What a beautiful space. Handsome, cozy, sophisticated and comfortable. The Sazerac was delicious, the music lovely and at a volume you could easily converse. This was day one so service was a little lacking but that is to be expected. El Grito provided amazing tacos which were expertly prepared. The perfect bar food. I may become a bar fly. I shall return. read more

The Robin Room - The paper plate does not do this food justice. The tacos were beautiful. - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Terrible experience two 30 ur old women working . one served my boyfriend and I then the other lady was extremely rude to us and ruined our night. great menu bad people! would not recommend! read more

We stopped in on a rainy Tuesday night to grab a few drinks and were met with a jam packed bar, The RR is not large, it's cozy with seating against the wall and in front and a bar that takes up most of the right hand wall. This is not the place to bring a large group. Visually, it's appealing-dark wood, subway tile backsplash behind the taps, everything gave off a "cool" vibe. Audibly, a whole other story as the acoustics are terrible (as others have noted in past reviews). My girlfriend and I were seated a foot apart from each other and had to shout to be heard. Our cocktails were well executed and I feel are some of the best in Madison. My better half went with her tried and true favorite-The aviation while I opted for penicillin-a perfect blend of Laphroig, lemon, honey and ginger. Pro-tip #1: There isn't any table service (or none that night) so belly up to the bar to place your order. Pro-Tip #2: People watching is an A+ here. Never have I seen a group trying so hard to be different that they actually all look the same. From the guy wearing Jordan's and a fedora worrying about his shoes getting scuffed to the woman wearing high waisted jeans silently lamenting over American Apparel going bankrupt, it was quite the scene. It was hard not to inform them that this isn't Brooklyn but a solid bar on the near east side of a small Midwestern town. Just stop trying so hard and it will all work out, people. read more

If you go at the right time, you can get into the Robin Room. It is a beautiful neighborhood bar that focuses on balanced drinks. We braved it on the Opening of the Sylvee and got a great table. They often have a food takeover and on the night I went, Frabonis took over and sold three sandwiches, antipasto plate, and cannoli. We got the meatball sandwich and the porketta sandwich. Both were extremely good. My drink was the Penicillin. A Scotch based drink with ginger and honey. A very cleaver and tasty drink. I did feel better after drinking it. My pal had the Negroni on tap. She is always looking for the best one in town. She was not disappointed. I was glad to finally get in and enjoy the bar for a bit. read more

Favorite cocktail bar in town. I love the drinks and the ambience. The bartenders are amazing. I recommend Robin Room to anyone who asks for a great place to get drinks in Madison, and frequently ask people to meet up there. read more

What a great space! It's hard to argue with a place that uses a neon pineapple to denote whether they're open or not. I made my first trip to Robin Room on a dreary Tuesday evening but the warm, inviting interior perked the day up right quick. When I arrived around six it wasn't too crazy busy, but the space quickly filled in. I joined some friends who had parked themselves in the couch & chair seating area in the front picture window and enjoyed the natural light and people watching. Eventually I made my way up to the bar. They have a small cocktail menu with about two drinks per liquor type. The menu is designed beautifully, giving each cocktail a labeled diagram that is reminiscent at once of a scientific drawing and a silhouette portrait. Cocktails ranged from $8-10. Nothing was striking my fancy on that day so I was giving the tap list written on boards behind the bar a once-over when I noticed a subway tile with red writing that listed the ingredients for a cherry rickey - gin, cherry juice, lime, seltzer, and, if I am remembering correctly, cherry-vanilla bitters. This all sounded like a dream minus the gin. In my mind, bourbon was the pairing that this mix was destined for, so I asked the bartender if I could sub it in. He was game, and the result was a very delicious and refreshing summer cocktail. The only thing keeping me from a five-star rating was the acoustics. It was so insanely loud for how small the place is. Between the music being piped overhead and the conversations of other groups bouncing off the walls, my friends and I could barely hear each other. I found myself doing the smile and nod way more than I should have, and eventually I asked if I was the only one having trouble hearing. All the ladies in my group affirmed that they were struggling as well. The atmosphere is perfect for sitting and talking or would make a great date-night spot, but the struggle to actually hear what's being said is real. read more

