On a quiet dark road on the eastside of Madison, inside the old blues bar many residents remember as the Red Rooster, a story about love, grief, persistence, and legacy is being told. Bernell’s, Madison’s first women-centered sports bar, is not just a new business occupying an old address. It is a living memorial, a community gathering place, and an act of devotion made tangible. At the center of it all is Rita Adair, a woman who turned loss into purpose and memory into motion.

Rita Adair: A Life Shaped by Love and Resolve  

Rita Adair does not present herself as a visionary entrepreneur in the conventional sense. She is not flashy about it or interested in reinvention for its own sake. Instead, she comes across as grounded, thoughtful, and deeply relational—a person whose life has been defined by connection, chosen family, and the courage it takes to live authentically in a world that does not make space for you.

Adair grew up on the south side of Madison during the 1950s but moved around with her family throughout her childhood. The child of an interracial family, she considers herself lucky to have grown up in an environment where differences in color, gender expression, sexuality, and identity were met with acceptance and respect. As she grew older, she became involved in community activism during the Vietnam War era and studied to become a social worker.

She had three children, divorced twice, and became a foster parent to 23 adolescent girls—something most would consider a lifetime’s worth of experiences. But Adair’s life took a surprising turn when, at 45, she came out.

The years that followed were marked by hardship: being kicked out of her church, losing contact with her son and two granddaughters, ending relationships, starting and closing a business, and moving to Chicago to heal. But in the wake of those events, Adair met and fell in love with Bernell Hooker, who eventually became her wife in 2021.

After Bernell’s death, Adair chose not to retreat. Instead, she chose to build. Bernell’s Bar is the physical manifestation of that: a refusal to let a life be reduced to tragedy and a determination to let love leave a mark on the city.

Remembering Bernell

To understand Bernell’s, you have to understand Bernell.

“She was extremely passionate about women’s sports. That’s what she breathed every day and talked about every day,” said Adair.

Bernell Hooker played basketball competitively, coached collegiately for 25 years, advocated for professional players to earn a livable wage, and ran multiple basketball camps for girls in the Milwaukee area through her nonprofit Images of Us, which she started in 2002.

If she had had more time, her dream would have been to bring Wisconsin its first WNBA team. The Chicago Sky played exhibition games in Milwaukee because of her connections, and she was well connected within the WNBA’s administrative circles. On the road to that dream, Hooker started the Milwaukee Aces professional women’s team in 2014.

“She wanted to teach women who weren’t athletes but wanted to be involved in the games how to participate on the business end,” Adair said. “And she was really excited when women’s basketball started getting more visibility and equity. Her dream was to own a women-centered sports bar.”

When Hooker was diagnosed with ovarian cancer late in her life, she and Adair moved to Las Vegas, where she watched the Las Vegas Aces play as often as she could.

Bernell Hooker died from ovarian cancer on Aug. 30, 2024. In November 2025, Rita Adair opened Bernell’s Bar and Grill.

Opening the Doors: The Weight of Doing It Right

Opening any bar is hard, but opening one while grieving and trying to honor someone’s memory without turning it into spectacle is harder still.

Adair faced financial hurdles, logistical setbacks, and the emotional toll of making hundreds of decisions alone that she once imagined making with Bernell.

There were moments when Bernell’s seemed like it might not open at all. Renovations took longer than planned. Funding was a constant concern. And every step forward carried reminders of absence. Yet Adair persisted, supported by friends, chosen family, and a Madison community that understood the significance of what she was trying to build.

As the work continued, a larger truth emerged: The effort was about equity and visibility.

“I did a survey in the Madison area and asked about 15 bars to turn on women’s sports. Only one place did,” Adair said. “They had all kinds of excuses. To me, that was not okay. That really gave me the passion to do this.”

A Familiar Room, A Different Kind of Welcome

Walk into Bernell’s and you immediately feel something rare in contemporary bar culture: Ease.

The space follows in the footsteps of the Red Rooster, the Madison restaurant and blues bar that once occupied the same address. Rather than erasing the past, Bernell’s embraces it. The exposed ductwork, warm wood, and unpretentious layout echo the Red Rooster’s legacy as a place where regulars felt at home.

This is not an urban, hyper-curated sports bar chasing novelty. It is rooted in the tradition of the Midwestern small-town bar. TVs are tuned to games, tables cluster between the stage and screens, and there are no servers circulating constantly—you simply get up and grab what you need. Ordering at the bar and picking up food from the window creates natural interaction between patrons and staff.

