Hot Legs opened late in 1984 by co-owners Kathy and Karen, in the site of the old Shadows bar. For a time Hot Legs was THE lesbian bar in Milwaukee. By August 1987 however the bar had closed and the building was advertised as being available for lease.

(After Hot Legs closed, the building was leased by new owners who reopened the bar as Shadows II- heralding an attempt to recapture the old Shadows crowd.)