Wando's is my favorite place to visit whenever I'm in Madison! Whether you're enjoying drinks with friends on the first floor, eating a delicious meal on the second, or dancing the night away on the third floor, Wando's is a great destination for a night out in Madison. Their atmosphere on game day is second to none and you'll have plenty of space to watch with your whole group if you arrive early! The drinks are great & food is delicious. I love their cheese curds or veggie burger (I'm a vegetarian) but have heard great things about the Wando Burger! The staff at Wando's is also super accommodating and friendly. Make sure to say hi to Wando if he's in the building to round out the whole experience! 5 stars :) read more

I, for one, have spent way too much time in Wando's...drowning in fish bowls, consuming free bacon on Tuesdays (with $1 PBR's, natch), and generally overindulging myself. This is all in my college years. However, even when I get back to Madison once per year, I still make a stop at Wando's. Why? 1) To reminisce about the above. It's still the same bar but now there are heat lamps outside when you wait in a long line. 2) Fish bowls. One sip will probably do now. Those things are lethal and will leave you with the worst.hangover.ever. 3) Cheap drinks. Although you can likely get these anywhere. The bartenders range from polite to surly and the crowd can completely vary, mostly depending on game nights. It's a bar, not a country club. read more

I've visited Wando's many times and have always had a decent experience, however there was a bouncer I had never seen before working on 7/17/21 at 10:15 PM. He made a very racist comment toward my hometown that my ID states, and continued to laugh about it. I told a nearby manager about the incident and he apologized, but the bouncer remained in his position at the door for the rest of the night. I am truly disappointed that no further disciplinary action was taken. It is unacceptable that employees can get away with saying truly insensitive and utterly racist comments. read more

Let's see: a recap of my time here on a Tuesday night. I was surrounded by relieved, festive MBA students celebrating the end of a ridiculously hard finance midterm - perhaps a social change from the youngsters. While there, I dodged an errant dart falling down from the second floor and I tried some of this well done free bacon in the shadows where I couldn't get freaked out by the massive grease. I thought the bathrooms would be hell, but I was pleasantly surprised to actually find out I could line the toilet and sit on it without dying of a heart attack. But I was a bit shaded out when a freshman girl (who talked about her old high school prom) shared one too many details with a guy she hooked up with. I tried the purple colored fishbowl (which I assume was grape) and it didn't even taste like there was alcohol in it! Anyway, I think it is super funny to hear that they don't allow a single person to buy a fishbowl without evidence your friends will help you. read more

Tatum is the best bartender ever! We hosted our friends 35th birthday party at Wandos and Tatum went Above and beyond bartending our party! Highly recommend read more

Very quiet place with not that much seating for large groups. Drinks are OK and not very busy on a Thursday night. Alright area, nothing special. read more

This is my fav bar in town, 3 levels high, good food, great specials. Bar and restrooms are clean. There are other good bars around, but thus is a step above them. read more

So, I was very afraid of this place for a while. I wasn't sure if I could keep up with screaming undergrad crowd. But you know what, at 1 am, who cares? Good time is a good time no matter how old you are. I didn't try the infamous fishbowl this time, but from other reviewers' comments, that sounds like a must-try for the next time. The bar staffs are very attentive, so the place is actually unexpectedly orderly while keeping all trashed faces happy. They look after everyone, and one of them was kind enough to escort me going down the stairs and asked me if I'll be alright. I really wasn't that drunk, but I found this pretty comforting. read more

One of the most underrated Friday fish frys in Madison with plenty of other great food specials throughout the week. The night life is also great! The third floor is the place to be on weekends, and the fishbowl drinks really show why they have become a Madison favorite! read more

A great Madison bar made famous by their signature drink, The Fishbowl. Wando's has creative drink specials such as Beer and Bacon. Every Tuesday they offer $1 cans of PBR and Coors Light and free bacon, this special is genius and Brat's flip night is the only better Tuesday night special. Another good special is the cheap fish bowl's on Thursday's. The bar consists of three different bars on three separate levels and all the bartender's are efficient and friendly so you don't have to wait as long to get a drink at Wando's as you do at many other Madison bars. Always attracts a big crowd Thursday thru Saturday. Wando's is a fun place to drink at. read more

