Great people, cold drinks and friendly service. The burger special is my favorite! Good food, fast, and served Buy some of the friendliest staff around. Perfect for a quick lunch for business also! read more

One of the best bar burgers I've ever had. Blown away every time I have one. Will definitely be back soon.

Austin was our friendly and attentive server. My husband had the summer sausage sandwich with pepper Jack and I had the ham sandwich with cheddar. We polished them off in about 5 minutes. The regular and sweet potato fries were excellent. The Brandy old fashioned sweet was strong! All very cheap too. read more

This place is one of the few things I actually miss about living in Fitchburg. The BF and I used to come here on a pretty frequent basis. They have really good food, so we often would order by phone and just go pick up a to-go order without stopping for a drink. Or, pop in for an order and have a drink while it's being prepared :) Service was always good. The bar is kept up pretty well, usually nice and clean. The outdoor patio area is really nice. There are 3 restrooms total, one for men, one for women, and one that is neutral. Always use the neutral one as it is much larger and nicer than the other two! There's also a sliding glass door that leads to a smoking room for those who don't want to go all the way outside for a cigarette. As others have mentioned, this does allow smoke to seep in to the bar which kind of stinks (literally), but it is a great convenience for the smoking crowd. Go check this place out! read more

I come here, but I hate this Bar. Smells like vinegar as I'm sure they're trying to kill something.Customer base is sketchy at best. Be careful what night you are there. Drinks are flat. read more

Great service from the one young man who was working. He washed his hands over and over, which made me feel good about cleanliness. Nice locals hanging out here. The bartender/server/cook knew them all by name. Love that! They had Spotted Cow on tap, so that was a nice touch. And the crinkle fries were as good as they looked in the photos. My burger was a little over cooked, but the bacon on my husband's looked amazing. The mayo came in packets. Not sure what to think about that. Great local place. read more

Best bacon cheeseburger EVER. The staff is excellent and the food is superb. I wish somebody had mentioned it to me years ago.

It should tell you how amazing everything here is by the fact that there is a party of at least 25 here, and we were willing to stick it out for the food. The food is pretty astounding. Great onion rings, good cheese curds, and a ridiculous amount of bacon on my bacon cheeseburger. There had to have been 6 pieces on it, and they were that perfect level of crispy. Price is really good for the amount of food you get, and the quality of it. The one downside, is that there is a small room off to the side where people go to smoke. It's opening and closing pretty much always, so that kind of ruins part of the food experience. The smell of cigarette isn't overwhelming, but it's not great either. read more

The hidden gem of (almost) Fitchburg. Family-owned and ran, you can often catch 3 generations of women behind the bar that have hospitality running through their veins. The drinks here are strong, the food is great [cooked in front of you], and the prices way beyond reasonable - which nowadays in Madison is rare. The atmosphere is classic to the "Wisconsin Dive Bar" feel but with a very friendly tone. This place attracts the best of its demographic - almosy every time I'm there someone insist on buying me a drink - once someone paid for my whole meal! Furthermore, if youre a smoker, they also have a smoke room so you won't need to go outside when the weather gets cold. You can buy your cigarettes right at the bar, too. If you're around the Fitchburg area, skip that $11 burger at the other place and stop on by Licaris for something just as good. Friday Fish Fry is a specially good thing to enjoy. Great place, hidden for only those who knows where this treasure lies! read more

Love this place!!! Service is great. It's bar food but its excellent and priced well. Diverse crowd. Chill atmosphere. Darts and pool. We found this joint by accident and love it. read more

The bacon blu cheddar burger maybe one of the best I have ever had! It may have had 1/2lb of bacon on it and the beef of the burger wasn't overtaken by it. bun was soft and fresh.. This is a hidden jem in Madison. $3.00 pints of micro beer! Awesome My only warning is the wings. If your like me and like your Buffalo wings tossed in a sauce thus isn't the place .. but then again you should here for the Burgers.. will go out of my way to have this burger again! read more

