurant – with Schoepke overseeing the kitchen operations.   

“Annie and I trade off, but one of us is always here,” he said.

Speer said all of the blood, sweat and tears that went into the remodel is paying off – with business finding its rhythm. 

“My stepdad was here with me every single day on weekends and holidays, too,” he said. “We worked endlessly to get this project going. Recently, I was happy to see my stepdad go out on the jet ski with his buddies and head up the peninsula.”

Cat is out of the bag

Speer said during the two-plus years that renovations were being done, there were a lot of rumors swirling around in the community.

“Many thought we were just going to be another bar,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t even realize it was going to be a restaurant. I think people weren’t expecting the extent of the remodel. We went to great lengths to build a quality structure.”

One of the unique aspects of the restaurant remodel, Speer said, was the addition of steel beams to open up the space. 

“This was just a pole barn,” he said. “It was a deck over dirt. We added a large pour-in floor,  multi-pane window and overhead doors among other improvements. I think people weren’t expecting the extent of the remodel.”

Seeing it all come together and how much customers have appreciated the space, Speer said, has been “amazing.”

“There was a little bit of worry that it wasn’t going to be appreciated,” he said. “It’s a new concept. Everything is new. I think what happened is a lot of people thought this was some huge real estate investor or some corporation investing in this, and they found out it was just a small family putting all of this together. I think that has made an impact. I think that’s where they realize, ‘wow, this is awesome – they care.’”

Speer said other area business owners have rolled up their sleeves and worked alongside them.

“Their willingness to contribute and be a part of the project is really awesome with no return on their part,” he said. “Community members willing to help out and go the extra mile doing random jobs here – like tiling and finishing work – has really been a pleasant surprise.”

That is one thing, Speer said he and his family weren’t expecting.

“We didn’t expect anything from anyone,” he said. “We planned on just doing it all ourselves.”

Shifting seasons

As summer winds down, Speer said The Painted Pelican has plans to transition to the winter months.

Over the summer, they introduced pop-up brunch – he said they may entertain the idea of doing a regular Sunday brunch in the fall and winter months.

“We plan to close on Monday and Tuesday,” he said. “We will have some rotating specials. We just got a smoker for our oven and will add seasonal comfort foods, like pastas, pork schnitzel, Sicilian steak, meatballs and hearty soups.”

The Painted Pelican’s interior extras, Speer said, set it up nicely for the upcoming fall and winter seasons.

“It’s going to be super cozy (in here) as we now have triple pane windows – so when we get those crazy winds off of the ice on the bay, no chill comes through,” he said. “You won’t even hear a peep through the overhead doors. We have in-floor heating and a fireplace to create a cozy space as well. We will also decorate to celebrate the holidays and are entertaining the idea of allowing ice fishermen to use the ramp – potentially hosting ice fishing tournaments.”

Amped to grow

Speer said the most difficult part of the project is “the endless potential.”

“With this space, we can really do or be anything that we want – making sure that the community wants it, too,” he said. “We are trying to find a nice middle ground while also trying to bring on some new and interesting things that people might not have seen or heard of before.”

Speer said one of the biggest opportunities right now is the restaurant’s menu.

“We started with something small and doable,” he said. “We opened in the middle of summer and needed to have everything locked in and ready to go and not have people wait too long for their food.”

Expanding the menu and bringing in some really fun, scratch-made plates at a reasonable cost, Speer said, “is our next step.” 

“Fresh-caught, not frozen fish, is wildly expensive – so trying to formulate something that works for the community that isn’t overpriced is difficult,” he said. “We are always trying to figure out ways to decrease the labor behind entrées by making larger quantities or offering it once a week, like the Friday fish fry. The goal is to sell so much volume that we hopefully sell out. This will eliminate waste and the need to throw anything in the freezer. I don’t like freezing.”

Speer said some menu features include a roasted beet salad, pesto fries, tenderloin sandwich and honey BBQ pulled pork.

The cafe features specialty drinks, like a honey lavender latte and iced white chocolate strawberry mocha, as well as bagels and offerings from Voyageurs Bakehouse in Green Bay.

Another challenge of the business, Speer said, is managing the entertainment piece of the business.

“We get a lot of requests for music,” he said. “Going into this, we didn’t have a ton of capital to book any big-name bands. Next summer, we intend to have a more robust music schedule out early.”

Weather, Speer said, plays a big role in The Painted Pelican’s waterfront spot with its outdoor patio – “fortunately, the weather has cooperated this summer.”

“This summer has been really tame overall,” he said. “There have been a couple of fronts that came through with huge gusts of wind and umbrellas landed on the roof. We are addressing that problem with a large non-permeable canvas that sheds water and will not impede the view of the bay.”

Though there have been challenges in the industry in hiring and retaining staff, Speer said The Painted Pelican is having success in that area – potentially because he, too, is young.

“I think there’s an appeal to having younger, cool bosses both in the restaurant and when working with Annie in the kitchen,” the 25 year old said. “They love it, and we make it fun.” 

The Painted Pelican has 16 beers on tap – most from local Wisconsin breweries.

Speer said Noble Roots, a Green Bay brewery, made a custom beer for The Painted Pelican.

“Tap beers are going extremely well and the decorative brand tap pulls are one of the first things patrons see when you walk in the door,” he said.

Name inspired by surroundings

Speer said they initially considered the name, By the Bay, however, at the time a motel in Door County went by the same name.

The name The Painted Pelican, he said, came up during a family meeting.

“We wanted to have a dynamic setting and a dynamic menu that was open to change,” he said. “The word ‘painted’ allows for that creativity in both design and the menu. We see so many pelicans out here, too – it all just seemed to fit.”

Speer said patrons travel to The Painted Pelican on foot, by car, bike, pontoon, kayak and paddle board. 

“We are really proud of The Painted Pelican,” he said. “We want our community to know how much we appreciate them. Their support has been overwhelming. We want people to know that we are an easy getaway and just 20 minutes from Green Bay in Dyckesville off of Highway 57. Pets are welcome too. It is very relaxing and not stressful here.”

The cafe is open from 7 a.m. to noon Thursdays to Sundays, and the restaurant hours are 4-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.

The inn works on a contactless check-in process.

For more information, visit them at thepaintedpelicangb.com.