Met a friend for lunch in Madison today. She suggested Settle Down Tavern because they had her favorite burger in Madison. We started with Deviled Eggs and Cheese Puppies, which were a cross between hush puppies and cheese curds. Both were great! Loved the cheese puppies, in particular! The burger lived up to the hype! Two patties smashed and cooked on the griddle, topped with cheese and pickles. It was awesome! The fries were simple and well-executed, frozen shoe string fries, fried and salted. I would eat here again! read more

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The smash burger was an amazing combo of burger, grilled onions, subtle pickles and an sauce and a soft bun that was perfection. Caeser salad was also great. Fries were crispy. The wait staff was friendly and attentive. The restaurant has a glass ceiling making it bright on a cloudy day. Definitely will be back next time we are in Madison. read more

Cute little restaurant/bar. Stopped here on the way back to MN from Milwaukee. Their menu is very small with little options but they are very accommodating. I'm gfree and they went out of their way to make French fries prior to cross contamination since we were there first thing. I got the burger as well with a lettuce wrap. Burger was okay but wasn't as thick as I would've liked. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Hours are changed... Open T, W, R 11:30-2pm ; F and Sat 11-2:30pm for lunch They also have Sunday brunch 10am -2:30pm Whole party ordered the smash burger. Nicely cooked- very tasty. Highly recommend. Pickles, cheese nicely melted... 2patties smashed just beautifully.... Really great flavor. Service wasn't the best- it was lunchtime- but some of our table had to get back to work... and we had to flag them down to order. The rest of us could stay and drink... Servers were friendly- and one ended up stepping up and did a nice job taking care of us in the end. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

After hearing so much about this place and multiple visits to their sister restaurant we finally decided to visit. It was a warm day and we opted to sit inside. We walked inside to find a sign that said to check in with the host outside. When we went back outside to check in with the host, she instructed us to check in with the host inside. She was slightly puzzled when we told her about the sign, but got us menus and walked us back inside and seated us and brought us water. I appreciated that she took the initiative to find out what was happening and didn't just tell us to go back in and wait. We opted to sit at the bar in the Tavern, as opposed to a table in the atrium. The bar staff was very friendly and got our orders in right away. They answered our questions and also shared info about their cocktails as well as about the history of the restaurant. The food came out very fast! I ordered the lambwich which included slices of gyro meat, with arugula, feta, and harissa. The sandwich/burger was not very big but I thought the portion was perfect for a light lunch. This was complemented by a side of shoestring fries that came with a paprika mayo. The taste and quality were excellent. I was satiated but did not feel uncomfortably full at the end of the meal. For drinks I had the Settle Down Lager which is a nice crisp beer to enjoy on a hot day. I followed this with a cocktail named The Lion, The Spritz, and the Wardrobe which had rum, aperol, citrus, and bubbles. I typically don't like orange flavor things but this was very well balanced. If you are in downtown Madison it is definitely worth checking out. Great food, drinks, and a very friendly staff. We will be back! read more

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This place has one of the best burgers that I've ever had in the country! I live in NJ and come to Madison every year and make a point to stop here. Also, the rest of the menu is great. Excellent comfort food, good cocktail program. Each time I've come, service is great. The staff is personable, and easy to like, chat with. Overall the vibe is a place for a great easy meal and drinks with friends. read more

Talk about unfortunate timing, this craft cocktail bar located on Pinckney just off the square (itself becoming a kind of eat-street filled with some of our foodie favorites) opened in 2020. We stopped in for a drink on what would have been a football Saturday in early September on a glorious fall day. Due to COVID, much of the block had been cordoned off to create an European-style street dining area with bistro lights and well-spaced patio tables. All the masked servers were friendly and our group of 5 was seated right away. They've got a great list of craft cocktails and I enjoyed their riff on the old fashioned made with maple syrup. We also tried the cheese ball and crackers (little pretzel crackers) which was a tasty snack. They were pretty busy with a lot of outside tables. Hopefully they'll make it through the winter when it's not possible to do alfresco seat read more

