At Random has a buyer: The owner of Bryant's and the Jazz Estate

At Random, the beloved midcentury cocktail lounge in Bay View, at last has a buyer: John Dye, the owner of Bryant's Cocktail Lounge on the south side and the Jazz Estate on the east side.

The sale is not yet final, but Dye applied for a liquor license with the city as a requirement of the sale.

"I’ve always been driven by the history of Milwaukee," said Dye, who also bought the historic Bryant's, 1579 S. 9th St., and the Jazz Estate, 2423 N. Murray Ave., to keep them from closing permanently.

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At Random has been for sale for some time — owner Ron Zeller is 86 and wants to retire, Dye said — but the time now was right for Dye. 

"It felt really real; I just wanted to make sure it lives on as At Random," Dye said.

"Everything about it appeals to me," he said. "It’s just kind of this little piece of Bay View perfection."

Dye said he plans to keep the drink list intact, ice cream drinks, Tiki Love Bowl and all, and will add some classic cocktails. The building is well-maintained, he said, but it's been open since the 1960s, with part of the building dating to the 1884 — "It just needs a little bit of love," Dye said.

At Random isn't open now, Dye said, but Zeller and his wife, Shirley, are considering opening on weekdays, when their son can help tend bar.

The city's Common Council doesn't consider liquor license applications in August, so the planned sale and change of hands will take a bit of time. But Dye hopes he'll open At Random in November, "in time for the Christmas season."

An attempt by Zeller in 2015 to sell At Random and adjoining properties to a developer for 120 apartments fell through when neighborhood residents and the district's alderman, Tony Zielinski, objected.

Zeller bought the building in 1964 when it was Delaware Tap, and he was working as a bartender at Bryant's. In 1968, he and his wife turned the bar into At Random, switching it from a beer-and-a-shot bar to a mixed-drinks-only, date-night lounge, with vinyl booths and Sinatra songs playing in the background.

With Dye's offer to buy the building and business, it looks like Ron Zeller is getting his wish. On the telephone recording at At Random, he says: “We’re going to be closed for a little while, hoping we can find someone who can take over this beautiful place and run it the way we did.”