I used to know this as a crowded bar with a rowdy dance floor until one night I went for dinner because everywhere else in the area had a line. The food is actually very good! They also have interesting cocktails. On Tuesday nights they have a taco Tuesday that is far superior to Diego's. $3 margaritas that are fresh and delicious and dollar tacos. Sit outside in the summer. The only cons are that I wish the menu had more variety (also there were things on it I liked that no longer are on it) and that the service can be a little slow sometimes, but not always. read more

I think Madison's food is highly underrated. They have awesome Friday fish fry! Also I have tried all of their salads and they are quite delicious! Pretty good price point as well. One pro tip is if you go the Madison's during live on king street you can hear all of the music perfectly! Sometimes service is a bit hit or miss. However I generally can count on solid food at Madison's. read more

Go there to grab a drink but skip the food, much better choices to feed yourself in the area. I you think of Madison's as a bar you'll be fine: friendly staff, good choices of beer on tap, plenty of TVs to watch local sports. read more

I have not quite figured this place out. I have nothing against it just seems the crowd can be quite diverse. It never seems to have the same vibe the few times I have gone there. The have about 12 beers on tap and decent drinks. I found out the hard way when I ordered a bottled sour red ale. (Kind of my new spring craze and flying hound in Fitchburg has a great one on tap) sorry about the sidetrack. It turns out the bottle cost 12 bucks for a twelve oz. would have been nice to know when I ordered it off the board because it was ok not great. The bartenders were very friendly and nice. There were two guys at 7:30 in their mid 40's ass wasted and another guy sleeping/passes out at the other. Maybe two friendly by not asking them to leave. read more

Madison's has been my absolute favorite place for the past year and a half or so. Great, friendly, fast service, amazing food reasonable prices, and an overall enjoyable atmosphere. Recently they have been making some changes all for the worse. They have taken off several popular, delicious menu items beloved by many. It is such a shame to see this happening because of the new chef I can only hope they come to their sense and bring back these items before losing too much business. The service has also slowed down considerably and gone down in overall quality. Very disappointed in my once favorite establishment to say the least. I also find my mimosa glass empty quite frequently during the "bottomless" mimosas. Used to always feel like I was getting my money's worth, now not so much. read more

Found this place on Yelp after a nearby brunch spot had an hour wait. I was happy to find that they charged $10 for bottomless mimosas and even happier that our waiter came to refill our glasses several times. Definitely got more than our money's worth. Beyond that, the food was delicious. I was happy with my French toast but would next time order the breakfast burrito my fiancé had. As mentioned, our waiter was very attentive and also really nice. Definitely will be back! read more

The few times I've eaten here, I have found the food to be decent and appropriately priced. Most of the time I visit, however, is late at night on a weekend. I have had some fun times at Madison's, but it is usually a bit too overcrowded for my tastes. It is a complete meat market after 10pm, and there is a preponderance of creepy dudes scaring away the women on the dance floor. Too many open collars with gold chains and cologne. On the occasions the creepy dudes are in short supply, it can be a fun time. The bartenders are solid, and the drinks are usually strong enough for the price. read more

This bar does a lot of things. It serves decent comfort food, high end cocktails, does sports, lots of different genres of music over the weekends in an upper and lower bar. Highly recommended. read more

We went here to watch the NBA finals. We heard it was really the only place that played the volume for the game. It was perfect. 10 tvs and you could hear the game. When we first walked in on Thursday at 7:30 pm there were only two other people but the place slowly got packed! When we left at 10 every seat was taken. Being from out of town we loved that almost every beer on tap is local. My husband loves the wings although I do think the appetizers are a bit pricy as they are the same price as the meals. They did have an awesome special for $2 pork sliders and the tator tots are the way to go at $4.50. The habenero hot tots holy mother! They are awesome and hot hot hot. Ordering the truffle tots with it made for a great balance. This is a great spot and really nice inside. 5 stars for the best place in Madison to watch a game! read more

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Fantastic happy hour specials, their house wine is delicious! The food has been excellent both times I have eaten here. Edit, Went back recently, and thought the food was NOT as good. Bland macaroni and cheese and my favorite cobb-type salad had a weird lemon-y taste to it. Still love those fried chickpeas though. read more

So it is a cool place but was not very busy on a Saturday night - so we were nervous and only had drinks and appetizers. The cheese curds were average but the cheese plate was good with nice nut pairings. Service was on the slow side. The drinks were good I had the afternoon delight and a strawberry drink. I would say we might go back agin but not sure. I think this is more of a bar than a restaurant for the college kids. TVs where nice in the bar area. read more

This place is aight, I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. The menu isn't terrible and the service is good. It's basically like an upscale sports bar I suppose. I had the ahi tuna sandwich with seasonal veggies (green beans and red peppers...yum). read more