OK Robin Room, I see you!! I live in the area and am very pleased to have another close-to-home option for drinks. This place is very tastefully decorated - kind of a modern Art Deco meets Los Angeles vacation house - and the drink options are great. I've had the on-tap cocktail several times now and loved it every time. It's hip but not as intimidating as Forequarter and about three steps above the 'Bou on the official "Dive Bar to Fancy Bar Scale". Bartenders are proficient and pleasant. It's a similar vibe and price-point as Gib's. My only minor complaint is that once while I was there on a Friday night the bartender put on a Tom Waits record. I don't know anyone who wants to listen to Tom Waits on a Friday night before 3am and 6 whiskeys deep. read more

This place has a great selection of drinks. Happy to come here to try a new scotch or bourbon. Cocktails are good and creative too. Prices are fairly affordable and the staff is friendly. My major issue with the place is the acoustics. It gets really loud when it is busy, which drowns out what is usually pretty good music that is playing and can make it tough for a conversation. It's an awesome neighborhood bar overall. read more

I love this place. Friendly staff, unique drinks and a welcoming atmosphere have me coming back. I love the pop-up dinners hosted here and the craft cocktail selection is superior. My girlfriend and I went here on our first date and it is the perfect atmosphere to get to know someone. read more

Super cute, great drinks (and they look awesome--like Steve mentioned, the glassware is so cool), and a wonderfully welcoming place! The only downside--it's a little small. This is not the place to bring 10 of your closest buds, but it would be perfect for a drink or two with your select partner(s) in crime. My favorite drink of the night: Queen's Park Swizzle. Odd name, surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) delicious! The drink prices are fairly reasonable as well. If you're a whiskey or bourbon person, this is a good place to hit up--one of my friends mentioned they had a small batch whiskey that was only produced in this one small area in New York, for example. A new bar for my Merchant/Gibbs cocktail rotation! read more

The space is beautiful, and they're very popular at the moment, so it's a smidge crowded. We didn't actually order any drinks, but it looked like they had a great selection of wine and beer. I think they served cocktails as well since people had entire hollowed out pineapples. What we did sample were the El Grito Tacos. They're way in the back, operating out of what seems to be a tiny kitchen. They had Roasted Carrot, Duck Confit, and Lamb Barbacoa tacos. At 3 for $8, they were well priced. We sampled all 3 and they came out quick, which I really appreciated. The roasted carrot taco was really good.The carrots had been well seasoned with cumin and some other spices. They've been roasted until they were soft, but not mushy so that they still had a bite to them. They were dressed with a light coconut sauce. The duck confit taco though, was my favorite. A touch of sweetness with the savoury and it was well balanced in flavor. Their salsa is no joke - quite spicy, so a little will go a long way. The tacos are served on a paper plate, which is great because we walked right out of the establishment and found a bench to enjoy our tacos, but the paper plate seemed out of place for the Robin Room which had very nice and modern decor. I'd happily come back for the tacos, but I'm also eager to try their drinks. read more

This place is awesome! Came here for Tacos & Beer night, both the atmosphere and service are amazing!! read more

