As The Ohio Tavern prepares to reopen on Madison’s near east side next month, the team behind it wants what most new owners want: to keep the regulars and bring in — or bring back — new guests.
“We want people that love the Ohio to continue to come to the Ohio,” said co-owner Mike McDonald, “and hopefully love it a little bit more because of the things we’re adding, not (taking) away the things they love.”
The building at 224 Ohio Ave., north of Atwood Avenue near St. Bernard Catholic Church, has been home to a tavern in some form since August 1933. Ohio Avenue Tavern opened a few months after Wisconsin became the second state to ratify the 21st amendment, ending Prohibition…