Here on two occasions now to grab a few cocktails and a small bite to eat. Both times have been very good for what I was there for. Service has been very attentive and can make a good drink, try one of the infused vodkas while you're there as well, several to choose from. Both times I've been to Madison's I've gotten a platter of the Tater Tots, the mexican ones I believe. Basically it's a nacho platter, with the Tots replacing Chips. They tasted as good as the menu makes them sound, or maybe i'm just a slut when it comes to Tater Tots, come on, how can you NOT order them when you see them on a menu? Especially when they're smothered with ingredient normally found on nachos? Haha! Anyhow, check this place out with some friends or for a casual date night out, it seems like a joint that might get pretty busy in the evening/late night so if you're looking to eat I would try and hit it up a little earlier. Enjoy! Cheers! read more

I have a love-hate relationship with Madison's. Happy Memories: -The food. -A happy hour featuring cheap Absolut mixed drinks. -One or two fun nights involving the dance floor. -An excellent New Years Eve celebration. Hate Memories: -The ridiculously expensive drinks. -The slow service. -The people who go there. Uggggghh... Ask me about the guy (that's right, guy) who tried to initiate a physical fight with me! read more

Went to Madison's last night. Had some delicious wings! The fish tacos were awesome! Loved them. Server was awesome. . . Friendly. . . Attentive! Thank you! read more

My four stars are for the bar, as I've never eaten there (except free apps at a happy hour event). I appreciate this bar because it's not all undergrads, they have quite a good variety of cocktails, and even have some enthusiastic dancers, although I'm usually not one of those. They also have decent TV's so I can keep an eye on any sports games, but don't have to sacrifice a Saturday night to do so. I've always gotten good service at the bar, but I do usually come with regulars. It's sorta dressy, for ladies at least nice jeans and heels, for guys a collared shirt. The downstairs dance floor is a little cramped, but I think very well-received. The DJ is a really nice guy, but could use a little more indie rock/underground hip hop and a little less top 40 pop to suit me. And the ladies' bathrooms need a little TLC, now that they get such increased use with all the dancing downstairs. read more

DJ is hit or miss. However the management and staff are the reason I'm loyal to Madison's. Bartenders pay attention to negative behavior and do not tolerate if is happening. General Manager is AMAZING and also helps to encourage a no tolerance environment. Always taken care of at Madison's. Bottomless mimosas are also A1! read more

I have had awesome dinners and great nights at Madisons! I think the food is amazing and would recommend it to anyone--especially the shrimp diabolo (soooo phenomenal) and martini burgers--so many good aps, too. The service has always been really great, although, looking at what Tim B., said below it is clear to me Madison is so used to poor service, we have forgotten what good service is. Even though there may be a fine line between attentive and "too attentive, I'd rather have too much than the alternative of not knowing where the hell my server is all the time. As one of my favorite places to go for night scene, I love Madisons for the sweet variety of music they play, the people and the atmosphere. I am not much of a martini person, but Madison's is known for their martini's and a ton of people order them. The night scene is more so "big city", which is refreshing in Madison and it is nice to have a classy place to dress up enjoy great dinner, drinks and good music. They even have a DJ on Thursday nights now upstairs. They have a ton of TV's and is a great place to watch the Badgers or NFL football (also hard to find a good place to do this in Madison). This place is so much fun and has so much to offer--I hope it gets the appreciation it deserves. read more

We went here on a Sunday for lunch and our first warning sign should have been that the place was completely empty. Everyone ordered either burgers or chicken wings, both pretty standard bar foods. The chicken wings were actually chicken tenders with dipping sauce on the side. When you order buffalo chicken wings you expect to get them tossed in the sauce, but maybe that's just me. The burgers were all ordered medium or medium rare and they all came out extremely well done, more like charred to a crisp, with little to no flavor. The only thing saving them was the delicious sharp cheddar cheese on top. Seems like this restaurant is trying to make it look like they have upscale bar food, when really the quality is well below par. Our server is the only reason I'm giving this place 2 stars- I can't remember her name, but she was very attentive, accommodating, and friendly. read more

Food wasn't great, pretty basic bar food. Service was ok never got forks though. Ambience was nice with good music and cool decor. Nice bar atmosphere. read more

Visited here for lunch during a weekend visit to Madison. Walked in blind as there appeared to be space to sit outside. Was told when we walked in that there were two parties in front of us for an outside table but after waiting 25 mins and observing three empty tables outside, one of the front of house staff finally admitted we couldn't be seated because their kitchen was backed up. Grrrr. Ordered nachos and tater tots to share; and the Asian salad with salmon. The food was honestly awful. The ginger soy dressing on the salad was beyond salty and the lettuce was wilted with those terrible brown bits signaling that it wasn't fresh. The nachos looked good but the cheese was lukewarm and the pork tasteless and dry. Thank goodness for the tater tots or we'd have gone hungry. Won't be back read more

