State Fair Park fills August, but West Allis also has a century-old farmers market, a 1924 beer hall, two brewery taprooms, a county golf park and ten indoor pickleball courts.
Every August the Wisconsin State Fair brings a small city's worth of visitors to West Allis, and it counted 1,136,805 visits in 2024. The rest of the year the city on Milwaukee's western edge is quieter, and the things to do in West Allis come down to a farmers market in its 107th season, a beer hall from 1924, two brewery taprooms on National and Greenfield avenues, and a county park whose golf course opened in 1923.
The farmers market on National Avenue sits about 4.5 miles southwest of downtown Milwaukee in a straight line, and the fairgrounds are a little over a mile northwest of the market. Travel Wisconsin describes downtown West Allis as six blocks of locally owned shops and restaurants just east of the fairgrounds.
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State Fair Park, in August and the rest of the year
Wisconsin State Fair Park sits at 640 South 84th Street, just south of I-94, and Travel Wisconsin puts it at nearly 200 acres. The fair itself runs 11 days in August: the 2026 edition, the 175th, ran August 6 to 16.
The cream puffs come from the Original Cream Puff Pavilion, which Travel Wisconsin lists as one of the park's own venues, along with the Exposition Center, the Milwaukee Mile Speedway and RV camping with electric hookups. The same listing counts hundreds of events a year across all four seasons.
In 2026 the Harvest Fair filled the park from October 2 to 4 with stages, lumberjack shows and pumpkin bowling, for $5 a head over age 11. On the fairgrounds, Bud Pavilion is an open-air music venue, and reviewers quoted on its listing like seeing bands there without a cover charge.
The farmers market on National Avenue
The West Allis Farmers Market is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m., from the first Saturday in May to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It closes on Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day, and the City of West Allis called 2026 the market's 107th season.
Food trucks and local brews are part of the mix too, which makes the West Allis Farmers Market an easy afternoon out rather than a quick grocery stop.
Brewery taprooms, a distillery and a wine bar
Milwaukee Magazine called West Allis a dive bar wonderland in 2024. Two breweries sit about half a mile apart: OPE! on National Avenue and Perspective on Greenfield Avenue.
OPE! has 20 taps, three volleyball courts, five bag lanes and four fire pits, and it has no kitchen, so food comes from a rotating list of trucks. Leashed dogs are welcome inside and out, and Tuesday is trivia night, according to the brewery.
Perspective, on Greenfield Avenue near 75th Street, shows soccer matches on weekends, per its listing. It opens at 3 p.m. on weekdays and at noon on weekends, according to its Google listing.
At 5835 West National Avenue, a few doors from Kegel's, Still & Oak is the West Allis tasting room for Great Lakes Distillery, with tastings, cocktails and bottles to take home. About a mile south on Lincoln Avenue, Corvina Wine Company pours flights and wine by the glass, with cheese, charcuterie and flatbreads, in a building where the LaSusa family once ran a grocery store.
A country bar on Orchard Street and a martini list on West National round out bars in West Allis.
Kegel's Inn and dinner in West Allis
Kegel's opens Tuesday to Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and it is closed Sunday and Monday. Across town on West National, Henry Flach's is the steak, prime rib and martini room.
Near the market, Lola's Empanadas bakes empanadas fresh from 4 p.m., with fillings from pulled pork and cheese to guava paste with cream cheese. Henry Flach's adds an early bird fish fry on Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m., so Friday is a good night to try West Allis restaurants.
For mornings, Lake Effect Coffee Company on Greenfield Avenue opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays, roasts its own coffee and closes at 2 p.m.
Greenfield Park and its golf course
Greenfield Park is a 282.3-acre Milwaukee County park in West Allis, not in the city of Greenfield. The county bought the land in 1921 and added a golf course in 1923, and the park's six-acre lagoon, about 0.6 miles around and 15 feet deep, holds largemouth bass and panfish.
The park sits on the Waukesha County line at the far west end of town, about 2.5 miles west of the fairgrounds. The shared name sends a lot of searches the wrong way, and the parks in Greenfield are a separate set, from creek boardwalks to a NASCAR memorial.
Pickleball, yoga and classes
The Picklr sits about 1.4 miles southeast of the Greenfield Park course, so a morning of pickleball and an afternoon round fit in one day on the west side.
Around the market, Healium Hot Yoga teaches mostly heated classes, with its entrance on the inside of the SoNa Lofts building off National and Mitchell avenues. It is the West Allis stop for Milwaukee yoga, which runs from Bikram heat to Bay View yin.
For martial arts, Wings Academy Taekwondo on South 84th Street has taught taekwondo and Krav Maga since 2012, and Primal MKE near 55th Street trains MMA, Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing.
Adults who want salsa lessons without bringing a partner can try Gustavo Krystal's studio on South 71st Street, open weekday evenings.
Candy Cane Lane in December
From the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, the blocks between Oklahoma and Montana avenues and 92nd and 96th streets light up as Candy Cane Lane. It is free to drive or walk through, volunteers collect for the MACC Fund, and the display had raised more than $3.5 million for childhood cancer research by 2025.
In 2026 Candy Cane Lane opens on November 27 and runs nightly through December 25, with lights on from 5 or 6 p.m.
Where to stay in West Allis
Hotelguides.com lists four hotels with West Allis addresses, and two of them are within a mile of the fairgrounds: the Hampton Inn and Suites about 0.4 miles south and the Home2 Suites about 0.75 miles east. The other two, a Days Inn and a Holiday Inn Express, sit by I-894 on the west side, and every one of the hotels in West Allis offers free breakfast or an indoor pool.
Nearby towns
Milwaukee starts at the east edge of town, and the city's things to do in Milwaukee sort neatly by neighborhood.
To the south, Greenfield has its own run of restaurants and parks.
To the northwest, Brookfield has quarry swims and a cluster of hotels on Moorland Road.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 14, 2026
