The Red Room is mentioned by many 'old time' gay men in Milwaukee as being a hangout from 1935 through the 1950's. (According to one contributor, prior to 1935 the bar was known as "The College Inn".) The origins of the Red Room as a gay hangout is believed to have begun because Liberace played piano there in the 1930's, before he made it as a national figure.

Located in the Plankinton Arcade, the entire arcade was demolished in 1980 to build the Grand Avenue Mall.

According to a 2016 OnMilwaukee article by Bobbie Tanzilo, "The narrow little Red Room Bar sat alongside the considerably more spacious Green Room Restaurant in the Plankinton Arcade, now part of The Shops of Grand Avenue mall. Liberace used to play piano in the Red Room Bar under the pseudonym Walter Busterkeys. Nuff said."

More information about this business' attitudes toward and patronage by the gay community at the time is welcomed from anyone who can contribute it.