A landmark downtown Madison tavern has closed its doors after nearly 30 years in business. Stillwaters, which has anchored the high profile intersection of State Street and East Johnson since the 1970s, has not renewed its lease at 250 State St. and will not reopen.
….(Marsh) Shapiro, who owns the two Nitty Gritty taverns in Madison, said he didn’t think the city smoking ban had anything to do with the closing.
“I’d like to say that’s the reason but I don’t think it had much to do with it,” Shapiro said.
But Shapiro said all downtown tavern owners are feeling the pressure over the class action lawsuit filed by UW-Madison students over the end of campus area drink specials. The case is still pending.