"You know what today is, right? Taco Tuesday!" That's what I hear from my excited coworker every week. And he has a reason to be excited. $2 for 2 giant tacos. GOOD tacos at that. Giant pile of beef and lots of fresh fixins all the way down to the black olives. For a couple more dollars you can get a delicious cup of chicken tortilla soup, which has enough spice to clear your sinuses but not enough to make you breathe fire. Plus it's mostly cheese, so it's crazy delicious. The rest of their menu is pretty solid. They make a fine wrap. I guess I had an impression that college bars often have lacking food menus. This place proves me very wrong. read more

As it turns out, wandos is a great place to pregame and get intoxicated before a college football game. I cannot see any other reason for going there... Prices are fair, service was fair... great place to meet up with friends. read more

Fun fact today on the menu the soup of the day they have doesn't exist. I was really excited about any kind of soup....

Was one of my favorite bars. Wait staff is flighty, rude and concerned about texting. They do not give any effort. I understand it is a college bar but you are in need of decent workers. It was really the female staff that was the worst. Never seen anything like it. Their job is customer service and they don't have it. Good luck I hope it doesn't hurt business because I loved this place. read more

Tuesday nights, free bacon and $1 beers! what more can you ask for? read more

Wando's - Beer and Bacon! - Bars Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Place is a shit hole. Service is horrible. Asked the bartender for a local beer. She suggested a Dechutes, which is made in Oregon and not Wisconsin. She shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't really know much about their beer. Maybe I'm old and cranky, but I expect more. I would say if over the age of 25 I wouldn't bother. Try Dotty Dumplings. Sit at bar and ask for Harris. Coolest cat in Madison and a hell of a nice guy. read more

Abbey on the 2nd floor helped us out! She deserves a raise. She took a picture for our group. We didnt even ask her to. But we really needed someone to take our picture. She just stepped up to the task. Go Abbey! read more

This was my first time going out with friend up here in the Mad City, and I was quite impressed. We had quite a large crowd in our group, and the second floor (or split level, what ever) was quite spectacular. The fish bowls were awesome if not a little pricey at first to buy. Considering the alcohol content, I would say we got our money's worth, PLUS they were great to split between all of us. WOULD not suggest the blue as it tasted awful. The fishbowls themselves tasted like an alcoholic flavored ice-sicle that you down during summer. Yes, it was really crowded. Yes, there was a lot of college students (and being on the south-east edge of campus, how could there not be?). It took a little less than an hour to get in, but it was definitely worth it. The glass windows on the side offered an interesting view of the drinkers inside (can we say voyageur?). SO, when you go, do these things and it'll be great!: 1) go with a group of people so you can crowd all the dumb-asses out; 2) order as many fishbowls as you think your group can down - red, green, and orange are all good; 3) make sure you have a designated driver for all party members/groups that you meet up - parking LITERALLY just around the block and really easy to remember and get to; 4) enjoy yourself, try something new, and if not there are at least five other bars in the vicinity that you can try too read more

Ugh. Sh*tty college bar. Noisy and crowded with obnoxious drunks all the time. If you want to pay to much money to get wasted with no personal space, go here. Not good for meeting people, impossible to have a conversation. read more

This is a great stop for a quick lunch. We were in/out within the hour. Lots of seating and menu selection items to choose from. I had a hooked for a stuffed grilled cheese with your choice of fries or daily soup. They had clam chowder for the daily soup, so I gave that a try. The soup was really tasty. Full of veggies and clams. I really nice choice to compliment my sandwich. My meal was $5 with the hooked deal. You cannot beat that price! So, I added a beer to wash it down. Why not? My friend ordered the Friday fish sandwich (comes with fries or soup too). That Friday special was $5 too. I'm giving it 3 stars because my cheese was not super warm in my sandwich. I like to have the cheese really melted and mine was starting to harden already and was cool to the touch. I loved that they added bacon (who doesn't LOVE bacon, am I right?) and tomato. I even dipped the sandwich crust in the soup. Really good for dipping. read more

See all

I used to really enjoy this bar but this past night I had a migraine and told her bouncer I was leaving for a brief duration to purchase Advil across the street and would come back for my coat I returned 10 minutes later and the bouncer said you are too drunk and were drunk when you left you are not allowed back into the bar and I said that 10 minutes ago I told you I was going to purchase advil and i would be back soon. but he refused to acknowledge the fact that I had a migraine even tho I told him upon my first departure. i even offered to pull up a screenshot of a doctors note but he refused to acknowledge it. the fact that I had to negotiate with him that I need to get my coat back after i had explained my entire situation was extremely rude and and proved this bars disregard for its customers and their medical needs. read more