Licari's Bar and Grill - Dive Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We were on a mission to use some Bucky Book Coupons and stumbled upon this place - I'm glad we did. Its a typical dive bar worth checking out. Our table was a bit dirty, but we happened to have disinfectant wipes because we were taking our infant to a tavern on a Sunday like any decent parent would. We chose a spot between in the middle of the patron spectrum. On one side we had some real cultured-like folks in heavy conversation about politics and war and a few fellas still breathing hot from the night before nursing a couple liquor drinks at noon while they dropped F-bombs. I thought it was nice that they thought to apologize for their language but totally unnecessary. Their conversation made me miss hanging out with my Uncle Jimmy and by older brother. Anyway there was a mostly full bar, an 8 top ordering food, the cultured table from Maple Bluff, plus the guys that were banged up from last night at least in the place - likely more. There was only one staff member working the bar, serving, bussing, and cooking and she handled it all like a champ. The 8 top got their food all at once and nobody complained about anything. She was a little winded when she got to us but was still prompt, friendly, and accurate. She was upfront about being in the weeds (probably because we had a baby) but we didn't care - we were just happy to be out of the house for a change. 16 oz Bud Pounders were served with a cold glass. My wife got a craft beer. Both came out quickly considering... My wife had the fish and chips which was better than average. The slaw was fresh and well refrigerated (I get geeked out about room temp slaw). I had an excellent burger on a fresh bun and picturesque melted cheese draped across the top. Onion rings were excellent and the bowling alley fries were hot out of the fryer. The darts were missing the tips but the baby thought there were great. I didn't see any pull tabs but I bet they have them somewhere. They also had what appeared to be a newly remodeled outdoor patio with its own walk in cooler. We made a mental note for the summer when we want bar food but hate to waste the sun indoors. As busy as she was, our server didn't complain or roll her eyes about the Bucky Book Coupon. All around a positive experience. read more

Licari's is right next to the Super 8 hotel for wayward travelers who meant to stay closer to downtown Madison. It's delightful and within walking distance for those who want to get wasted and wander back to the hotel. They have Spotted Cow on tap! Also if you ask for a double mixed drink it comes in a 16 ounce beer cup!!! awesome!!!! Don't go there on Sunday if you are rooting for a team that is playing a Wisconsin team. We almost got heckled out of the bar. Awkward. On the other hand, we got free chicken wing snacks during the game! (once everyone got over our Northwestern sweatshirts...) Don't play darts. very confusing dart machine. bartenders are very local! read more

The restaurant was uncomfortably hot. Perfect cheese curds but the fish was pre-breaded from frozen...cooked perfectly however. Great Service! read more

Well if you want a bacon burger, you definitely get bacon when you come in here. I've never had a burger with so much bacon on it. They were super busy for the lunch hour on Friday so it did take awhile for us to get our food but it did taste really good. The bartender was friendly enough. Prices are reasonable. read more

Came here the other night checking out the area. The bartender was talking to her friends and it took another patron to get her attention for me after a few minutes of sitting there. I ordered the bacon bleu cheddar burger which was pretty good, though it came with plastic silverware (had to ask for silverware, another minus on service) for some reason. I'm not a fan of styrofoam or plastic use, especially when dining in. It took a few minutes after finishing my meal and beer for the bartender to notice I was ready for my check. I don't know if the service is typically like that, but I was not impressed by it at all. The atmosphere was pretty loud, music was cranked up even with a few patrons there. Patrons were loud too, and pretty vulgar, not that I really mind the vulgarity but worth mentioning for readers. I'll give it another shot, but the service was pretty bad. I know people have off days, so I'm willing to check it out again sometime. I encourage the business owners to forego the plastic silverware when dining in (and look for alternatives for take out), it's unnecessary, not cost-effective, and will very likely end up in a landfill instead of recycling. read more

Happened into this place, good bar food, stiff drinks, and great staff. Get the bacon cheese burger, it comes with a solide handfull of bacon on it read more

The place is clean, the staff is friendly and the prices are quite reasonable. However, this place is just average. Hidden behind Firehouse Subs, it is a great place for a casual, quick lunch. I order a cheeseburger with swiss. I was not asked what I wanted temperaturewise. They have several side options which include chips and various mayo-type salads. I upgraded to fries. I was a little disappointed I did this. They were standard crinkle cut. Not very impressive. A lunch for two under $20 is probably standard. So try this place when you are looking for a simple burger or sandwich. I would definitely go back again for a quick bite. read more

Very nice family run bar. Burgers are great. Fries are crispy and thin. They offer a full bar menu, chicken wings (boneless or bone in), chicken sandwich, burgers, steak, brats, hotdogs, etc. Try the Mac & Cheese bites. Sounds weird but they are really good! 5/5 peeps! read more

