The Madison Alcohol License and Review Committee will meet Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m. As detailed in its agenda (PDF), here are some of the new establishments seeking licenses and other key orders of business.
The license for Sensations, a restaurant to be located at 901 Applegate Rd., near the old King's Inn motel along the West Beltline, is back on the agenda after having been referred for a recessed public hearing in the January meeting. Sensations plans lunch and dinner service with a full-service bar and catering service for onsite events including weddings.
A new Chinese restaurant, Hong Kong Station, is applying for a liquor license for beer and wine. Its anticipated opening date is listed as March 1, at 1441 Regent St., formerly home to Vientiane Palace's campus location. Hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and there will be a small indoor dining area.
A new buffet, U-Like Asian Buffet, plans to open at the site of the former China One Buffet, 518 Grand Canyon Dr. Operating hours will be 11 a.m.-10 p.m. and beer and wine only are planned. Renovations are currently taking place and the new buffet may be open by the end of March.
Prime 14 is the new steakhouse headed to 14 W. Mifflin St., formerly home to Mirch Masala, that will be used along with adjacent space to create a large restaurant with seating for 218, according to the ALRC application. Prime 14 is conceived of as a fine dining steakhouse with a walk-in wine cellar and wine /party room as well as a 20-seat bar. Prime 14 is part of the Noble Chef Hospitality restaurant group that also includes the nearby Ivory Room piano bar, Buck & Badger and Capital Tap Haus in the 100 block of State Street. The anticipated opening is May 1, 2014.
The as-yet-unnamed Tory Miller restaurant headed to the Constellation apartment complex at 10 N. Livingston Street is applying for a liquor license. The restaurant will include a full service bar (10-12 people) a noodle bar area (8-10 people), a 40-seat dining room, and a 40-seeat outdoor patio area. The restaurant will be serving Asian-inspired cuisine, and serve lunch, dinner, a late-night menu and brunch -- more specifically "Korean barbecue, hot pot, noodle bowls and a dim sum brunch" according to documents filed with the ALRC.
There is a sense, unusual among ALRC applications, that the restaurant is keen to lend identity to the developing neighborhood (the "soon-to-be created corridor community"). The existing neighbors support the project -- voiced in the form of a letter from the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood Association that says in part, "We are thrilled and excited that restaurateurs with such a great reputation and quality operation are coming," and capped with the even more unusual "Our support includes a full liquor license and whatever configuration of outdoor seating best meets their needs." YIMBY-ism! The anticipated opening is July 1, 2014.
Doolittle's Woodfire Grill, 4323 East Towne Blvd., seeks a liquor license for its new location near Eagan Road in the East Towne parking lot. It's part of a five-store chain currently in Minnesota and North Dakota; rotisserie-style chicken, steak, fish and flatbread pizzas as well as sandwiches and salads are on the menu. A 23-seat bar is also part of the new restaurant. Anticipated opening is in May 2014.
