Mumble Wrap is trying a new concept in the Malarkey's Pub/Townies space
The Wausau restaurant and pub will operate more like one entity from the customer's perspective
The news likely took a number of people by surprise: Tyler Vogt, long-time owner of Malarkey’s Pub, would be selling the pub to new owners, instead focusing on Westsider Diner and Cafe.
Vogt had built Malarkey’s Pub into a music powerhouse, fulfilling the promise The Filmore, now long-forgotten, had made to make Wausau a live music hub.
Vogt sold the pub and the attached restaurant, Townies Grill, to Fork Truck Food Group. If the phrase “food group” makes people nervous because it sounds like some out-of-town conglomerate, fear not: Fork Truck is comprised of Wausau locals Ryan Gallagher and Paul Grinsel, who you might know from the Wausau Business Show and Rocket Industrial, and Jesse Bartnik, who has a long history in the hospitality business.
The Wausonian sat down with Bartnik inside what is now Mumble Wrap, the new fast-casual wrap/bowl restaurant where Townies was. The restaurant had a soft launch for friends and family to test things out Tuesday and opened Wednesday to the public. The new concept is unique in more than just the menu itself, as we’ll find out.
And, we learned more about the new restaurant the group has planned for The Cobblery building, including more concrete plans for the space.
Transforming Townies into Mumble Wrap
The Fork Truck Restaurant Group bought the Malarkey’s Pub and Townies on April 1 and Bartnik immediately set to work on remodeling Townies. They took out booths to install the ordering counter and ordering screens (and there’s even a kiosk you can order from if you want), cleared space in the center and revamped the decor.
That includes a series of microphone hanging lights - in other words, lighting fixtures that are shaped like microphones. The renovation was a pretty fast turnaround, in a little less than two months.
The menu features a series of wraps that are all designed to be transformed into bowls if the user wants. And they’re made for fast-casual, so someone can eat them there with a drink from Malarkey’s, take it to go or even order from anywhere. And the torillas for the wraps are made fresh every day, Bartnik tells The Wausonian.
For instance, Bartnik says, someone could be at The 400 Block at the Concerts on the Square, order a wrap from their phone, and they’ll get a text to come pick it up when it’s ready.
They’re designed by Mumble Wrap’s head chef, Andy Dassow, who Bartnik says is the best head chef a restaurateur could ask for.
On the Malarkey’s Pub side
Bartnik says on the Malarkey’s Pub side, they plan to really ramp up live music again. That includes at least one big-name band per month. Recently it was Dig Deep, and they have others on the lineup.
Bartnik loves music himself, and so he hopes to bring a variety of music to the pub.
In fact, when I asked about the name Mumble Wrap and where it came from, Bartnik explained it’s a play on words around a style of music called Mumble Rap, a rap style with limited and sometimes unclear vocals. Hence the music theme in the restaurant and the decor.
Bartnik says he sees Mumble Wrap and Malarkey’s Pub as being more interconnected than Malarkey’s and Townies were - people are welcome to grab a beer and go sit on the Mumble Wrap side, or grab a wrap and head back to the bar. And he says the food part will remain open as long as the bar is open, so one could even grab a bite while watching live music.
A note about the new restaurant in The Cobblery
Fork Truck also bought The Cobblery and now has pretty definitive plans to open a restaurant there. Terry, who runs The Cobblery, plans to be out of the building by June 9, and the group is working through the engineering and logistics to make it happen. They’re hoping to have the rooftop bar/restaurant open by next year.
Where is Mumble Wrap Wausau?
Mumble Wrap Wausau is at 412 N. 3rd Street in Wausau. It is in the same building as Malarkey’s Pub, across the street from the 400 Block. The restaurant is open at 11 am Wednesday through Sunday at the time of writing (Bartnik told The Wausonian that eventually they would like to be open every day.)
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