The vibe shifts depending on the day. Weeknights can be quiet, but when a big game is on, it can be hard to find standing room. On weekends, especially during brunch, arriving early helps. When live music fills the stage on Thursdays and Saturdays, the crowd feels more like a family reunion than a night out.

But while Bernell’s centers women’s sports, it shows all sports.

“There’s been conversation that if I say women-centered, men won’t want to come, and that’s so not true,” Adair said in an interview with Madison’s WMTV. “This is a sports bar that’s going to make sure women are seen.”

Food that Surprises

Bar food rarely aims to surprise, but Bernell’s manages it anyway.

The menu is straightforward and rooted in comfort: Soul food, fish fry, French toast, and chicken and waffles during weekend brunch. Everything feels fresh and intentional.

And then there’s the spaghetti—unexpected alongside the fish fry but surprisingly good. Leaning into a Southern Louisiana style, it offers warmth and depth.

Legacy as a Living Thing

There is a temptation, when writing about places like Bernell’s, to frame them solely as symbols. But Bernell’s resists that flattening. It is not just a statement. It is a living place.

What makes it powerful is its ordinariness. People come to watch sports, eat, drink, flirt, and argue about referees. In doing so, they participate in something quietly transformative: A space where women-centered does not mean exclusionary, where queer and trans lives are not explained or defended—just lived.

In this way, Bernell’s embodies a romantic notion of legacy as something ongoing. Bernell’s memory is not preserved in amber. It is carried forward in laughter, music, clinking glasses, and shared meals.

In a city that prides itself on progress, Bernell’s offers something deeper than novelty. It reminds Madison that the most meaningful spaces are not always the loudest or the newest, but the ones built with care, honesty, and love.

Bernell’s: Carrying a Dream Forward

By Rita Adair, Owner of Bernell’s Sports Bar and Grill

When people walk into Bernell’s Sports Bar & Grill in Madison, they see televisions glowing with live games, hear blues music floating through the room, and smell food meant to bring comfort and joy. What they may not immediately see is that Bernell’s was born from love, grief, and a promise I made to my late wife.

My name is Rita Adair, and I am the sole owner of Bernell’s. This bar exists because of Bernell—my wife, my partner, and one of the fiercest advocates for women’s sports I have ever known.

Bernell dedicated more than 20 years of her life to coaching basketball, mentoring young athletes, and teaching them discipline, confidence, and resilience. Her passion didn’t stop on the sidelines. She later became the owner of the Milwaukee Professional Women’s Basketball Team, determined to prove that women’s sports were worthy of investment and respect.

She was ahead of her time. Long before women’s sports began receiving the visibility they are finally starting to get, Bernell was already fighting for screen time, sponsorships, and packed stands. And long before Bernell’s Sports Bar and Grill opened its doors, it was her dream.

We talked about it often—a place where women’s games wouldn’t be an afterthought. A place where community mattered more than margins, where people could gather safely, celebrate excellence, and feel represented.

In August of 2024, Bernell passed away from ovarian cancer. Losing her changed everything. In the months that followed, grief sat heavy with me, but so did clarity. I knew that if I didn’t build Bernell’s, the dream we shared would disappear with her.

Opening Bernell’s Sports Bar and Grill became my way of honoring her life and continuing her work. Starting a business while grieving tests every part of you—emotionally, financially, spiritually. But I was carried by the belief that this space was meant to exist.

From the beginning, Bernell’s has been intentional. We center women’s sports while welcoming everyone. We serve soul food, celebrate live blues music, and create an atmosphere where people don’t have to explain why representation matters—it simply exists here.

What has surprised me most is how quickly the community responded. Guests tell me they didn’t realize how badly they needed a place like this until they found it. Parents bring their daughters to watch women compete at the highest levels. Fans linger after games, talking about what it feels like to finally be seen.

Our success isn’t measured only in packed game nights or sold-out events. It’s in conversations, connections, and the sense of belonging that fills the room. Bernell’s has become a gathering place—not just for sports fans, but for people who believe inclusion makes communities stronger.

Bernell may not be here to see this space filled with life, but her spirit is everywhere—in every cheer, every shared meal, and every young athlete who sees herself reflected on our screens.

Bernell’s is my promise kept. It is her dream, carried forward.

As long as these doors are open, Bernell’s legacy lives on.