After following reports of the massive demonstrations recently taking place in Madison, Wis., I've been trying to imagine similarly sized crowds converging on the Minnesota State Capitol, if only because I keep asking myself the same question: Where would they eat in that restaurant-starved neighborhood?

That's not a problem in food-obsessed Madison. Unlike the Capitol in St. Paul, which is surrounded by lifeless state government buildings and pretty but virtually empty grounds, Madison's Capitol Square is the anchor of the city's lively downtown and the home of the hugely successful Dane County Farmers Market on warm-weather Saturday mornings.

Business is definitely up at Marigold Kitchen, a popular breakfast-lunch cafe half a block off the square.

"From our standpoint it has been great," said chef/co-owner Phillip Hurley. "Last Saturday [when Madison police estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 demonstrators converged on the square] we were really busy, jam-packed all day, which is what it's like in the summer, but never in March."

It's a different story at upscale Harvest and the more informal the Old Fashioned. Both are located directly on the square, across the street from the Capitol. While customer counts have risen during the day -- lunch and afternoon business has doubled at the Old Fashioned, said co-owner Tami Lax -- it's the exact opposite at dinner. Lax said that diners are under the misguided impression that downtown Madison is bumper-to-bumper traffic and nonexistent parking, and they're staying away, in droves.

"Unlike the way the media is playing it up, the reality is that there isn't much going on downtown at night," said Lax, who also owns dinner-only Harvest. "We've been crippled at night, which is devastating to my staff, who rely upon gratuities to make a living. We really support the cause, but financially, if we're going to sustain our businesses, this beating that we have been taking has got to turn around, quickly."

The crowds have been a mixed blessing for retailers.

"It depends," said Markus Candinas, owner of Canidas Chocolatier, a four-year-old artisan chocolate shop on the square. "I imagine if you're a Starbucks and there are people walking around the square thinking, 'Gosh, it's cold, I guess a cup of coffee sounds good,' then you're probably doing very well. But a chocolate shop, well, it's probably not as much business as one might think, given the traffic."

On the radar Black Sheep Pizza (www. blacksheeppizza.com) has launched its downtown St. Paul outlet, serving lunch and dinner daily at 512 N. Robert St.

Saturday is when Tilia (www.tiliampls.com), chef Steven Brown's long-awaited Linden Hills restaurant, is set to officially open in the former home of Rice Paper, at 2726 W. 43rd St., Mpls.

RICK NELSON