The Robin Room - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Let me first start this story with how boring Madison bar scene is when you are in the downtown area by the capitol or down on State street. Each year for 30 days when I'd make a visit to Madison since 2012 after finally graduating from UW-Madison, I find myself looking for something new but also not finding the right group of people to enjoy my time with. I'm not much of a big speaker or like to juice up on gossip on life or anyone. Madison has created this gap where I'm started to feel misplace where I, one day in my first week here in Madison started to walk home from a photoshoot and decide to do late night street photography walk and there it was, his hidden gem. No banner, No outrageous people chain smoking or I like to used the word "scuttlebutt" in front of the place. The Robin room was not just calling my name but I needed to reboot my experience here in Madison. As soon as I sat down, it just felt right, it felt good, it felt like my other selective places that I have travel to and made it my choice to try is almost in the same category and it was called The Robin Room. Continue to visit for a week to see if there was any thing I don't like. It was the Pineapple in the window display that made me curious. The one drink that I'd saw and I started to get on nerdy but happy inside was a brand of Japanese whiskey called Nikka and that was my first alcohol beverage then off to some excellent IPA choices they had and then Mojito's. For the last 3 weeks and 4 days, I've took it a pond myself to visit there almost everyday after 7pm but there has been times during the late afternoon hours after 4pm, where I had a shitty day and I just needed a cold Mojito or Beer on a hot day or days in Madison. I'm not sugar coating this place everyone at all, it just felted that good of a place to want to return like other bars that I have visit in Portland, San Diego, NYC, Vancouver B.C, London, Denmark, even in S.Korean. This is one bar that is surely going to be added to the best places to get a professional drink and have a good conversation in such a well but clean Atmosphere. I'm going there for my last visit tonight which is Thursday, August 4th 2016 and I'm going to miss this place so damn much. I wish I can take the place with me to the airport because airports don't have good drinks and they are super over price for water down Mojito's or beer. Would you like to visit a place where the staff is always friendly and knowledgeable about their selection of Gin to Rum? I'd believe you would like? Then what in Buddha name are you doing or wasting your time going to some of these college bar where it's all about those plastic cups w water down drinks. You like taste don't you? Then stop by when you have a chance and check it out yourself but don't and please don't bring people that are going to ruined such a wonderful place. It's open to everyone. Oh, did I discuss that they do have Sujeo on the first Tues and 3 week but I can be wrong about that, because i don't eat pork but everyone is crazy for the food and I think it's a nice combination. They serve other food one other weeks so you may want to ask about days where food is being serve at the Robin Room. Go and have a good time for me please. Thanks Keiki - The Panda Photographer read more

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This place has great freakin cocktails! Went around the area to go bar hoping and drinking and all these bars really talked this place up. So had to come try this place before leaving back to Cali. The fact this place was so talked about...I can understand why now. Shit was dope as fuck! Hipster-classy feel to the place with clean restrooms and very talkative bar tenders. Very knowledgeable about what they serve. I didn't know what I wanted and just threw out my drink preference and the bar tender led me to a couple of options he assumed I would prefer. He was right on the mark! Loved my tiny little tasty drink! They even had this peach slushy thing as well as beer selections. The peach slushie was very yummy and refreshing! The customers here that I interacted with were very friendly and nice. Was able to pick up several conversations without any awkward moments. They place really attracts the very good clientele, much respect! I really loved this place! If I ever get a chance to come back, I will definitely visit this place again. read more

The Robin Room - Rum daiquiri - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Stopped in here for a drink , cute vibe ! Comfy atmosphere... I loved my Manhattan ! Thumbs up , Robin room! read more

The Robin Room is hands-down my favorite place to get drinks in Madison. The atmosphere is chill, welcoming, and cozy. The service is friendly, prompt, and flexible. Time after time I'm impressed by the cocktails they make and the broad selection of spirits they have. Excellent mixologists! Even if you're not into cocktails they'll have something for you: They have great beers on tap and wines too! Not to mention good non-alcoholic options that are not just an afterthought. From time to time they have food pop-ups (Fraboni's & Negronis and Taco Tuesdays ftw!) which are really fun and tasty. Don't pass up a chance to check this place out! You won't regret it! read more

The Robin Room - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Robin room is single handedly the greatest bar in Madison. The proprietor Chad Vogel, leads a team of wicked cocktail assassins. They execute on the highest level whether it be slangin meat dictated from the dizzying wheel of fate on a bustling Sunday meat raffle. Or maybe just a simple Aviation, that tickles ones fancy so hard that one may actually believe they are Leonardo DiCaprio in that one movie about that guy who writes checks his ass can cash. If the robin room were a cut of beef it would either be Prime Rib, or a juicy sausage. The captain, Mr Vogel is commonly mistaken as Poseidon, only with a jigger and not a trident. Scoring seemingly at will, robin room knows the secret. Gods speed Robin Room, Gods Speed read more

This place has good vibes. It's a beautiful space. You can find better crafted drinks elsewhere in town but when it comes to the whole experience, Robin Room has got it. read more

Just want to pop back in to reiterate how much o love this place! From their local collaborations to Tiki Week everything the Robin Room does is fantastic! read more

Fantastic. They bartenders are always great. The drinks are sublime. A great place to start or finish an evening of drinking.

