Found this place on a whim and glad I did. We just moved to the area and are trying all different places for fish fries and whatnot. When you show up it doesn't look like much on the outside but as soon as you walk in, it's another story. Really nice atmosphere, excellent service and great food. Really happy with the sizable beer tap selection, along with interesting foods and good looking drinks. My wife and I each had the basic deep fried cod with French fries and we liked it so much, we went back the next day for brunch. The steak and egg tacos were good and my daughter got French toast dippers which were phenomenal. The bloody Mary's were great as well. Overall thrilled and will be back, without question. Highly recommend. read more

This beautiful bar and restaurant is a neighborhood gem. I went with two friends before a concert. The menu is very inventive. I was feeling a bit full from my earlier lunch so I had the chicken tenders. They came with fries for 9 dollars. My friends had the tacos and the Crab Rangoon Nachos. I took one of the Nachos and that was very good. There were good sized portions for all. The Beer list is great. Lots to try. I am interested in coming back for sure! read more

Super good! The Sunrise Smash cocktail was terrific. The breakfast burrito and Cali club were hearty, and had the option for greens, which I'm a big fan of. Service was fun and friendly and the beer selection was excellent. Not too expensive. Will definitely come back and recommend. read more

Bear & Bottle - Beer menu - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Fabulous! A great looking building with a modern restaurant. Reminds me of a place you would see in Milwaukee or Chicago. Garage doors open for easy "open air" restaurant. Nice bar and outside seating. Great for large groups or small. The food. Two of us ate and it was very good. The mac and cheese was perfect! It had delicious bacon and slices of jalapeño in it. It was the perfect amount of spice and of course you could avoid them if it got too spicy for you. Great flavor and texture. The california chicken club was just as delicious. The bread was not too thick and perfectly grilled. Love that rosemary sourdough bread from Madison Sourdough! The fries were perfectly cooked and not soggy. Beer and cocktail list is good. The Northside punch was refreshing and sweet, but not too sweet you couldn't drink it all. Service was friendly and swift. I can't wait to go back! Try it and let's keep the Northside improving! read more

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A very nice place with the decor of "modern industrial" without going over-the-top. Appears to be fairly new. Garage doors towards the street that I imagine are open on warm nights/day along the road (traffic noise?). A very open and airy interior but still able to have a nice conversation with your table-mate. Very friendly service. A nice selection of beer, wine, and mixed drinks. Focus is on the craft beers from the Madison area and the West Coast. Well-done in that regard. The food is what keeps my review from being a 4-star. It came quickly, was served hot, was presented and prepared well, but the selection was not quite to our liking. Menu was a mix of starters, salads, entrees, and sandwiches; not a large list but ok. I wouldn't call it "fusion" but it's an interesting mix of Asian and American. Some time was spent coming up with these dishes. A fair amount of spice. Maybe I was being picky that night but I had a difficult time finding something I wanted that didn't have a particular ingredient I'm avoiding or don't care for. My wife had the BBQ Ribs which she enjoyed (except for the corn) and I had the Pork Belly. Thankfully I had the Sambal sauce on the side as it was super hot (along with the Kimchi). Portion size was decent and actually generous considering the prices (especially her 1/2 rack). I'm on a select diet now also which doesn't help but I guess we just didn't hit it off here. Not higher than 3 stars now but I think we'll have to come back and give it another chance when in the area. read more

The unique decor and character of Bear & Bottle took me by surprise, as it was done extremely well. Nestled on the near north side, this seemingly quiet area is home to a great new Madison food and drink establishment. I loved the layout which had the bar and dining area divided by a tasteful wall. When we went, the bar was pretty busy and the dining area was not, however we weren't bothered one bit by any noise coming from the bar. The beer selection on tap rotates monthly and they had some good options and they let us taste test. My husband got the tacos, where were great. I got a salad. We shared the sticky wings which were fantastic. This is a great addition to the north side! Well done! read more

