The well-known Madhatters bar could soon close its doors after multiple incidents of selling alcohol to underage patrons, as well as exceeding legal capacity.
Bar owner Ted Gervasi and other representatives for Madhatters, located on the 300 block of West Gorham Street, failed to show up at a special disciplinary meeting with the city’s Alcohol License and Review Committee Monday. Gervasi told Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, that he was not told of the special meeting, which has since been rescheduled for December.
Verveer stressed that Madhatters has learned from its actions and is still a safe business.
“I don’t want to give the negative perception that Madhatters is unsafe or running a disorderly establishment,” Verveer said. “The charges relate to prior years, and there is nothing from this year, when much of the staff, including the managers, have turned over.”
Madhatters pled no contest to 18 counts in a complaint filed in the Madison Municipal Court Aug. 6, while 13 other counts were dismissed.
In September 2013, Madison police found the establishment to be at 36 percent over the 256-person legal capacity.
In the 2013 incident, police inspected the building and found the first floor to be at capacity, while the second floor was at over 70 percent of capacity.
A year later, police said Madhatters was at 52 percent over the lawful capacity.
Madhatters paid $8,314 for the 18 counts, and staff has regularly attended tavern safety training meetings since then.
Suspension of a liquor license is relatively rare and is part of a larger disciplinary process for businesses.
“We usually use something called progressive discipline, where we first look at a point assessments, then suspension hearings, and if there are still consistent issues after, we look at revocation,” said Mark Woulf, Madison’s food and alcohol policy coordinator. “There have not been many recent suspensions, and revocation is extremely rare.”
