07/24/2026
Public Enemy Pub: Historic Crown Point Bar Gets New Life
CROWN POINT – One of Crown Point’s oldest bars has been restored and given new life under a new ownership and new name.
Public Enemy Pub officially opened Wednesday July 22nd, and will now be open 1 p.m. to 3 a.m. seven days a week.
The brick building at 118 West Clark Street, formerly occupied by Zombie Club Tiki Lounge, lies in the heart of the city’s historic square across from the Old Lake County Court House. Michael Loudermilk, of Schererville, bought the building and business from the previous building owner in pursuit of his lifelong dream to own a bar in the same city his family got their start more than 100 years ago.
Loudermilk said he plans to keep the location’s same timeless atmosphere, drinks, affordable pricing and is retaining the pop-up kitchen that has operated out of Zombie Club for the past year and half known as “The Traveler.”
“You're going to see a lot of the same people, almost all the same staff,” Loudermilk said. “We've really brought out the beauty in this building. This place deserves to be shown off, like an old, beautiful car. It's gorgeous. �And that's kind of what I feel like we've been doing: Restoring a piece of prominent Crown Point history.”
The former Zombie Club building had been for sale for more than two years, and Loudermilk found the opportunity to purchase it as his own this summer.
“This building has been here for 100-plus years,” Loudermilk said. “It's a Crown Point staple. I've been coming in here since I was 21. I've had friends that worked here. It's a great location in the corner of Crown Point. I've got a kitchen! The bar is absolutely beautiful, the brick, the embossed ceilings. Even the bathrooms are gorgeous- each bathroom has its own chandelier. It’s an old school bar here and I like everything about it. We’re just bringing out the character in it, inside and out.”
After weeks of cleaning and repairs, Loudermilk has found “treasure” in the more-than-century-old building: metal coin tokens from one of the first bars in downtown Crown Point: Boe’s Tavern. The tavern was one of the first businesses in Crown Point to receive licensing to sell alcohol after prohibition’s end.
Loudermilk said while the business name refers to the infamous John Dillinger, who was known as “Public Enemy Number One” during his 1930’s robbery spree, the bar’s overall theme will lean more toward spotlighting Crown Point’s business and community history.
From the late 1800’s to 1960’s, Loudermilk’s family owned “Keiser’s Inn,” located at the former Silver Bullet building at 100 N. Main Street in downtown Crown Point. A local history fan, Loudermilk has been researching articles from the early 1900’s, finding pieces of his family history woven in.
“I found an article from 1908 about George F. Keiser, my great, great, great grandfather,” Loudermilk said. “He was arranging a meeting of the local saloon keepers, telling them about the ‘dreadful’ things that would happen if a certain politician from the time was elected.”
As for food, The Traveler will be cooking in the kitchen 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays and 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Erik Hinds and Anna Ortiz opened The Traveler in December 2023, renting the kitchen in Zombie Club. Their food is centered on made-from-scratch, authentic cooking, earning the reputation as a hidden foodie gem in an old school dive bar setting.
“Everything we've done from A to Z has been in respect to culinary history and the ingredients that we all work with,” Hinds said. “My grandpa, Allyn Schroeder, owned restaurants in Chicago, and eventually ended up with one diner on the Southside of Chicago, which is where my parents met.”
Allyn Schoeder grew up on a farm with several brothers and sisters in rural New York and later became an airplane mechanic in World War II. His career took him from working for the railroads to eventually the restaurant business.
“He was self-made and worked hard. I never went into this thinking it would be easy or lucrative,” Hinds said. “I want to pass on that culinary history and be a part of something positive. More and more mom-and-pop shops are disappearing and being replaced with corporate franchises. I want to be a part of upholding the passion for cooking and respect for the craft, and I think people can taste the difference in each of our dishes. When they say it’s like their grandma made it, then I know I did it right.”
Their menu includes Al’s Southside Smashburger, birria tacos, homemade biscuits and gravy, applewood smoked wings, the Jade Dragon Wrap, elote corn ribs, a flaming hot cheeto grilled cheese, breakfast gravy poutine, soup, toasted sourdough BLT, fresh-made doughnuts and rotating new specials.
As time goes on, The Traveler owners plan to expand their hours, food offerings, catering and events.
Loudermilk has aims to eventually have Public Enemy Pub & The Traveler to be featured on a major Food Network or Travel Channel show, particularly “Diners Drive Ins and Dives.” At the restaurant he worked at in Hawaii, Guy Fieri’s T.V. feature of it boosted business and paid due tribute to the hardworking people in Maui.
“I like a dive bar where I can go get an amazing meal,” Loudermilk said. “�A meal that's homemade, that's made with love. There's a difference between that type of good cooking and getting chicken nuggets at McDonald's or Costco mozzarella sticks. This is special. It’s a delicious culinary experience inside of a very cool place in Crown Point’s historic downtown.”
For Loudermilk, the journey to get to this point has been exciting, and at times, terrifying. His work in hospitality has taken him from the far reaches of Alaska to the midst of a harrowing disaster in Hawaii.
The Lake Central High School graduate began his management career in 2009 as the general manager of Danny Z’s in Munster. He then opened Blue 82 in Saint John. From there, he moved to Colorado and California to work in food and beverage for Hyatt Hotels. He later transitioned to Alaska to work for a tourism hospitality group.
In 2018, Loudermilk moved to Lahaina, Hawaii, a historic town on Maui’s westside, to continue his career with Southern Aloha Hospitality Group.
On August 8, 2023, the deadliest disaster in modern American history struck when wind-driven wildfires burned through the west side of Maui. The most significantly impacted area was Lahaina town, where more than 100 lives were lost.
“I had about 100 employees working for me at the time,” Loudermilk said. “There's not much good you can see in something like this, but the best thing is that all my employees and all of their families survived the fire. It was the deadliest wildfire in modern American history. It took out an entire 400 year old town in the span of four hours. I lost my home, I lost my business, �I lost friends there.”
“I got stuck in the middle of it. The only reason I made it out is I was running through the smoke as we were coming out of the neighborhood, and I ran into a fire truck. I say I ran into it, because I didn’t see it. The smoke was that thick.”
After the fire, Loudermilk returned to Northwest Indiana to be by family and continue his work in hospitality management in Chicago.
“This is what I've done my whole life,” Loudermilk said. “I love hospitality, it's afforded me a life most people only dream of. I love what I do, I love meeting people. Honestly, if I can just sit behind that bar and bartend, that'd be the perfect life for me. I love to show people a good time. And I didn't quite realize it, honestly, until after the fires when it was all gone. I wanted immediately to be a part of that again.”
Loudermilk said that along with many of the returning employees that grace the bar, Joe Munno, owner of Sound Sonic Entertainment, will also return to run Karaoke every Wednesday and select Saturdays. Like Hinds, Loudermilk has spent his life’s career in restaurants and hospitality, seeking to create a relaxed place that, in part, serves as an ode to the service industry worker.
“That’s another thing, too,” Loudermilk said. “Look, we've got Radius, we've got Misfits and all these really great culinary experiences on the square. �What we don't have is somewhere for all the employees to go afterwards. I'm an employee. I want the employees of the area to be able to come over here and have a good drink at a decent price and enjoy themselves. So, come hang out with us and have a good time. I've been an industry guy my whole life. Why would I not have an industry bar?”
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