The Brown Bottle in Iowa City closes doors after 40 years

IOWA CITY - The owners of The Brown Bottle, 115 E. Washington Street, have decided to close the location. Owners Dave and Gina Landau announced the news with a sign posted on the downtown restaurant's doors. The sign offered thanks after 40 years in Iowa City.

Dave Landau said the last customers were served Sunday, and business has slowed in the past decade as the downtown crowds have grown younger. Landau added that the past ten years have seen more restaurants have been built on the edge of town, removing the need for people to travel downtown to eat.

Landau said closing the restaurant helps his landlord, Midwest One Bank, which is in the middle of a major renovation and needs to run a temporary power line through the restaurant.

The Brown Bottle first appeared in Eastern Iowa in Cedar Falls in 1972, run by Dave's parents, Donald and Donnalee. The Iowa City location opened two years later, and Waterloo shortly after that, according to a company history on The Brown Bottle's website. The most recent expansion came in 1994, with the fourth restaurant opening in North Liberty.

Landau says the end of the Iowa City location will allow him to focus on the one in North Liberty, which has seen increased business and will remain open.