Pufferfish

Pufferfish is Milwaukee's only rooftop tiki bar, occupying the sixth-floor terrace atop Hotel Metro at 411 E. Mason St. in downtown's East Town. The concept began as a pandemic-era pop-up tied to the cocktail bar Lost Whale, moved through a series of pop-ups around the city, and settled permanently on the Hotel Metro rooftop in 2023. The result is a laid-back, tropical counterpoint to the hotel's art-moderne building — craft tiki drinks, a compact food menu developed with the hotel kitchen, and open-air views over the city.

The reason it belongs in a non-alcoholic guide is a genuine, standing "Spiritless Cocktails" section rather than a one-off mocktail. The zero-proof list is built primarily on Lyre's non-alcoholic spirits and given the same tiki treatment as the full-strength menu: an alcohol-free version of the house PufferFish (Lyre's London Dry, lemon, BG Reynolds falernum, passionfruit, Giffard orgeat, house Pufferfish bitters and Liquid Death sparkling), plus spiritless builds of the Mai-Tai, Rum Collins, Snaquiri and Old Fashioned using Lyre's Cane, Spiced, White, Orange Sec and American Malt. Because Pufferfish is a full bar that also serves alcohol, it is a hybrid rather than an all-NA venue, but the spiritless drinks are treated as first-class cocktails, matched glass-for-glass with the leaded menu.

The bar's craft credentials are well established: in 2026 Pufferfish was named a Top 10 regional nominee in the U.S. Central category for Best U.S. Hotel Bar in the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation's Spirited Awards, with winners set to be announced at the ceremony on July 23, 2026 — only the second time a Milwaukee bar has earned that recognition. It is a seasonal rooftop, generally open Wednesday through Saturday evenings, with holiday "Sippin' Santa" programming extending the calendar into winter.