History

Over ninety years ago, the St. Francis staple Bert's Bar & Grill, located at 3907 Lake Drive, was opened as Andy's by original owners Mary and Nazzareno ("Andy") Casagrande. At that time Lake Drive did not yet exist, dirt lined the front of the property, and locals stopped at Andy's with buckets of smelt hauled up from the lakefront. Mary and Nazzareno lived above the establishment that they loved and operated and over the years had three children- Frank, Grace, and Rick, who assisted the family in running the business for the forty plus years that followed. 

Margaret Casagrande, also helped run the family business while her then fiancé Rick Casagrande served in World War II as a 35th Quartermaster under General Bradley. While Margaret was busy tending bar awaiting the return of her love, Rick stormed Normandy in the second wave of the allied advance remarking to Margaret years later that of his terrified military brethren facing the German army, "all you could hear were different versions of the word 'mother'." Four and a half years later, Rick was lucky enough to return to his Margaret, to whom he had proposed one day prior to his deployment, and with the Casagrande family continued to run Andy's until the early 1970's. 

While the history of Andy's is certainly charming, so were the rules that the Casagrande family championed at their beloved establishment which included:

1. Any patron whose wife telephoned the bar looking for their absent husband, would be given the opportunity to receive an explanation, not from Nazzareno, but from their actual spouse

2. Overserving of any patron was strictly prohibited

3. Wives were never left in the family car to await their husbands' return 

4. All children were, to their delight, given candy when they visited

In 2011, Paul Frenn of St. Francis, Wisconsin, purchased the building once occupied by the Cassagrande family and later Butch's Liar's Club, and established a Bert's, a Cheers-like establishment, where everyone knows your name. The rules have since relaxed a bit but the bar and grill are beloved and frequented Tuesdays through Sundays from 3:00pm until close. Paul and Berts' mascot, Murphy, would love for you to come down for $1 tacos on Tuesdays, sloppy Joe Wednesdays, Pizza Thursdays, and, of course, Fish Fry Fridays.