Madison WI Recs

Memorial Union Terrace on Wisconsin's campus is a pretty fun place to sit and have a few beers and just people watch if the weather is nice. Handful of food places right there as well. It's right on the lake.

I was really impressed with Madison when I was there two weeks ago. I would not recommend the Sheraton... very outdated and not (from what I could tell) closely located to anything.

I did go to the Tempest Oyster Bar for happy hour and enjoyed the meal. I certainly look forward to more recommendTions as I will be there once every other month or so.

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Have to get to sleep, but I’ll get you with a big list, first thing tomorrow morning, of things to do and places to eat/drink.

Madison is a great city. Not sure how familiar you are with its geography, but it’s located on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona and the Capitol sits on a hill at the top of State Street. Other end of State is campus, including Bascom Hill.

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Capitol Square
- Dane County Farmer's Market from 6:15am - 1:45pm. Worth checking out, but go early if Wisconsin kicks at 11:00am. You don't want to miss pregame festivities!
- Restaurants/Bars: Tipsy Cow (my favorite burger in Madison), Old Fashioned (cheese curds are awesome), Graze, L'Etoile, Cento, Coopers Tavern, Tornado Steak House, Marigold Kitchen (awesome breakfast), Casetta Kitchen, Lucille (bank vault in basement to sip a cocktail), Natt Spil, Merchant, Madison's, Maduro (cigar bar), Argus, Great Dane (brewery - OK beer), The Ivory Room (piano bar), and Silver Dollar (dive bar).
- Though on State Street, most consider the following to be "Capitol" area since they're on the upper-end of State: Paul's Club, Ian's Pizza (late night), Cask & Ale, and Fresco.

State Street (on & around) - no Uber, taxi or bicycle needed. You can walk from Capitol Square down to campus and hit a lot of undergraduate bars on way.
- KK (popular for fraternities, sororities and athletes), Chasers, Brats, Double U, Wando's, Mondays, City, Red Shed, Church Key, Danny's, Vintage, Gritty, Plaza ($2 Long Islands on Thursday), and HopCat.
- Plenty of late night food to go around, but my favorite is Ian's (second location) and Paul Pel'Meni (dumplings).

Campus
- There are two student unions at Wisconsin. The one closest to Camp Randall is Union South. It was completed in 2011 and it's a beautiful facility. The more-popular one is Memorial Union along Lake Mendota. For every UW alumni, sitting on the Terrace with a pitcher of beer and listening to live music is a favorite memory. Alumni Park was completed late last year, making the Terrace even more aesthetically-pleasing (unfortunately, I do not have any updated pictures that are worth sharing, but you can Google Alumni Park). Pictures of the Terrace, old or new, don't do it justice, but here are a couple:




- Bascom Hill is worth walking. Abraham Lincoln statue at the top and situated in front of Bascom Hall. Gives you a beautiful view of downtown.
- Observatory Hill overlooks Lake Mendota.

Willy Street
- About a mile from downtown / Capitol Square, but it is a quick-growing area with plenty of quirky shops + restaurants/bars.

Gameday
- I find gameday to be unique in Madison. Camp Randall is located in the middle of a neighborhood, which means parking is limited, outdoor beer gardens along Regent Street are abundant, house parties with double-digit kegs are popular, and parking in lawns for a small price is encouraged.
- Wisconsin's home schedule is below-average this season. For those "inferior" opponents, I wouldn't expect Wisconsin's student section to be full until near halftime. It's just the party culture of Madison, but there are plenty of fun traditions (i.e. Jump Around, 5th Quarter, Wave, Build Me Up, and Shout).

Breweries
- Madison: Karben4, Working Draft, Funk Factory, Ale Aslyum, Next Door, One Barrel, Great Dane and Vintage (brewpubs), and Giant Jones
- Outside Madison: Octopi, Capital, Lone Girl, and Wisconsin Brewery.
- If you want to go a bit further, New Glarus is about 30 miles.

In general, enjoy Madison. It's a beautiful city.

Thanks for all of the info. The game I will be attending does have an 1100 start. I went to Madison years ago and had fun but didn't remember a lot of the details.

Yes it is the Illinois game. I had no idea it was homecoming. Thanks for the heads up.