We went to Bear & Bottle for the first time last night. We had the fried pickle and cauliflower appetizers, which all of us thought were great. I chose the Braised Short Ribs which were wonderful. The beef just fell apart, you hardly needed a knife. The others in our party got the tacos, the Chicken Club sandwich and the Smoked Chicken Wings. Everyone enjoyed their dinners with the exception of the Wings, which were so hot that he had to scrape the sauce off to be able to eat them. The atmosphere is nice, very casual. The staff was friendly and eager to please. One problem (that I find in many restaurants) is that the shades they have at the LARGE windows do not block the sun. I'm not talking about daylight, but when the sun is setting, the light still comes through the shades, and those at our table who were facing the window had to keep moving around to find a way to block the sun from their eyes. It would be better to have a light blocking shade like shutters that can be opened and shut easily when the sun moves. read more

We went here a week ago and enjoyed the food. Came again with my wife on a Saturday and all we could get was the skeletal brunch menu till 3pm. There's like 8 items on the menu and I couldn't eat any of them due to allergies. We asked the waitress if they could prepare regular lunch item menus but she said no. Why not? There were like 7 people in the whole restaurant on a weekend. It's no wonder why these places go out of business so often. Maybe I don't know anything about the industry but why is it so hard to make something you have in the kitchen but isn't on the menu? Won't be going back again. read more

Came here on a Sunday for a late lunch. Got greeted and seated at a high table. Very nice and clean atmosphere, rustic feel. Their menu is one page, offer a nice mix of food fusion. Ordered the smoked wings to start and it was good. They had a side of blue cheese I think but I'm not a fan of blue cheese besides that the wings was average tossed in buffalo sauce. Got my Banh Mi with tossed greens which was good. The wife liked the tossed greens. My sandwich was nice and thick, the pork was a little dry but with the sauce and cucumber it made up for it. The wife got the spice pork torta which was big and looked good. The only thing about it was that the pulled pork was dry, if they had some kind of sauce added or something to dip into it'll be good. Over all it's a nice place on the north side. read more

Bear & Bottle - Smoked winga - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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First I will say that the atmosphere and overall design/layout is really awesome here. I came here for lunch on Taco Tuesday, and they have a deal to pick any 3 taco on their menu for $11. On paper this is a great deal, and they even have a rotating special taco for this deal. I got the Korean Shrimp, Al Pastor, and the Beef Barbacoa tacos. They were average sized and average flavored profiled. I liked them, but didn't think they were anything special, and the tacos also had a lot of sauce on them. Let it be noted, that I am not a huge fan of sauce, so in that regard I am biased. Overall, a soft 4 because I liked the design of the place, they had a good selection on tap, and great service. I would have given them 5 stars if the tacos were either 3 for $8 or if they had more flavor like a spicy bite. read more

Service was great - Jamie was an excellent waitress and one of the few redeeming factors besides the beer quality and selection. I cannot say the same about the atmosphere or food. The windows were open, which at the time let in a lot of cold air into a very noisy dining area. As for food, I ordered the salmon avocado toast with fries which would have been fine if, A, the toast wasn't so hard you needed a steak knife to get a bite, B, the fries weren't so lackluster, and C, if the entire package wasn't obliterated with watercress. Seriously, watercress? That adds such a niche bitterness that really felt out of place. I could forgive it but then came dessert - blueberry-lemon bread pudding... which was ALSO doused in watercress! Why??? Why would you do that to this poor dish??? I took a bite with the watercress and it ruined the sweetness of the dish. It tasted better once I took it all off but the taste of watercress lingered. Overall the food wasn't all that, the atmosphere was a bit uninspired, and watercress is a bad addition to most dishes. Final score: watercress/5 read more

One of our favorite places to eat. Great service. They remember our drink preferences. Excellent specials and "bowls."

