MadisonTap

I was already a fan of Black Locust Cafe when we made it to Madison Tap to get a free pint from our Pub Pass. Chad was one of the best server/bartenders I have ever had. He let us take a peek at the courtyard domes (a winter exclusive available by reservation) before we settled in for dinner and card games. Madison Tap is chill and has a respectable assortment of board games, for those who don't bring their own to the bar. I couldn't eat the Brussels sprouts fast enough. Cannot wait to go back!

This member of the Robinia Courtyard trio was a really nice introduction to what's happening. Every dish was a hit, the mushrooms surprisingly better than I could have imagined. Vegetarian poutine sounds like a contradiction but it was absolutely stellar. The kitchen is doing an excellent job, especially at making vegetarian/gluten free/Other dietary restriction friendly dishes that are as good or better as their "normal" versions. Can't wait to see what they think up next!

First, it was a bit confusing to find. Thankfully my group had texted me to go through Black Locust to get in. Without that text I probably would have missed the place. When I got inside I asked the bar tender if there were more tables somewhere else because I didn't see my group. He just mumbled something and walked away so I wandered around the bar and found the door to the courtyard and found my group. The courtyard was really nice and probably my favorite part of the evening. They were apparently in the process of switching out menus when we arrived and did not have any new ones printed. They guy attempted to tell us some of the items by memory but then wandered off before we could order anything. Eventually (after someone in our group went back in to talk to them again) they came out with two copies of the menu for our group of 10. Again the guy just dropped them off and then wandered away without really giving us a chance to talk to him. After a few minutes a few of our group went inside to get more drinks and place their food orders. They asked the guy to please come outside and get the rest of our orders. He came out but didn't have a pen or paper. He assured us he would remember our orders. We had to repeat it a few times for him to get it down and then he ran off before we could even ask for drinks. Thankfully the food came out fairly quickly. I had the taco first and that was actually pretty good. The sliders were next. The lamb itself was really good but the olive/lemon combo was not my favorite. Finally we got our mushrooms. Those were only ok and not as good as I was hoping. Despite the waiter's assurance that he would remember our order, he ended up forgetting one item for the table but thankfully they were able to get it to us fairly quickly after we pointed it out. In general, the service was really lacking. The place was not that busy (only one other table outside with us and a few people at the bar) but it seemed like we could never find the waiter. When he did stop by, he never once asked us if we needed anything else and would usually wander away before we could finish talking to him. Overall, I was underwhelmed. I would give the service a 2/5, the food a 3.5/5, and the atmosphere a 4/5.

Awesome gay friendly event space and bar. Super outdoor space in the summer. Highly recommend will visit again

Excellent atmosphere! Highly recommended as a first date venue; intimate and romantic with games available, what a great way to break the ice and get to know one another. Food was excellent, only minor complaint was service was a bit slow. Recommended.

A nice little local spot that's a bit hidden. MadisonTap is classy without being pretentious. Disclaimer: I did not order food here so my review may be a bit biased. The bartender assured us that their vegan options were incredible. MadisonTap features many local Wisconsin beers on tap. They seem to often rotate the beers and keep a solid selection. MadisonTap was spacious with bar seats, tables, and booths available. The design and decor were well thought out. The crowd seems to be young professionals in their mid-20s to early 30s. I don't recall the beers I got here but I do remember prices being ~$7-10 range mark. The bartender and owner place special emphasis on being vegetarian and vegan friendly. Even one of the cocktails used vegan butter. There was a single bartender when I visited but it was a bit slow. We had a great conversation and watched Christmas movies on the projectors. Overall, solid experience. 5/5.

We had fun. Drink and beer selection great. Plenty of room to relax, even on the weekend. the issue we had was that the bartender seemed unbelievably drunk, and was abrasively rude to us. Being a bartender can be grueling (we have all been there) but we were taken aback by the blatant rudeness, almost as if she didn’t want us in the bar. But we all had fun together and that’s what counts.

We had a really nice time here. Our bartender was very knowledgeable and friendly. She was also very attentive given how busy it was due to Halloween customers. There was a great selection of games to use. I also love the idea of a different brewery taking over their taps regularly. We will definitely be coming back here more!