Settle Down Tavern - Red squirrel old fashioned - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The best part of this place is the burger - hands down. The burger itself is five stars, and I would give the ambiance give stars as well. The service was a bit slow - the waitress took a while to bring us the check after we had finished the food, and the other food ordered had its downfalls. The deviled eggs were straight up bad. I do not know what was on them to make them taste the way they did, but they were not good. Thankfully it was only $3 wasted. Sometimes less is more. The cheese curds were tasty, but there were way too many in an order. It would be nice if they included a smaller portion on the menu. That being said, I would go back multiple times for the burger alone. read more

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We had a great server with good recommendations. The food came quickly but the beef was a little peppery (whole peppercorns) which is not to everyone's liking. Great location. read more

This place is soild! It's cute and in the summers a great place to hang out with friends, meet up for brunch, or a casual dinner. I wouldn't say that the food is exemplary. It takes a modern spin on a couple of classics and for me is just missing something. Mix that with the price, it's fine. I feel like they usual have tables available, which is why I'm inclined to go and their service is top notch. Everyone is super friendly and attentive. read more

Love this place!! I've gone a couple times and each time they've been super well-staffed so service is really quick. Food is great if you're in the mood for a burger. Plus the outdoor patio is a perfect hangout spot if you're on the square Check out their cheese puppies too. It's a cornbread cheese curd. Really tasty and one order is enough for a group read more

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Can't believe it's taken me this long to try this place! I ordered an espresso martini that was one of the best I've had. Didn't look like a traditional one however the taste was exceptional. Ordered the potato and leek soup, it was incredible! My friends ordered smash burgers and said they were great. I also ordered fries and the aioli dip was fantastic. Overall very impressed with the service and food at this classic Wisconsin tavern. read more

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I cannot say enough good things about this place. The "good idea" burger is incredible. So satisfying and not overly filling. This photo is of the veggie burger - which is also so flavorful and amazing! It's definitely our top burger in Madison! (Which means more coming from My husband -who orders a lot more burgers) The grasshopper drink is one of my favorite cocktails in the area. The food and interior are amazing but truly the staff and owners take the experience to the next level. I don't know that you will find more hospitality, kindness, & fun energy in one place (well..maybe at Oz by Oz which is owned by the same!) read more

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My wife and I went out to go to a restaurant downtown for our first time since moving here. We decided on some trendy place. We found out the wait was an hour and a half long, so we immediately got the hell out of there and looked for something close. So we settled with Settle Down Tavern, and we were happy we did. The place is in a weird location. The seating is in a walkway in the middle of several bars and a coffee shop. Weird but it works out great. We were able to be seated right away even though the place had dozens of people in it. Our waitress was awesome and gave us some great recommendations. We ended up getting the fried cheese curds, the smash burger, the fish and chips, and the bacon broccoli. The price for all of it was excellent, and we ended up getting way too much damn food. The cheese curds were super tasty but so damn heavy. I could barely handle more than 5, but I kept on popping them back regardless. The smash burger came out sliced in half for us to share, and it was tasty. The fish and chips were solid although the fish could've used a bit more salt and pepper. The broccoli was in a vinegary coleslaw type dressing, and it was so damn good. The salty, meatiness of the bacon offset the vegetableyness of the broccoli really well. To top it off, we ended with the brownie sundae which was damn good. Perfect size to split between two. We didn't drink anything, but we still really enjoyed ourselves, the atmosphere, the great staff, and the food. If you want to get some drinks and some great food, this is definitely the spot. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

My new favorite spot in Madison. Everything was great. Food was delicious and reasonably priced, definitely try a smash burger while you're here! Our server was awesome, ambience is amazing, will definitely be back for sure. Good happy hour specials too! read more

Settle Down Tavern - Cocktails - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Cool place! Cheap beer options. Quality food. Lots of seating out front and in the courtyard. I'd go back any time!

