From Wisconsin LGBT History Project:
Few people remember much about Niko's now. Some people remember it as a near South Side, blue-collar "roughneck" bar, or a punk bar; others remember a polka/ concertina bar; and then there are the people who think it was a Mexican restaurant.
Whatever it was (and most likely a gay 'punk' bar), Niko's didn't garner a fiercely loyal clientele, and by sometime in 1983 was on its last legs and about to close. It got the attention of another bar owner, George Prentice, who picked up the lease. George would remodel and reopen the bar as a new video and dance bar, La Cage-- which was to reinvent gay Milwaukee nightlife at 801 S. 2nd Street, and was to become a Milwaukee LGBT institution.
Read more.