Dave Landau, the owner of both Iowa City’s and North liberty’s Brown Bottles, confirmed that the Iowa City location, 115 E. Washington St., has closed.

Sunday was its last day of operation. From this point on, the North Liberty location, 125 E. Zeller St., will remain open.

“It’s not just financial reasons,” Landau said. “Our business has been dropping in Iowa City, and North Liberty has been growing and needing a lot more attention.”

He noted that much of the reconstruction of businesses on Washington Street played into the decision to close as well.

“We just had conversations with our landlord, MidWestOne Bank, and they needed space to speed up remodeling,” Landau said. “I needed to be out to take care of North Liberty, so it worked out for both of us.”

The Iowa City restaurant had been open for 40 years. The North Liberty location opened in 1994.

“We’re just going to focus on North Liberty and moving forward,” Landau said.

— by Aaron Walker