Did take out here. Really good smash burgers (think very thin patties) with good toppings and bun. Some claim 'best burger in Madison' although I think that's a rating I wouldn't be willing to give. Don't get me wrong, burger was very tasty but that is quite the claim. As a side, the ghost fries are also extremely delicious with the right amount of heat, but not overwhelming. Definitely worth checking out and adding to the rotation of burger/fry joints in Madison. read more

It was hot in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, and we settled (lol) on this place for some needed drinks. Water to start with of course. The staff was pleasant and attentive, and we ordered their Red Squirrel Old Fashioned and their Moonsong. The drinks were well-crafted and were very tasty. We'll have to go back for food - it looked good, but with our large breakfast, we weren't hungry. read more

Great atmosphere, friendly staff, fab burgers. It's a cool place to hang. Lunch came quickly and was the perfect temperature. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Lamp at both near atrium. - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Been here a few times. The service is quick and friendly. They have a good selection of drinks. The outdoor seating is nice and it's right near the capital. read more

This place is amazing! We wandered in for brunch on a busy Sunday morning. The hostess was very kind and efficient - we had to wait for about 15 minutes but felt very welcomed. Her positivity was infectious! When we were seated, the service was great and the food was phenomenal!! Very tasty, bmvery unique. A true treasure in the heart of downtown Madison! read more

Great food, drinks and great time! Fish fry and burgers were delicious. Jalen took great care of us! Thanks Jalen! Fun time for our group. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Bar area - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Great burgers, fun atmosphere, attentive service, average fries. Prices are great. We will go back.

(Last visited on 2/10/2021.) Working in Madison, WI for the week and I asked the locals where the best places to get some good food around here are and this place was thrown out numerous times. So here we are! Atmosphere/Appearance: Nestled right downtown near the Capitol Building is this gem. There is a some outdoor seating available, but since it's RIDICULOUSLY COLD most places close their outdoor sections, but not this place. Lol. Let me explain. This place hosts a challenge. Patrons who come and choose to eat outside IN THE FRIGID COLD get entered into a contest. Every time you have a meal... a drink.. or whatever outside you earn a point. So between a certain date and another date (check with the restaurant) you can rack up points to earn a grand prize. It's actually pretty clever. Inside is very... tavern-y? Lol. It fits the description perfectly. There are lots of different styles of décor all thrown together all in one restaurant and it works very well to give this place character. If you walk all the way through the restaurant there is even more seating in the atrium of the office building. It's a bit quieter out there, but I feel like you miss out on all the action! Service: Ryan was the owner/bartender and he took excellent care of us. It was a slow night so we really had a chance to chat with him. This place opened up SMACK DAB in the middle of the pandemic, but they were here and still kickin'! You gotta give them credit for that. He was awesome and made sure we had everything that we needed. Food: The menu is pretty basic and pretty bare. There weren't as many healthier options as what I expected, but... we're here so we gotta try something! The locals said this place was awesome! So I went with the Good Idea Burger. It's an hand-formed all-beef burger patty topped with house pickles, fried onions, butterkase cheese and Settle sauce. Oh my goodness. It was so delicious. It was melty, messy, cheesy, gooey and just everything you wanted in a comfort food. I paired the Good Idea Burger with a large order of their Ghost Fries. These are simply fries that are dusted with ghost chili peppers and other spices then served with a house-made bleu cheese. I had never had anything like this before and loved them! Great job guys! Value: My burger was only $9.00 which I fell is an excellent value! The large order of fries was $7.00, but I understand why. Ghost chilis aren't cheap. I did get some extra bleu cheese and it was only $1.00. Decent value at this place and you certainly don't have to break the bank. In conclusion, I really loved this place even though I was underwhelmed by the food choices. No matter, the food is fantastic and worth checking out. Be sure to check out my YouTube channel, "The Hungry Road" for more restaurant and car-related content! You can copy and paste the following link into your browser to be taken directly to the channel! Be sure to subscribe, like, comment and turn on notifications! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEZJPcprSoq00kgDLUb57yA read more

