Where to Drink in Madison, Wisconsin

Nestled on an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, Madison is the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin, as well as the state capital. It’s also a lively college town with a solid history of civil activism and what’s believed to be the largest producers-only farmers market in the country. It’s no wonder Wisconsin native Brian Bartels is happy to wax poetic about his hometown. “There are also more restaurants per capita than any other United States city, offering fried cheese curds, beer-soaked bratwurst, and the one and only Friday night fish fry,” says Bartels. “And best of all, good people waiting to say hi everywhere you turn—especially if you have a dog.”

With a hospitality career that began in Madison at age 15, and included a decade as the beverage director for New York City’s Happy Cooking Hospitality, Bartels (also the author of The Bloody Mary and The United States of Cocktails) returned home and swiftly got into business with old friends. They opened the Settle Down Tavern in 2020 (home of the Good Idea double-patty smash burger, and a nitro Espresso Martini), and Oz by Oz in 2021, a cocktail “snack easy” that leans into witchy vibes and kismet encounters. “People who have lived here before are moving back, because it’s hard to find a better city in America for everything you could want out of daily life,” says Bartels.

Ancora

Women-owned and operated, Ancora has been a Madison institution since the ’90s. “It’s one of my gold standards for Madison coffee,” says Bartels. “I am a cold brew Beastie Boy, and Ancora’s cold brew makes me fight for my right to party.” With four locations around the city, Ancora’s organic, fair trade coffee drinks and from-scratch baked goods are more accessible than ever. Try their signature Honey Bacon Biscuit sandwich on a house-made buttermilk biscuit paired with a seasonal drink like the Pumpkin Maple Cream Cold Brew (maple-sweetened cold brew topped with pumpkin cream cold foam made with their house pumpkin syrup). 

Caribou Tavern 

“Ah, the ’Bou. The Miracle on Johnson Street and home to the best bartender in Madison, Winslow Wise,” says Bartels. The Madison institution, operating since 1966, continues to draw a cross-section of the city for PBRs, brandy Old Fashioneds, and their legendary burger, all doled out by Wise, who has worked the bar at the tavern for 25 years. “He is the consummate professional, and the only one working the entire bar—host, bouncer, bartender, cook, bon vivant, and consummate professional,” says Bartels. “Imagine if the best concierge from the Four Seasons was working a dive bar in downtown Madison. Welcome to the ’Bou.”

Le Tigre Lounge

“When friends who have never been to Madison visit, I take them to Le Tigre,” says Bartels. “It’s a dive bar in a strip mall with tigers, red lights, no visible bottles on the back bar, and a jukebox stuck in time.” The tigers in question are stuffed animals, porcelain figurines, velvet paintings, and one very unfortunate taxidermy, among the hundreds of representations. A family operation since the mid-’60s, the lounge remains a beloved watering hole for gin Martinis and a few tunes by Rosemary Clooney or The Platters. “It’s one part David Lynch film, one part Old Vegas hideaway, equal parts escape room you never want to escape from,” says Bartels. “They have few rules, one of which is no swearing.”

Mint Mark

A seasonal restaurant highlighting the best of Wisconsin’s bounty, Mint Mark is co-owned by Chad Vogel, who also operates local bars the Robin Room and Muskellounge (aka Muskie Lounge). “Not only is it one of the best restaurants in Madison, it wields an always impressive cocktail menu that feels tailor-made for the food. There are those who say cocktails and food can’t play well together, but Mint Mark defies the logic.” So while you’re dining on preserved beets with crème fraiche or roasted Vitruvian mushrooms with fennel pistou, try a cocktail like the Aloe Airmail with rum, aloe liqueur, honey, lime, and sparkling wine. “Pro tip: Always consider the rotating tap Sangrita,” adds Bartels.

Oz by Oz’s House of Gucci Mane | Photo by Ryan Huber

Oz by Oz

Boasting one of Madison’s largest collections of amaro and a playful selection of house cocktails from the locally famous Black Squirrel Old Fashioned to a freezer Bloody Mary, Oz by Oz opened in 2021 and “specializes in magic, astrology, kismet encounters, unexpected hoodoo, and eclectic interludes for the whole cocktail family,” says Bartels. “Plus all of the artwork on the walls is by local artists and available for purchase.” Catch Witching Hour during the first two hours of service every day for $9 cocktails. And if it happens to be the season of your astrological sign, your second drink is on the house. 