Pretty underwhelmed. Sure they have a good list of California tap beers, and a cool interior that can open outside easily, but it just wasn't that great. More hype than real deal. We were excited by the menu, so we had lunch burger/sandwich, a couple beers. Unfortunately, we left fairly disappointed and it was a bit pricer than we hoped. read more

This place is amazing. Great food, many beer selections and they actually have a great wine list. The service is attentive but not overwhelming. Interesting and fresh food Check it out! read more

My boyfriend and I went in to sit at the bar and order a beer. No one acknowledged us, but some bartenders kept looking at us. Finally one stops by and drops off menus. Then he doesn't come back. I see him hanging out at the other end of the bar. No one else notices that we don't have drinks. Finally the bartender that gave us menus comes back and asks us if we've been helped, which was weird because he gave us menus so I assumed he was going to help us. We finally get out beers. Awhile later another bartender checks on us to see if we wanted to order any food. Then we finish our drinks. And we wait. And wait. And wait. Meanwhile a new bartender shows up. She slowly moves around the bar. Stares at customers. Looks annoyed that she's there. I haven't seen our bartender in 10 minutes. I have no idea where he is. Finally, a completely different person asks us if we would like another drink. We say no and that we are finished. He says ok and takes our glasses. So we think someone will be getting us the check. Nope. And we wait. I come to the realization that we could get up and leave and no one would know the difference. But I want to pay for what I purchased. I flag down the annoyed bartender, originally thinking she may be a manager. She was not. I start explaining the situation. I get a blank look. No apology. I continue explaining the situation. No apology. She goes off to find our bartender. He never rang in our drinks. He finally come back and drops the check. No apology. No tip. I have no interest in returning to this restaurant. read more

Disappointing experience overall. We didn't have a server stop at our table for the first 15min so we had to go back to the host stand and ask for one. When asking the server if a wine was good she responded with "um ... I don't really know, whatever gets you f--ked up right" and a laugh. Needless to say the service continued to disappoint and the food was not redeeming. The menu seemed random and the food itself was a 3/5. There are much better places to visit in the Madison area. Would not recommend. read more

Great atmosphere, great locations, great drinks. We plan to go here a lot since we just moved to this neighborhood and it's a great spot! Truth: don't go for the food. We had the Asian bowl and a chicken sandwich. It was sub-mediocre. The bowl was just some rando ingredients on dry rice:( Sandwich was just okay. We really want to support this place and they're doing a great job minus the food, which seems to be their reputation so far. Comon, B&B!! We want this to be our fav place, can you step up the food just a tiny bit? read more

I visited on a couple different occasions but most recently I sat at the outdoor patio and loved it. The noise from larger trucks going by was occasionally difficult for conversation but I loved being outside more than the noise bothered me. As usual, there were a number of tough choices in regards to the drink options as well as so many food options that sound good. Service is attentive and efficient adds to the welcoming atmosphere of the space. I've previously bellied up to the bar and enjoyed the knowledge of the bar tender regarding the beers that they have on tap (a California focus) and their various can and bottle options. I enjoyed the samples that were available for the taps and made good use of the advice regarding the items I couldn't sample. I will certainly be back to try out more of the beers and enjoy some meals with friends. A wonderful addition to the Eastside/Northside neighborhood. read more

Bear & Bottle - A&BLT Salad. - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Bear & Bottle is a great addition to Madison's Northside. We've visited 3-4 times and the food and service have been impeccable each visit. I've tried the Burger & Fries, Cheese curds, Duck Confit Sliders, Shrimp Tacos and Club Sandwich - all have been delicious. If you're on the Northside, looking for great food and some fun - stop by Bear & Bottle, I think you'll be glad you did. Enjoy! we have. read more

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Bear & Bottle has been a great addition to the Northside scene (not too long ago, I probably wouldn't have used "Northside" and "scene" together in a sentence but we've got a lot more going on here these days). They're California inspired, so the tap list is split between West coast and WI (cleverly titled Mendota Coast) beers. Due to the west coast focus, I see several brews here that I don;t usually see in Madison, which is nice in a city where we are admittedly VERY spoiled when it comes to beer selection. We've really enjoyed the food, with the smoked chicken nachos (split between two of us) becoming a pretty frequent meal. The patio is fantastic. Have no fear that it's pretty close to North Sherman, the traffic noise isn't bad. Garage doors open much of the restaurant to the outdoors, for an atmosphere that's finally beginning to catch on in Madison establishments. There's also one the South side of the building, so the bar seats have a nice al fresco feel as well. read more

