The Brown Bottle, the defunct Old World-style tavern in Schlitz Park, will be reopened, and it appears the company that runs the business park is behind the opening.  

Gary Grunau, president of Brewery Works, the company that developed and operates Schlitz Park, told the Journal Sentinel last year that an operator was being sought for the closed restaurant and bar, at 221 W. Galena St. Now Brewery Works is reopening the restaurant itself, according to a liquor license application filed with the city.

The person applying for the license is Samuel Denny, executive vice president of Brewery Works. Brewery Works is listed as the sole owner of the Brown Bottle, although Davians catering and food service company is listed in documents as having an interest in it and Stockhouse LLC is listed as the property owner.

The restaurant’s operator is listed as Judy Schieffer, who has been affiliated with Davians. Davians operates a cafe at the business park.

The proposed opening is Aug. 15, but the Brown Bottle is not yet on the list of license applications to be taken up next week by the Common Council’s licenses committee. Action on the license would have to be taken this month in order to serve liquor at an August opening, as the council doesn’t meet in August.

The new restaurant and bar would serve full meals and food to go, and it would provide food for private events at the site. The documents also indicate it would have a cafe or coffee shop, and intends to be open daily for dinner and for lunch weekdays and Sundays.

Having a restaurant and bar in the vacant space could be considered another amenity to attract and retain tenants for the park. About 4,300 people work at the park, for businesses that include Manpower and Time Warner.

The Brown Bottle last was known as Libiamo, an Italian restaurant and bar that closed in 2012.

The original Brown Bottle was the Schlitz brewery’s ornate tavern, with ironwork by Milwaukee artisan Cyril Colnik and elements salvaged from old buildings in Europe. It first opened nearly 76 years ago, in the brewery’s stockhouse, and ended its initial run as the brewery’s tavern in 1982 when Stroh Brewing bought Schlitz. It reopened under the Brown Bottle name from 1986 to 2004, and then reopened as Libiamo in 2005.