It’s Friday night. The Badgers have just prevailed on the floor of the Kohl Center, the weather is unseasonably warm and the city is hosting a major convention ? all spell the recipe for overflowing bars, crowded streets and drunken altercations.

Love it or hate it, the bar scene in Madison is famous for its rowdy, brat-chomping, beer-swilling college-age crowd.

However, a faction of Isthmus drinking establishments are out to prove that football, sausage and ale are not everything this town has to offer.

The Madison city council approved a liquor license Tuesday for the Kimia Lounge, a Mifflin Street establishment planning to open this summer.

Kimia’s owner, Kami Eshrangi, plans to create a “champagne and caviar” establishment catering to high-end clientele.

“I am not looking forward to [students] at all,” Eshraghi has told The Badger Herald. “I don’t want their business.”

Such a new attitude may indicate a trend in Madison nightlife as the typical student hotspots become greater concerns for area police, tavern owners and government officials.

However, others claim the tension between university administration, city officials, tavern owners and students has evolved to the point where any new inroads to curtail student drinking are welcome.

Ross Johnson, owner of State Street Brats, 603 State St., said Eshrangi’s marketing decisions likely have political motivations.

“Its unfortunate that [Eshrangi] had to take that approach to get a liquor license. There is certainly a market out there [for high-end bars], but it’s sad that you have to say you want to keep students out to warm up with [the Alcohol Licensing Review Committee].”

Managing the student crowd: $2 pitchers or coat and tie?

“At times, students can be more difficult,” said Ben Rettig, assistant manager of the Oak Crest Tavern, 1421 Regent St. “We run into a lot of excessive drinking and problems with younger people trying to get in. This is more or less a ’20- to 23-year-old’ bar.”

But Rettig, who estimates 50 percent of his establishment’s revenue is generated by student patronage, recognizes students as essential to the success of his business.

“We probably couldn’t survive without the student support,” he said.

Due to the location and reputation of the Oak Crest, Retting said his relationship with local police is a cordial one.

“About once every two-and-a-half weeks the police come by. They realize that we’re pretty responsible, and we don’t mind them coming through,” he said.

However, views concerning student customers and the burdens associated with serving them vary greatly amongst local tavern owners.

Jeff Mackesey, bartender at the Irish Pub, 317 State St., said having students, who generate less than one third of his business, in his establishment invites problems, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when his small bar pushes capacity.

“I think [the city] doesn’t have enough cops to go around, and they’re going to make a big deal over capacity to hide from the fact that they’re not policing as much as they need to be,” he said.

Dick Leutyke, owner of Bullfeathers, 303 N. Henry St., who estimated 80 percent of his revenue comes from student pockets, said he too often finds himself in the middle of confrontations involving police and students.

“The problems with IDs are one of the biggest headaches,” he said. “It is a constant worry. Almost every weekend, officers are in the establishment.”

While all pubs on State Street do not depend upon nor overtly welcome students, several establishments on the Capitol Square seek to attract a larger student customer base.

Vanessa Shipley, manager of Maduro, 117 E. Main St., said the scotch-and-cigar bar on the Capitol Square, which does not serve food, attracts a significant student audience.

“About 20 percent of our business comes from students, but I have noticed an increase lately on late Friday and Saturday nights of younger students,” she said. “We’ve been here for four years, we don’t really advertise, and this is the first time I’ve noticed this. Maybe some students are discovering us.”

The Opus Lounge, 116 King St., another upscale Capitol Square bar, also appreciates student clientele.

“We welcome the student patronage,” said general manager Amy Schroeder. “However, there are certain expectations that come with patronage. You have to respect the fact that we do things a certain way here. Deport yourself properly, don’t put your cigarette on [the] floor, tip your server — simple things.”

Entertainment district ? the future of Madison nightlife?

One of the characteristics comprising Madison’s weekend character is the availability of 2-for-1 margaritas, import nights and flip nights up and down State Street.

However, in a January interview with the Badger Herald editorial board, Ald. Tim Bruer, District 14, said drink specials may soon be a thing of the past.

“I want to keep the character of the University of Wisconsin alive for all of the right reasons,” Bruer said. “But the reality is that alcohol is a serious, growing concern. The industry needs to step up to the plate and take some responsibility for the problems associated with overcapacity, over-serving. Some establishments make their bread and butter by going out and serving their $2 margarita pitcher. Those days are coming to a screeching halt.”

UW spokesman John Lucas said the chancellor’s office supports efforts the city will make to curb student drinking, although the chancellor is not as rigidly opposed to student late-night entertainment “options.”

“The safety of students is very important to the chancellor and the university; the idea of the project isn’t to keep students from drinking but [to keep them from] high-risk drinking that gets students into trouble like going to detox or crime,” he said.

However, State Street owners say they are being targeted simply because of their geographic location.

“Almost every place will offer drink specials,” Mackesey, a bartender, said. “Any place with a snooty appeal doesn’t need to offer specials. John Wiley and the RWJ want to make State Street an entertainment district and just lump in bars like us, where there’s hardly any students, and cut our revenue. It’s just obscene.”

Typical of most Capitol-area bars, Maduro does not offer drink specials. The Opus Lounge offers them only sparingly and does not advertise the deals.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Project is a privately sponsored initiative working through University Health Services to curb student binge-drinking in the campus area.

“The project is nearing the end of its first cycle,” said Jonathan Zarov, communications director for RWJ. “Our efforts are geared to reduce high-risk drinking and its negative consequences. We have been engaged in a collaboration with the campus and Madison community in many ways, notably education, alternatives and policy.”

He said the notion of creating a drink-special-free district of bars in Madison would not only decrease bar revenue, but contradict the city’s “entertainment” scene.

“I think the word ‘entertainment district’ is completely false; it should be called a ‘lack of entertainment’ proposal,” Johnson said. “All the proposals I’ve seen for entertainment district are essentially negative positions on the restaurant/tavern industry.”

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the concept of an entertainment district is too great a burden on local tavern owners and will not curb campus drinking on its own.

“If there’s some way that students and other downtown patrons can get something out of an entertainment-district concept besides having to plunk down a lot of their spare cash to drink, then I would be in favor of it,” he said. “But if we ban all drink specials ? demographically, the plan seems to be discriminatory or biased against those that are drinking later downtown.”

Verveer also said the high density of alcohol-related infractions in the 600 block of University Avenue stems from several negative factors.

“The high capacity and high concentration of establishments in the area makes management difficult and causes police to ‘babysit,'” he said. “As much as the cops will give props to the management of Club Amazon and Wando’s, the hot spots continue to the be challenges for Madison police, and they have been for years and years.”

Jay Wanserski, owner of Wando’s, 602 University Ave., said the problems associated with the area are essentially about management.

“The perception is that University’s 600 block is a trouble area. Its kind of frustrating,” he said. “I don’t have any problems in my bar. You can only control so much, and I control what happens in my bar. If you look at the bouncers I hire, people aren’t gonna mess around with us.”

Johnson said the downtown bar situation has deteriorated to the point that political wrangling makes new or innovative efforts nearly impossible.

“Essentially, if you want to set up [a] sports club, and its actually going to be fun, there’s not a chance in hell you’re going to get a liquor license,” he said.