Definitely great for groups (with or without kids), sports fans and folks looking for a quick bite. You should check out B&B to enjoy the modern French-country style interior with tons of natural light and numerous flat screens in the bar area. People are friendly and it's a nice addition to Madison's non-downtown scene. The food (in our case corn chowder, cheese curds and pork belly bahn mi) were fine but won't rock your world. Service was a touch slow and unremarkable (surprising for a weekend lunch). Great wine by the glass, craft beer and bourbon menu. read more

So I have been here on several different occasions. What they do, they do amazing. There is a single tortilla on the taco. Dislike. Heavily. However, the tacos themselves are amazing. The desserts are amazing. My favorite thing on the menu? The short rib sliders on the app menu. They come with bleu cheese. To be honest, I am not a fan of bleu cheese but they compliment the amazing sliders. I can not stop. Love love love. The venue itself it great. On a nice day the doors open, so you can be inside but benefit from so much fresh air. Love it. read more

Great evening tonight with my adult granddaughter! Tacos were great. Ben provided excellent service! Even ran my credit card out to me when I left it behind! Thank you all for making our late Christmas a nice evening!!! read more

The northside really needs a restaurant like the Bear & Bottle. The design of the restaurant with its roll up walls, and outdoor seating is trendy. The menu is good, and the staff friendly. After two visits I am disappointed with this place. The bar must be sixty feet long, but after I ordered a Mojito, our waitress came back and said "sorry, we cant make that drink for you". Really? They can't make my favorite summer drink. On my next trip I ordered a basic burger, and it was inedible. The restaurant did take half off the price of the burger. I ended up going to Manna next door, for a muffin to take home because I was still hungry. Don't get me wrong, I want this place to succeed, but if they can't mix a simple drink or a basic burger, then there are problems brewing. I think that the owners need to take a step back and review their goals for this concept. read more

The food was amazing. I got the orange chicken salad and it was better than expected. My husband got the spicy pork torta and he thought it was great. Decor is beautiful. Beer list is good. Our server was AMAZING. Insanely helpful without being annoying. read more

Bear & Bottle - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Stopped by here for quick lunch before we continued our long drive. This restaurant is not quite pet friendly but you can however tie your pets and have them on the outer side of the patio. Very spacious restaurant with modern transitional decor. They had both indoor and outdoor seating. Ordered the street corn and crab rangoon salad for appetizers and it was so delicious. Had the chicken verde tacos for my entree and that was on point as well. I love this place and will certainly visit if I happen to be in town again. read more

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This place is amazing! They put a lot of love and creativity into the food, and have a friendly staff. So happy to have a place like this on the Eastside of Madison. Its going to be one of my favorite places for sure! Highly recommend! :) read more

Bear & Bottle - Strawberry coconut soup! Also u must try the sliders, a must! - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I've been to B&B a few times since my initial visit and during my most recent visit we ordered the nachos again. This time they were packed with the tasty toppings and still overflowing with chips. Not sure if I just had a light batch last time or they're making some improvements, but either way, they were delicious and very filling. B&B is becoming one of my new faves. I love when the garage doors are open and the breeze is flowing through and their cocktails are refreshing and pretty inventive. They also do a Friday fish fry which our bartender was talking up - can't wait to try that as well! read more

Wasn't sure what to expect after reading some other reviews. But I was so impressed I felt compelled to leave a review for B+B. That atmosphere was fantastic, definitely one of the coolest places in Madison. We had great weather so the garage doors were open. The dark wood interior and retro light bulbs work. Seems trendy but not too try hard if that makes sense (unlike some other places in town...). Our server was attentive, funny, and offered some recommendations. They had a great beer selection. Was impressed they had Ballast Point's octoberfest on tap along with some breweries I've never tried before. The crab rangoon nachos were unique and tasty. Barbacoa tacos were very good. As was the spicy pork torta. Would definitely go back. read more

