Nitty Gritty managers Lee Pier and Eric Suemnicht held an informational session at the restaurant Monday as they apply for a new liquor license.
The restaurant is a hot-spot for students and is known as the ""number-one place for birthdays"" in the area.
Pier and Suemnicht collectively own a 50-percent share of the Nitty Gritty in Middleton and hope to assume ownership of the Madison location by the end of the year.
According to Pier, they anticipate a smooth transition.
""The only thing that's changed is the two guys who have been running [the Nitty Gritty] will now be the owners,"" he said. ""It will still be Marsh Shapiro's Nitty Gritty.""
He said they intend to retain all staff but ""don't intend to increase payroll.""
Pier explained the two plan to take a hands-on approach to running the Nitty Gritty and do not anticipate much of a change in their roles once they assume ownership except being more involved ""on the financial side of things.""
Whether Pier and Suemnicht receive the new liquor license depends upon the decision of the Alcohol License Review Committee at its Dec. 16 meeting, as well as the decision of the Common Council at its Jan. 5 meeting.
Pier and Suemnicht, who have been working on the transfer of ownership since 2001, said they do not foresee an issue with the approval of their application.
""As of right now we have found no reason not to be cautiously optimistic,"" Pier said.Suemnicht said the two do not intend to hold any celebration as of yet, but will ""wait until [they] know for sure this is going to happen"" before making any plans.
""We've been working on it so long, it hasn't quite hit us yet,"" he said.
—Grace Urban