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Rode our bikes downtown for lunch on Friday after having seen the nice "Streatery" setup on Pinckney Street. After checking out a couple of nearby places we settled on the new Settle Down tavern. The host and waitresses were very friendly and we were able to park our bikes right next to the table. It was hot and sunny so we were lucky to get one of the few tables with an umbrella. The menu is limited so we opted for their burger which is a smash burger style - not normally my fave since you cannot get them cooked medium rare. The burger with their Settle sauce was very good and not dry - it was nicely caramelized on the edges. Also tried their version of deviled eggs which were tasty. Oh and I got a $3 Miller High Life - a good deal. It was nice to get served on real plates, etc and not in a take-out container which appeared to be the case at the upscale Lucilles next door. I am guessing the reasonable prices and the nice set-up is why the Settle Down attracted a bigger crowd (relatively speaking these days). One suggestion is to have them join the Bike Benefits program... We will return but we will first check to see if the menu has expanded. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Healthy lunch - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I went to this spot in October 2023. I still can't stop thinking about it. The service was great, the vibes/ambiance were vibing, and the food. Oof. So damn good. It's criminal to only have this in Madison. I need them here in Milwaukee. Told the waiter to let the cooks know how fantastic the food was. I love y'all lol. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Good Idea Burger - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

These burgers are amazing! They offer a smaller menu here, but what they do, they do well! Our most recent visit was for breakfast and we shared 2 different breakfast sandwiches (which they split for us!) and a couple of their house made beverages. We ordered the cheese curds and were impressed they were able to provide a new twist (cornmeal in the batter), while executing a proper Wisconsin fried cheese curd! We also ordered the ghost pepper French fries, they are "midwestern spicy" so order without abandon! Be sure to ask for extra sauce- ANY sauce! They are made in house and they are all incredible! Their ranch...OMG!! It's fantastic!! read more

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Food was great, especially the deviled eggs. Such a unique twist on a classic! Would love to come back for bingo night!

In Madison for a work trip and about to head home. so glad I stopped here for lunch instead of the airport. The Cuban sandwich and cheese puppies were straight . Hit this place up if you're ever visiting Mad Town! Highly recommended. read more

Dog friendly patio, woohoo! Stopped by with some friends for dinner, and the wait staff are all very friendly and also attentive to dogs. They came by our table to check in on us and to make sure the water dish was full for the pup, which was very kind. Their food menu is very limited, at least on Saturdays, so we all ended up ordering the Good Idea burger along with cheese puppies, ghost fries, and devil birds. It did take a while for our food to arrive, 30+ mins. The food was seasoned pretty well, though the burger patties were extremely salty. Overall we had a good time! read more

Settle Down Tavern - cheese puppies - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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You pretty much have to get a burger here. The burgers are two thin patties piled on one another. So it definitely changes the taste. In spite of this, the burger stays pretty juicy with the sauce they use. It's a good burger, but I wouldn't say like some people that it is the best burger around here. But it is still up there. We also ordered the fries, which were slightly crispy and the paprika Mayo was delicious. My wife ordered the smoked herring with crackers and that was pretty good. From the food perspective everything was good, not amazing. The indoor seating seems a little limited and cramped but there is plenty of outdoor seating utilized. It's a tavern so that's what it feels like inside. read more