My family of 4 and sister and husband came here during a Saturday Day Badger game to eat, drink and take in the game on the many screens. Service was great, food was decent and drinks were well poured and mixed. What makes this a 5 star review is the service we received. Our 6 month old had a bit of a diaper fiasco and the server-in-training (Christina), provided us a spot to change him, brought a plastic bag for the clothes and even disposed of the mess! Treatment of all types of guests really makes a difference! Thank you from taking a possible horrible situation and making it easy. read more

Great place to watch the game and get good food and drink with friends! I got the poutine and it's my favorite in Madison thus far!

Yum!!!! Definitely try the dry rub wings with maple sriracha. So unique and so tasty. Their burgers are great too! Would definitely come back :) read more

As a consumer, it's my personal right to review restaurants that I've been to, in this case Madisons, and www.yelp.com is a website designed to allow consumers to do that. I don't though appreciate recieving personal emails attacking me as a person. I apologize if for my mis-representation of the lower level of the bar not allowing bottle service. This is what the owner wrote to my personal email: I am very upset to see your comments on yelp.com. I think you are greatly misrepresenting the situation. We have never offered bottle service in our lower level, not even once. In fact, the only room we offer bottle service in is the room you were in. I did my best to accommodate you and your group. It seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves. I really do not appreciate your efforts to make us look bad when all we did was try to accommodate you. If you have nothing nice to say about our establishment then you are no longer welcome here. This is my business and I try very hard to make it special. I certainly do not need the business of a little brat who fabricates stories to encourage others from coming. Please find somewhere else to go. I believe this situation can only be escalated. I am very disappointed in your actions especially since you received "phenomenal" service from my staff. Please understand that you are no longer welcome at a patron of Madison's. Please think twice before you sensationally bash establishments in the future. read more

We came here to get a drink while waiting for a table somewhere else, but once we all got a drink we enjoyed them so much we ordered a few appetizers while we wait. The corn on the cob and the cheese curds were absolutely amazing which led to use canceling our reservation at the nicer restaurant to eat dinner here and it was the best choice we could've made! Drinks were a little pricey, but all super unique combinations made with great ingredients. All food dishes we ordered exceeded expectations I will DEFINITELY be returning here again soon read more

Madison's is one of my favorite places to get martinis! We stopped here during my sister's Bachelorette Party. It was packed in the main area so our party went to the side room where it was quieter. We ordered 9 strawtinis and the bartender made our martinis with such style! He lined up 9 martini glasses, each drizzled with strawberry glaze, and then poured all 9 martini's at the same time out of 9 different shakers that were stacked on top of each other. I was so impressed that he took the time to do this with it being so crowded - it was so creative and looked like it took so much skill! (check out my photos for a pic.) We absolutely loved it and it's been a high point of the night ever since! Thank you Madison's!! read more

I used to love this place.and go frequently, great steak sandwiches,used to have a super French dip,wonderful appetizers (especially the pot roast sliders) Well some genius decided to shrink the menu and go ala cart , so a mediocre flank steak sandwich didn't even come with fries or any side,fries we're ala cart for $4 Seems like cutting costs is the new philosophy Well is mine is I won't be back Allot of other great choices in Madison, but NOT Madison's! read more

I haven't been here too many times, but neither of my experiences at Madison's have been too great. I'm just going to throw in my hat and give a quick rundown of my thoughts: - I've gone here for just food and drinks once. I remember the food being a little bit more expensive than I was expecting (like $2-3 more), and definitely not as good as other places that are within a block of there, such as The Great Dane, or the Tipsy Cow, or Natt Spil. It was too long ago for me to remember what I ordered, but I don't remember the menu being too adventurous. - The drink selection is just ok. It's a decent selection of taps, but the cans and specials favor domestics a bit too much for it to be an appealing place to go to for some. The cocktails are overpriced, considering that you can get a much better tasting one with much higher quality ingredients for less at nearby places (i.e Heritage). They're not bad though, and if you have the money to spend, they'll get you the buzz you want. - The environment is an awkward crossover between a nightclub and sports bar, which I guess works for them since there's a good overlap between those two crowds. It's definitely something to be aware of though if you're thinking of heading there. There's a section only for dancing, and on the weekends it gets bumping with a lot of top 40 jams. I'm personally not a fan of the crowd there or the music, but i'll give it credit for having a large space at least. So overall, i'm not a fan of Madison's, but they probably don't care that i'm not a fan. They aren't aiming for my demographic, and are instead aiming for people with more liberal budgets who enjoy "nightlife" but also don't really want to venture out to real nightlife scenes. read more