A pineapple light in the window is the main marker of this bar. I insist that all my friends come here for a drink if they've never been... and I always forget that there is no sign anywhere out front to alert people to the location of the bar. And then they always arrive late, because apparently no one uses google maps. Once you've found the Robin Room, your will enter into a stylish and comfortable bar. Approach the bar and a bartender will pass you a well designed book of drinks, seasonal and classics, as well as a card with featured drinks if they are having an event that night. You really can't go wrong with any choice you make at this point. Every drink I have ever ordered has been creative, tasty and beautiful. I tend to order seasonal drinks, but if you are looking for a new "the usual," this is a great place for any classic drink. I don't know how, but their Moscow Mule is transcendent! I've watched them make it, and it appears to be the exact same way and ingredients that I use at home, but my Mule is garbage in comparison. Maybe it's the mug? Or maybe it's the atmosphere. Maybe if I had that wallpaper, everything in my life would be better. The kitchen in the back is not used by Robin Room staff, but is used by various local and visiting chefs for pop-up events. These events are frequent, and often sell out early, so if you see one you are interested in, you should arrive early if possible. Robin Room advertises upcoming pop-ups on their Facebook page, so be sure to follow them to get the dates for upcoming events! read more

I'd love this place if it was just judged on quality as the drinks were stellar, all of them. But it's also a bit stuffy and painfully hip. Just not quite done with love and passion but just okay. read more

I keep gravitating back to this bar when I want a relaxed bar environment with great drinks. What really keeps me coming back are their fun special events. Every special event I've attended has included great collaborators from across Madison (restaurants, other bartenders, etc). Robin Room is designed for pop up events since they have a small kitchen area in the back but no regular food program. The drinks taste great and the bartenders are highly efficient. The only criticism is that it's not a great place for wine lovers--since wine isn't a popular item for them, they mostly stick to high end canned and boxed wines. You can't go wrong with the rotating taps or kegged cocktails, though. read more

Great drink menu! Love the ambiance. Great location. Will be returning. Plenty of seating, surprisingly! Great Paloma and Moscow mule. Great bartenders! read more

The Robin Room - This is a bar I won't soon forget! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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I really like the look and feel of this place. It's classy without being stuffy. You can come in dressed up or down and still feel comfortable. Their cocktail menu is amazing with some really interesting house cocktails as well as spot on versions of lots of classics. And of course lots of nice whiskeys, tequilas etc. to try if a mixed drink isn't your thing. Will definitely be back. read more

New favorite. Superb cocktails, perfect prices, attentive service. Above all else, what a warm, convivial atmosphere. Every detail from the gilded wallpaper to the comfy chairs to the pristinely designed menus has been thoroughly crafted (much like the cocktails!) for an optimal imbibing experience. My friends and I spent a few hours here and the volume never got deafening though the place was filling up. Worth mentioning that the bespoke cocktails were made quickly and delivered in mere moments. Can't wait to return and try every drink in the book! read more

This place makes me proud to live in the neighborhood. It's a great space with great drinks! Good selection of beer on tap as well as great cocktails. This is my go-to spot for drinks with friends or with my husband. read more

Madison needs more of these small neighborhood gathering spots, and fewer big bars to serve the mass of students. Great cocktails, nice beer selection, friendly service. Beautiful decor. Only downside is finding a seat. Let's hope it's a trend. read more

