Formerly one of Madison’s most famous hamburger restaurants, Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry will reopen in a new location by the end of September.
The city ousted Dotty’s from its Fairchild Street site in order to make room for the new Overture Center, an expansion of Madison’s arts district. It will reopen at 317 N. Frances St.
Although Dotty’s will maintain its traditional 1940s-’50s diner atmosphere, owner Jeff Stanley said he is adding new features to reach a larger clientele.
“It will be a good place to bring a date, your mother or even your coach — for all those UW athletes,” Stanley said.
After overcoming a long hurdle with the Alcohol Licensing Review Committee, Dotty’s will offer service staff and a full bar. Although the restaurant can keep the kitchen open late, its liquor license requires it to stop serving alcohol at 1 a.m.
Madison native and University of Wisconsin junior Josh Williams said he has waited a long time for the reopening of Dotty’s.
“Wow! It’s been too long. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into a big, juicy Dotty’s burger.”
Stanley also said he is excited for the Dotty’s tradition to live on.
“With many of my friends beginning to retire, I’m now starting my second adult life at 62.”
Stanley said last March that he must borrow $300,000 to reopen his business, and the city did little to compensate the loss of his location in 2001. He said the city paid him more than $586,000 for the building and the fixtures, but he spent close to $250,000 on moving costs, employee salaries and lawyer fees, and he is taxed on the money he acquired involuntarily through the sale of his building.
“When the big boys come to get you, you don’t have a pot to pee in,” Stanley said in March. “Your voice is drowned out by all the power and the money.”
Stanley also said he is “scared to death” that his plans to reopen will fall through, and he is worried the police and the ALRC will not allow him to sell alcohol on campus.
According to the Overture Foundation, Stanley pursued legal action against the city in late 2000 to prevent the condemnation of Dotty’s after he agreed to undergo condemnation proceedings and received several offers from the city to purchase his property for more than 15 percent of its appraised value. The city also offered Stanley $30,000 and the money to fund his move.
In response, Stanley announced he would accept no less than $1.5 million for the property in early 2001 after accepting $583,680 for the city’s purchase of the property. When Dotty’s was not vacated by the deadline imposed by the city, a judge denied Stanley’s request to remain on Fairchild Street.
The 400,000-square-foot Overture Center will expand in the next year to eventually fill the entire 200 block of State Street. Radical Rye and Madison Masala are the next in line to vacate the block by April 2004.
A Radical Rye manager said the deli will be “the last thing to go,” and they plan to relocate in the campus area if possible.
The Overture Center’s opening of the initial phase of construction work, which includes Overture Hall and the rotunda amphitheater, is slated for mid-2004. The remaining second phase of construction will begin in January 2004, and the entire project’s completion is set for December 2005.
