Courtesy Bernell's
Patrons pack Bernell's on December 13, 2025.
A lively crowd gathered at Bernell's on December 13, 2025.
Bernell’s, a new sports bar and grill on the east side, is Madison’s first venue where women’s athletics are centered and celebrated. Owner Rita Adair broadcasts women’s sports on several of the bar’s TV screens and lines the walls with photographs and jerseys of prominent female athletes.
Adair also wants to honor the bar’s past as a hub for live blues and jazz. The club, at 2513 Seiferth Road, was formerly the Red Rooster, which closed after the city revoked its liquor license in June for numerous violations.
When the Red Rooster closed, Adair says patrons were "devastated that they lost their blues.” After reopening the venue as Bernell’s in November, she chose to carry that history forward — keeping the stage and continuing to book live music.
“People came in like you would not believe,” says Adair in an interview. “[They] thanked me for bringing their stage back. After that, I’m not going to let them down. I am going to honor and support them.” Sticking to her word, Bernell’s has scheduled live bands every Saturday until June.
Yet, Adair says, “Bernell’s was to be a women’s sports bar more than anything.”
But when sporting events occur during scheduled band performances, Adair’s two goals come into conflict. That happened on Dec. 18, when Tate & the 008 Band was set to host the weekly blues jam at Bernell’s at the same time that UW-Madison’s women’s volleyball team was playing Kentucky in the Final Four.
In a Facebook post that day, Bernell’s stated the sound would not be playing during the volleyball game because live blues was scheduled. The post concluded, “I do have women's sports showing every day. Unfortunately, this Thursday was a difficult decision. It is my hope that fans [of] women's sports and Blues music can come to Bernell's and enjoy everything we offer.”
One commenter responded, “Noooo! Doesn’t [the] game get sound over the band? This is a huge game! We can see great music at lots of venues but no other dedicated bar for Women’s Sports!!!”
Another commenter wrote, “I support & understand what you’re navigating. Yes [the] Blues crowd is [a] staple — hard decision this week but totally understandable to keep those bookings.”
That evening, Adair told Isthmus that she “realized that doing music and sports is becoming a challenge. People don’t want to hear music playing during their sports, which I understand. But I ask myself, ‘How do I manage this?’”
As the band’s blues jam was playing, some patrons were up and out of their seats and dancing in front of the stage. Others casually sipped drinks, snacked on appetizers, and watched the volleyball game. The crowd appeared evenly split between those enjoying the blues and those enjoying the game.
One patron, Miranda Jordan, took an optimistic approach to Bernell’s two focuses: “Bernell’s is the only place in Madison — no, in all of Wisconsin — where you can enjoy female sports and jazz at the same time! It’s unique, and I’m glad to be here.”
In an email to Isthmus, Adair tells of how she opened Bernell’s to honor her late wife, Bernell Hooker, who was “a fierce advocate for women’s sports,” Adair writes. Hooker, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2024, owned the Milwaukee Aces, a semi-professional women’s basketball team, from 2014 to 2020 and “started fighting for screen time, sponsorships and packed stands long before women’s sports began receiving the visibility they are finally starting to get,” writes Adair.
“[Bernell and I] talked about it often — a place where women’s games wouldn’t be an afterthought or something you had to request. A place where community mattered more than margins, where people could gather safely, celebrate excellence, and feel represented. Bernell believed deeply that spaces shape culture, and that culture shapes opportunity.”
Despite differences in patrons’ opinions, Adair says she will not stray from her vision for Bernell’s to be a space for women’s sports. Men’s sports gather all the attention and funding even when it’s the women’s teams that are playing well, she says, and she wants to give the women the attention they deserve. “I don’t want to talk bad about men’s sports, I like men’s sports,” she continues. “But I want there to be equity in how women’s sports are viewed, how it’s treated, how it’s honored.”
