Belshire's taproom, Bilda's lake pub, Sloppy Joe's saloon and Kenicky's late hours, plus where to drink before dinner.
Richfield has no bar strip, so a night out starts with choosing a direction. The bars in Richfield split between a brewery taproom and a late pub on the east side along Highway 175, and lake and roadhouse bars on the west side around Friess Lake and Hubertus Road. Most of them pour alongside a full kitchen, which matters, because the distances between them are a few miles.
Here is the short version: Belshire for local beer, Bilda's for a lake pub, Sloppy Joe's for barbecue and a biergarten, Kenicky's for a late night, and The Forge or the Fox & Hounds for a drink with dinner.
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Belshire Brewing Company: the taproom
Its listing describes a rotating list of 12 beers on tap, and the brewery's own site has listed a 5.1% milk stout called When In Doubt, a 7.7% Wee Heavy Scotch ale and a 4.7% kveik Norwegian pilsner named Bridges of Vilas County. The site points to Untappd for the current list, so check there before you go for a particular beer.
There is no full kitchen, but it sells Milwaukee pretzels and pizzas and lets you bring your own food, and growler fills and 16 oz cans go home with you. It is about 0.3 mile from Lion Performance Hall, so a pint before a show is easy.
Bilda's Friess Lake Pub
It has booked live music, including a blues band from 4 to 8pm on a Saturday in August 2026, so check its page for the current schedule. The kitchen does homemade pizza, burgers and a smoked barbecue platter until 9pm most nights.
Sloppy Joe's Saloon and Spoon
The kitchen's Thursday all-you-can-eat smoked ribs cost $24.99, dine-in only, and the Friday fish fry runs from perch to salmon. Johnny Manhattan's, across the road, has an oak bar if you would rather finish with a cocktail in a supper club room.
Kenicky's Public House for a late night
The Sawmill Inn pub
It is about 0.2 mile from Lion Performance Hall and 0.5 mile from Belshire, so it fits an east-side evening.
A drink with dinner: The Forge and the Fox & Hounds
On Friess Lake Road, the Fox & Hounds lists The Bar, a patio, a porch and a music room among its rooms, inside a building that started as an 1845 log cabin. It is a dinner house first, with dinner from 4pm most days, so treat the bar as a pre-dinner stop.
A bar on market days at Holy Hill Art Farm
On market weekends, a Grainery Bar opens at the 80-acre art farm homestead on Highway 167, a family property the organisers put at 169 years old. Its October 10, 2026 market ran from 9am to 4pm with $4 admission, so it is a daytime drink rather than a night out. It is about 0.8 mile from Glacier Hills County Park, which makes it an easy stop after a morning on the trails.
Planning a night out
Pick one side of the village per evening, because crossing from the lake bars to the Highway 175 bars is a drive of more than 3 miles each way. On the east side, Belshire, the Sawmill Inn and Lion Performance Hall sit within half a mile of each other. On the west, Bilda's and The Forge are about 1 mile apart, and Sloppy Joe's is about 2 miles from Belshire, closer to the middle.
Plan a designated driver, because the two sides of the village are more than 3 miles apart. For food without the bar, the round-up of Richfield restaurants, from supper clubs to breakfast picks up where this leaves off.
For daytime plans, the mill, lake park and bowling alley in Richfield fill the hours before the taps open.
Frequently asked questions
Published October 19, 2026