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Went here for a friend's birthday on a Tuesday night, and its clear that this is one of the trendy places to be in town. The outdoor seating was packed and the indoor was also pretty full. Our waitress was super friendly and the bussboys/girls were super efficient at getting tables clearly so that you had room. As a group we tried a bunch of the drinks and food. My friend and I ordered the Uecker? or Euchre? and the Juniper Lake mocktail. I will say that I really appreciate that this restaurant has mocktails as well as cocktails. The cocktail was like nothing we had ever tried before as it was super smoky, but generally pleasant. It was on the smaller side, but seemed to have quality ingredients. We're also really not sure what Uecker or Euchre had to do with it, but that may be beyond us. For food, we tried the cheeseball and Potter's pretzels, Betty's party mix, prit' near, ghost fries, cheese puppies, and the Carolina fried chicken sandwich, which is a Tuesday special. All of the options were pretty tasty. The Prit' Near was a very flavorful take on a veggie burger, but for some reason it did feel a bit greasy and a little small for the price. We were also kind of thrown off by the ghost fries as we were expecting them to be slightly spicy, but were really just very flavorful and went great with the blue cheese dip. The cheese puppies were very fun as you get cheesecurds and hush puppies all at once. This is such a great idea! The chicken sandwich was probably our favorite thing as the chicken was nice and juicy and the balance of it to the pickle and bun was pretty good. We could have used a little more sauce and were expecting it to be spicier. I really don't think I had much spice at all from it. Overall, we would say that the food is pretty good and the wait staff is super friendly and always on the move. The one down side is that its a little pricy for the size of food and drinks, but its definitely fun! read more

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The burger was good but it was kinda of small and did not come with fries or any side dish for $13.

Excellent food and service. Start off with appetizers and then smash burgers. Best cheese curds and cauliflower anywhere read more

Settle Down Tavern - Cheese curds and Cauliflower appetizers - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The atrium is the best! I strolled in mid day for a meat and cheese plate and a special beverage in a cool day. The perfect setting, staff, and the marinated cheese curds!! read more

Settle Down Tavern - Atrium, hot toddy, meat and cheese plate - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Great outdoor patio on a nice sunny day, and dog friendly! I ordered the Croque, and was a bit underwhelmed. The egg was great, but the actual hash brown had a sort of sour/salty flavor I couldn't quite pin point that was not for me. Giving them 4 stars, because I've been before and they make a fantastic burger. read more

Settle Down Tavern - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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I don't get it. I was in town on a business trip and was looking for a quick bite close to the office. The reviews here were glowing, so decided to give it a try. Ordered a hot dog and a beer, seemed easy enough. Beer was good, it was a local draft IPA. Hot dog was terrible. For $13 I expected a decent sized sausage or at least a full size hot dog. What I got was a thin, overcooked hot dog on a typical bun with a bunch of mayonnaise and a bit of cheese. The hot dog looked like it had been cooked a few days ago and had all the qualities of a "gas station" hot dog, but smaller. Why 3 stars? The bear was good, so a plus for that. And the service was really good, very friendly, quick and accommodating. Without the service, would have been a much more critical review. read more

Everything I had was so good, after exploring the city in really cold weather I wanted something warm to drink, I ordered I made my toddy disappear and it was sooo tasty. Creamy, hint of mint, warm. I ordered the good idea burger lunch meal. It's a great deal, the burger itself was very tasty smash burger. House made pickles. Really cute place read more

We came here on a Saturday evening, group of 4, immediately seated (after walking around the neighborhood and trying different spots, this was one of the few where we could get immediate seating), really friendly service. We got cheese curds and ghost fries for the table, and I got a Good Burger. I was sharing the burger with my mom but when I ordered, the waitress thought I was saying one each but it got all worked out. The cheese curds and ghost fries were both hot and crispy, and the flavor of the ghost fries was awesome! I also really enjoyed the burger which was super flavorful and juicy, although the bread was a bit soggy and flat. Good meal, fairly priced, would recommend! [Note: this is my 2900th Yelp review!] read more

The ambiance in the outdoor seating which is covered btw is so adorable. They had amazing food and the home made ranch sauce was to die for. Also try the celery lemonade you will thank me later! read more