The bar itself is small and cozy. Vintage vibes abound in the decor, glassware, and furniture; nice clean lines complement this look, especially with the subway tile and the pergola-y thing that hangs above the bar. Came on a rainy Monday evening with a friend. I didn't know that this place serves drinks only (this fact would definitely have soured my experience here, although the drinks were quite delicious...) - but we lucked out and that night, there was a pop-up kitchen featuring wood-fired pizza! THE PIZZA WAS FUCKING AMAZING. We were starving so we ordered one variety each (there were three offerings). They were all delicious and came out of the oven hot and super fast. The crust was best - not soggy! The pizza guys go by It's Good For You! which is an adorable and accurate name. Drinks were good, too, though a bit expensive for Madison, methinks. I will be back the next time I'm in town (especially if it's pizza night)! read more

Great cocktails, wonderful environment. If you don't know what you want the bar staff knows what they are talking about.

Our bartender had the casual swagger of a Jedi with the efficiency of a pit stop crew and the rapport of a long time friend. The positive ambiance was contagious. The drinks were perfectly balanced. It's amazing how a place so new could so naturally embody the local culture. To other bars in Madison: take notice. read more

Super great drinks! Pricey, yes, but very well done. Cool ambiance. Gets a little tight and wait gets a bit long on the weekend, but we were able to snag a seat. Standing room is extremely limited. read more

Went here for a night cap with my girlfriend, great atmosphere! We each got different drinks off the menu and both were good. Can't say anything about their food as we didn't order any.. read more

I love the atmosphere, the cocktails are divine, and I dig the book menus with fun winks on the binders. The Nacional is my favorite drink and I love the Church Basement Ham Sandwich...a nice little anchor that keeps a late afternoon day drinker high on cool bar vibes from getting sloppy. read more

If you are connoisseur of fine cocktails this is the place for you. They really are some of the best I have and have a huge assortment of liquor. We got there early on a Saturday night and got a seat at the bar and was not to busy. If in town again I would definitely stop read more

What could be better then having cold fernet on tap? Funky vibes and for a small space, it speaks loud. The bartenders are always cool and collected, plus they manage to make some of the best cocktails. read more

On a visit from Chicago this bar literally saved my night.. no TVs (huge bonus after hitting all the local beer bars showing the game--I was sick of it by then), classy yet relaxed, some very impressive (and not very expensive) cocktails. Justin made the best whiskey sour with egg white. The Blinker was a tasty one as well. Thanks for the great experience. read more

Beautiful space. Classy and urban while still comfortable and low-key enough to fit in perfectly on East Johnson. Cocktails are fantastic. Bartenders are chill and unpretentious. Travis was super patient and helpful (I ask a lot of questions before choosing a drink). Maybe I've lived in LA for too long now, but I feel like it's a special treat to find a skilled bartender with some good ol' Midwestern kindness. Overall, a lovely little neighborhood spot. I'll definitely be back! read more

Awesome spot - a legit cocktail bar without feeling snobby at all. Lively but not too crowded on a Wednesday evening, very reasonable prices for the high quality and service they provide. Thanks to Pete & Mike for making me feel so welcome when visiting from out of town! They were so generous with their time, answering my questions and talking to me about their craft. I recommend Robin Room to anyone looking for a spot that's comfortable but really classy at the same time. read more

It was lousy and rainy out, and I had been meaning to stop in this place for a while. First impression: holy crap, a hipster puked in a room and smeared it all over the walls... bad painting of Tom Waits, wood plaid wood wood plaid. The bartender was a sour little white boy wearing--yep--a plaid shirt, like 3 different plaids (plaid plaid plaid). No eye contact was made by him, not a smile, nothing. I don't drink alcohol, so I asked for a hot toddy. He was doing a little more than I felt was necessary to the mug and I told him he didn't need to rub a lemon peel on the rim or anything. His (rude) reply: "It's a cocktail bar." No kidding. That was pretty much it for me. The toddy was OK, hence two stars. Service was crap. Douche behind the bar has no business being there. There are more than enough bars in this city... I will stick to ones with real bartenders, less fkn plaid, and FAR less attitude. read more