This place is great for food and drinks that are updated frequently. Try out their new brunch! Everything is incredible...especially the homemade chorizo. Breakfast margarita and blood orange mimosa shown. read more

Bear & Bottle - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I thought this place was excellent. We went here on a Friday night, and had been told it would be 25-30 minutes so we went an bought a drink at the bar. We stood around the standing table, which I thought was an awesome idea for those waiting to be seated. After maybe 20 minutes we were seated. I already knew, after reading reviews, I was getting the spicy BBQ shrimp tacos and boy did they not disappoint. These were the best shrimp tacos I have ever had. My wife had the Thai pork belly tacos, which were good also. Overall vibe here is great, the service was excellent and I hope to return here again soon. read more

Bear & Bottle - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Very good food. I loved the tuna appertizer. I am happy to see modern appertizers on the menu. Bloody mary was delicious. Staff was very nice. One of the owners stopped by to check on us. Nice atmosphere and pictures look great with the burnt wood. read more

Bear & Bottle - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Great food and service,must try poke bowl delicious.... drinks our great too and $$$ not bad

Living on the north side I was excited to see this new addition on Sherman ave. I drove by and was surprised to see a cool pub with "garage doors" open on a beautiful day. I ended up taking my son here for lunch. We both got chicken. I the chicken verde tacos and my son the California chicken sandwich, or something like that. The restaurant was busy, and loud as others said. Part of that has to do with the acoustics. The food took a long time to arrive, I had two delicious beers while I waited. A nice beer selection. While the dishes sounded great on the menu, and had some flavors to it. The chicken in my taco was very dry, and the tortilla wasn't steamed very well and fell apart. My son said his sandwich was also dry. Neat place. I'll try some other dish next time. But I'll probably just stop here for beer and apps. read more

I'm liking the direction their menu has been going in. Someone is putting in effort and it shows. Consistently good food and service. Love the quality of restaurant in the neighborhood, as there isn't much. I'm always happy with Bear and Bottle. read more

Amazing ribs! Great spot for friends and family! Wait staff is top notch. Wish the menu had a bit more options. It is mostly tacos and salads. The alcohol choices are plentiful. The area around the restaurant is not the best but they are a pretty new build. read more

Bear & Bottle - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Will not go back poor slow service. Water glass filthy. Overpriced not friendly. Great location

I've rarely been treated to such derelict, rushed, and inconsiderate service at any other restaurant. From the moment we walked in the door, it was clear my date and I were an inconvenience, intolerably near closing time. If we had worn scarlet letters on our chests, we wouldn't have felt more unwelcome in colonial New England. The server and hostesses communicated their disdain for our late arrival with rude glances, prompting requests, and ultimately pulled the signed bill from beneath my elbow in the middle of a conversation under the cover of the din from the still-crowded bar. I almost asked if someone would be willing to front the cab fare home, so eager was the staff at this establishment to see us gone. We ordered two cocktails and two main dishes less than 5 minutes after being seated. The drinks were average, the pork tasty and the chicken nachos were quite good. But we felt like we were stabbing innocent children with our utensils the entire 50 minutes we spent inside the building. Neither of us will be back. read more

The tacos rock some of the best pub style food i've had. Great selection of alcohol, would recommend The Golden Point IPA. It has great flavor. Love this place! read more

The drinks are small and over priced. The food is what they can get out of the frozen food section of their purveyor. The kitchen staff doesn't have the talent to do entrees on Friday night forcing you to order fish fry, apps, salads or burgers. Our table was seated at 5:15 on a Friday night ordered the crab Rangoon nachos only to find out 5 minutes later they were out. The cauliflower bites were over seasoned and we got maybe 5 bites. One person at our table got the fish fry and (he's a chef with a rare Friday night off) said it was soggy and sat under a heat lamp for too long. "It might have been good 10 minutes ago." The salad my wife got was under dressed (nothing at all) she refused to say anything. The space is great but the empty buildings across the street and next to them makes the area feel sad. The beer list isn't that balanced, it's ipa heavy no ales. Yes Cali has other beers then ipa's Won't go back. read more