Amazing drinks, amazing vibe, great bartenders who were friendly and fun. The hand crafted liquor is great and such a cool looking place. Thank you for helping to make my boyfriend's birthday great. The drink you made was his favorite ever and the old fashioned with your house made vanila cherry bourbon was delish! read more

Madison's was better than I expected it to be, but there were some serious issues that make it an avoid. We ordered a Spinach Artichoke dip that was pretty decent, came with some veggies and maybe 5 small slices of sourdough. We finished all that, had about half of our dip left and asked for more bread. They said it was a $2 charge for more bread. Then the bud girls came over and started trying to give us whistles. While we were eating. It is fine if you are sitting at the bar to bother your customers, but when you are eating some of the most expensive bread in the country, it is nice to be able to enjoy it in peace. read more

I will never go there again! The people are rude and no one even attempted to look or dress nice. I saw a girl walked & partying in her gym out fit - if not, it was her pajama. The drinks are expensive and the food is no special. I can go down the street and get the same stuff. The floor is all cracked up, not level for ladies in heels. (Set up for a law suit if someone ever breaks there neck.) Walking to the ladies room is like going downhill slope. First, bathroom is downstairs, then the floor is elevated down like a handicap ramp and slippery. The bathroom was gross. Definitely, the rude people does not cut it for me. I told my friends, we're not going there again!! read more

Fun atmosphere. Good drinks. Attentive service when I ate at the bar. The only downer was my food. I ordered the turkey club and not sure if they ran out of turkey or what but it was definitely canned turkey on the sandwich. I asked about it and was told it was not canned but the consistency, smell and taste made it clear it came from a can. So I had to scrape that off and had basically bacon, avocado and toast sandwich with not a whole lot of flavor. The mixed greens salad was good. read more

I eat here often when I have to travel for work and don't want to buy groceries or haven't restocked on them yet. They redo their menu multiple times a year but its always pretty much the same. They usually have some form of a salmon dish which is usually prepared phenomenally well but often pricey. This plate usually does not have adequate sides with it so I add brussels sprouts to my order as a side. Staff is friendly and well trained and place gets quite popular with your professionals on weekend+ thursday nights! read more

My wife and i were out in Madison visiting my son for the weekend. He took us to Madison's after the football game for dinner. We had been drinking all day, so it was nice to get some good food. Considering it is by the capital area, the prices were reasonable. They are big on the tater tots. The drinks were very good and they have a vast beer selection. I'll have to try it again next time I am in town. read more

Love this place! Either if it's for drinks or dinner or both it's great. Love the staff as they are always friendly and fun to talk to. Always have had great service there. And great happy hour specials! I have had the cheese plate which was good but you can never go wrong with there tater tots. I have tried the truffle tots and the beer cheese. I loved them both but the truffle tots are my favorite. Also for entrees I have had the fish tacos, Mac & cheese, and the hanger steak. My favorite is the steak. The sauce over the top is delicious. Also great crowd. read more

The servers at Madison's are generally extremely rude and poor at managing stress. For example, my girlfriend was in the other night with a group of friends (granted it was later on a weekend night so the place was busy), and waited 30 minutes to get her bill. While waiting, one of her friends tried to snag an employee to ring her up, saying "Lucy" needs her bill. The waiter snapped back that "Lucy" can wait and proceeded to serve other patrons around them while completely ignoring her group. Once her bill did arrive, she was charged for multiple items that she didn't purchase, which she wound up having to pay for. In addition, her friend paid for a $4 drink with a $20 bill and only got $11 in change. In other words whoever rung her up kept a 120% tip. They also witnessed this happening to other customers, who were complaining loudly. Finally, just to illustrate the type of crowd that goes here: My girlfriend's group was sitting in their booth when two "young professionals" came up and insisted they dance with them. Upon being told no, they grabbed my girlfriend by the arm and literally tried yanking her out of the booth, to the point where she was clutching the table so as not to be forced to dance with them. Based on the other reviews I've read, I imagine there were no employees/bouncers to help because they were too busy outside physically accosting women and middle aged men. The way they treat their customers is unacceptable. This is Madison Wisconsin (i.e. the heart of darkness), not Manhattan. Stop trying to be someplace you're not. read more

Wonderful dining experience!! Great food and fun drinks. Shout out to "Pari" the awesome hostess who made us feel so welcomed. We'll be back. read more

I went here for an event held by Goose Island during the Great Taste weekend. Free beers for a couple hours. Needless to say it was extremely crowded. The interior set up seemed silly, intentionally wasting space. The music was loud and annoying. Overall, I was not impressed. read more

Service was great with bottomless mimosas and it being game day. My breakfast sandwich was okay I would try something else next time. Overall great experience. read more