Public Parking

Barely open a year, Public Parking is already heaping on the national accolades. “A cocktail bar to end all cocktail bars? Perhaps. Madison is a boomerang town; people leave and come back because it’s such a great place,” says Bartels. “One of those people is JR Mocanu, and Public Parking is his baby.” With a large menu of rotating originals, riffs on classics, and some dabbling in the tropical realm, the bar flexes playfully with drinks like Mary Berry’s Soggy Bottom (gin, navy-strength rum, rhubarb-orange marmalade, Earl Grey, cashew ginger butter, egg white). The menu flips quarterly, along with intermittent pop-ups, like a Great British Baking Show-themed menu for December. “They don’t take themselves too seriously, and that’s the whole point of a well-executed, modern day craft cocktail bar,” says Bartels. “The cocktails are whimsical, but the approach and integrity behind the execution is exemplary.”

Robin Room

Opened in 2016 by Chad Vogel, the Robin Room was “instrumental in helping catapult Madison’s cocktail scene into being what it is today,” says Bartels. “What Robin Room lacks in size, it eclipses with a never-rotating beverage program fueled by craft cocktail ninjas who can handle any request any time of day.” That rotating program includes slushie specials, cocktails crafted with tea sourced from their neighbor The Teasider—like a draft sangria with rosé, pisco, and a rose petal black tea syrup—and one of the largest mezcal collections in Madison to be enjoyed neat or incorporated into a cocktail like Meet Me at the Salsa Bar (mezcal, corn liqueur, red pepper, habanero, lime).

Sardine

Nestled on the shore of Lake Monona in a former warehouse, chef-owned Sardine has been a Madison favorite since opening its doors in 2006. “They have one of the best bars to sit at and have a bite to eat, some oysters, and a cold, dry Martini,” says Bartels. But don’t sleep on the rest of the creative cocktail menu, from aperitifs like the Shim Sham (Sake, Gin, Saffron Liqueur, lime, cucumber, shiso) to house originals like the Brown Butter Old Fashioned (brown butter washed Bourbon, Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur, Montenegro Amaro). “Walking into the restaurant always feels like hearing an orchestra tuning their instruments before a Carnegie Hall performance,” says Bartels. 

Settle Down Tavern | Photo by Ryan Huber

Settle Down Tavern

Brian Bartels’ first Madison venture upon returning home, the Settle Down Tavern opened in the perilous summer of 2020. “Settle Down became the little smash burger engine that could through the early stages of COVID and has persevered over the past five years into being a downtown Madison touchstone,” says Bartels. The true neighborhood joint hits all the marks from “cheese puppies” (a delicious cheese curd and hush puppy hybrid) and a rotating house pickle program to playful house cocktails like a fresh, celery-based sour dubbed Sam Saved a Baby Duckling Last Week to the bourbon-and-Campari-based Red Squirrel Old Fashioned. There’s even a United States of Cocktails section Bartels’ book that celebrates recipes from bartenders across the country.

Turn Key Supper Club

Bartels’ newest Madison establishment is an homage to a distinctly Wisconsin tradition. “Wisconsin is known for its supper clubs, along with Bloody Marys served with a beer chaser, Brandy Old Fashioneds served sweet, sour, or press, and ice cream drinks 365 days a year,” he explains. Turn Key is a modern take on the beloved style that has a little (or a lot) of fun with the concept. “They have a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar during brunch, created the Rooty Old Fashioned (a Wisconsin Old Fashioned made with root beer), and feature ‘Club Crusty,’ a unique take on the over-popularity of Dirty Martinis. A Crusty is adding a jumbo shrimp to any drink, often seen on the edge of their Martinis, Bloody Marys, Old Fashioneds, and, of course, ice-cold bottles of High Life,” says Bartels. “Come by for the tasty grub. Stay for the ice cream drinks.”

Working Draft Beer Company

“You like pilsner? Great. Come to the Mecca of Pilsner glory,” says Bartels. “Working Draft has been around since 2018 and keeps getting better.” Though the brewery may have been founded with an aim to craft European-style lagers, which they indeed do very well, their broad range can be seen with other taproom favorites like Pop Culture Hazy IPA. “Start with ‘To Those Who Wait,’ a Czech pilsner with Bohemian malts, Saaz hops, and the dreams of unicorns dancing on your tongue,” suggests Bartels. “They also do fun cross-collabs with other local breweries like ALT-Brew, a local gluten-free brewery.” 

Young Blood

Wisconsin has no shortage of breweries, from historic national brands to sought-after cult favorites. Falling more into the latter category, Young Blood has been brewing since 2020, making everything from experimental sours to crisp lagers. Just a block from the capitol building in the historic First Settlement district, their flagship taproom offers a rotating list of brews on draft or in cans to go like the Boone’s Farm Related Scar, a pastry sour with cherry, key lime, and vanilla, or I Thought You Said Fantasy Futbol, a Belgian IPA. “Young Blood makes one of my all-time favorite IPAs, which also happens to be (no plug intended) our exclusive IPA at Settle Down Tavern, the Take It Easy IPA,” says Bartels.

Young Blood Beer Co. | Photo by Joseph KinstlerMary Berry’s Soggy Bottom at Public Parking | Photo by Erika Whitson

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