Cheap drinks during happy hour. Ok, pretty cheap drinks any time of day (The happy hour is 50 cents off a tap beer!). This is a traditional dive bar with good food. We had a couple of beers as they had a nice selection of beers on tap. They do offer some micro brews on tap too. If it's not on tap, ask if they have it in can or bottle. The menu is on the wall. Beer menu as you come in the front door. The food menu is along the back wall. After a beer, we opted to order the steak sandwich with onion rings. I read an earlier rave review about the steak sandwich and the onion rings and had to try them both. The steak is cooked to order and they have a list of toppings that you can choose from (fried onions, raw onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato, etc). The onion rings were good and done to perfection. They don't seem handmade, but they have good flavor. And the portion seemed correct. The steak had A LOT of gristle and was pretty inedible. What an absolute bummer! I was literally chewing on a piece for minutes, then realized that it was not jerky and shouldn't be that tough. The steak sandwich lowers my score here- as does the 'smoke room' attached to the restaurant. Not sure what that room is, but it was a solid white plume of smoke for most of our stay. I could see people walking in/out, but you couldn't see them once they entered (it was that smoky). I know it was humid that day, but that's kinda crazy. Even for me... read more

Licari's Bar and Grill - Old fashioned sour with olives - Dive Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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My favorite shot and a beer spot in Madison. The bartenders have all been there forever, which brings consistency. Friendly staff an regulars. Oh, and they have a grill as hot as the sun and crank out the best burgers in town. read more

This place was awesome. We came to town to visit our son that lives in Madison. Found this place on Yelp and loved it. We all (3) ate and the food was really good. The beer was cold and the drinks were strong. Prices were very affordable. The service was also good. read more

Went for lunch today as it was a beautiful day. Food was good. Service was friendly, but it seemed as though the kitchen lost our order. took 25 min (or more) from order to receive the food. Took long enough we ended up having it packed to go. Once that request was made, they handled it quite well. Everyone reported having good food. Diddnt find any bleu on my "Bacon Cheddar Bleu Burger" though. All in all, I'll be back as the food was good and they set up the "to go" meals pretty well appointed. Even included a mint (though perhaps put the mint in the cold section of the container?) Nice place for a "dive" bar and a nice patio. We will try again and report back. read more

Great burgers and atmosphere. Looks to be a local hangout but very welcoming. Great selection of craft beer and 30+ menu options

I recently went here with a friend I met on Bumble BFF, and we had an amazing time!! I would highly recommend for a girls night out. The fish and chips were the best I've had in a while! read more

I have gone here off and on for a year and a half. It's everything you'd expect in a small Wisconsin bar. Cheap drinks, good grill food, friendly service, pool table, darts and a jukebox. It's not fancy but it's fantastic all the same. I really like the Friday fish fry. Final note: they don't have a lot of craft beer but they have enough. read more

Very good burgers. Has the hole in the wall atmosphere I like. Only reason for 4 stars is it Has smoking room right off the main area though so when they walk in and out so does the smoke read more

This place is a gem! Food is inexpensive and super excellent - their fries are served hot and crispy!!! Burgers are juicy and perfect. Service is TERRIBLE. We ordered at 12:05 and food wasn't delivered until 12:32 - We were never approached after we recieved our food as to how it was or if we needed a drink refill. The place was busy and only had 1 cook and an old lady waiting tables as well as tending the bar. She was very slow and had trouble keeping up. I will however come back as the food was that good. Next time, I'll call ahead to place my order!!! read more

Great local tavern. Staff is quick and super friendly. Bar food is excellent with decent prices. Stiff cocktails and cold beer. Merica

Always feel welcome when you walk in the door! My boyfriend introduced me to this hidden gem! Everything on the menu is great and prices are just as good! Wings and cheese curds are my favorites! read more

Awesome staff!! Best prices on drinks in Madison. And the food is great bar food too!

Very welcoming Bar! From the staff to the guy sitting next to you! Food is amazing! Daily lunch specials during the week. Burgers are cooked to order with fresh Knoches beef! This time of the year the patio is open and a great oasis. Def a must go! read more

My wife and I were going to go to Licari's for dinner at about 8:00 PM on Tuesday 1/3/17. When we walked in, the place reeked of cigarette smoke so we left. read more

The food was horrible. I asked for a RARE burger, and when i got it, it was medium and charbroiled. The last thing i wanted was a burnt burger! The bartender, Cindy - the owner's daughter, was snippy from the get go and when i asked for a new burger, she started slamming stuff around. She had a lousy attitude and it showed! I will never go back there again. read more