Wando's is as good as it gets in Madison! Bacon and beer night, absolutely one of the greatest ideas in the history of man kind! Also a great spot to go if you want a bar with NO underage idiots making fools of themselves. The Friday Fish Fry is to die for! Absolutely fantastic food, VERY highly recommended if you're in Madison! read more

I only come here on Thursdays where fishbowls are the special. Especially tasty after a few 34 oz half price 'ritas at Pedro's. That usually ends the Thirsty Thursday night run. Perfect as it's probably only 11pm and you can still get up for your 8:50 class Friday morning. Pretty genius if I can say so myself. read more

Went to Wando's for the HS coaches' Nike Boom Party. Now football coaches tend to be fatter than the general population. Boom turned out to be prophetic when one fat coach had a blood vessel explode in his leg on the 3rd floor there. I've never seen so much blood in my life, can't believe the guy survived. It took an hour and 2 refills of the mop machine to get everything off the floor. Unbelievable. But that isn't what got this one star- if anything, this experience made it more toward the 2 star just for the unique experience factor. No, for this party, free appetizers were advertised, but a couple of frozen pizzas were put out. Fine, the beer was free, and I don't know if it was the fault of Nike or Wando's but the food was chintzy at the very least. Also, the space wasn't enough for the crowd that came. If I'm going to be jammed into a sausage fest, I need at least a semblance of personal space. Figure it out, guys, a bunch of people on public worker salaries promised free beer- do you think an event like this will underdraw? Just a kind of weird and not so great experience. However, I may go the rest of my life without seeing a dude's leg explode again, so that was probably worth something... read more

A must stop when you come to Madison. Fun atmosphere, friendly and attentive staff and of course the infamous fishbowls!

If I could give this place a zero star then I would. I have had multiple bad experiences here and decided to post now. My friend turned 21 and since she is a student around here she got in the dance floor just fine. However since I am 25, if I don't have a student ID it cost me $5 to get in the dance area. Which is crap. The drinks are mediocre. Also a time before coming here one of the bouncers (off duty and drunk) pushed my friend Ashely into the wall and almost choked her out. It has been nothing but bad experience after bad experience so I decided to post now. Downtown Madison has so many great places do not waste your time here. read more

well they've got the fishbowl... that is pretty awesome. The rest isn't the best. A bunch of people looking to get some. Its three floors which is unique but because there's so many people its just crowded getting around the stairs. The drinks are cheap which is another plus, but just not it for me. read more

I visited the University of Wisconsin recently, where my son attends, and he wanted to show me the night life as part of the tour, this is a very nice place where locals and students can gather to have a nice time, the staff is very friendly. Best part is that isn't pricey at all. read more

Pros: cheese curds are good. Cons: bartender during Wednesday dinner paid more attention to her phone then her customers. I watched the cook go from eating his dinner and drinking a red bull at the bar to go into the fully visible kitchen area and NOT ONCE wash his hands to cook an order. Also watched as he took an used/dirty empty cambro downstairs and come back up with the same container, just refilled with chicken wings. Again, didn't see him wash his hands after touching a doorknob and railing and who knows what else. Watched the waitress take food from a customer's plate (I assumed they were friends) and eat it. My friend I was with asked for a watermelon margarita. They didn't have watermelon, so we said lime would do. I don't believe the bartender had any idea how to mix a margarita. It was pretty gross. Slow service to pay the bill. So called "mild" wings are not that mild. If you don't like spicy, go with the Parmesan garlic. Guess I'll have to go back to try the fishbowl. Maybe cheese curds again too. But not really worth going back for anything else. read more

Good food, good drinks. Free Bacon, fishbowls. What could be better. The Wando burger is always good and the specials are always pretty good. Its at least worth a stop. Tons of parking in the lot next door is cheap also. Its big enough for Kohl center events. read more

I'm torn about Wando's; as a rule, I generally hate this place. The lines, the jerky bouncers, the clientele, and the music. However, their fish fry is quite tasty, and it is pretty much the only place in town where you can get a communal mixed drink-- if a pitcher of beer just isn't going to do it for you. Also the jerky bouncers do effectively manage the population of 19 year olds, so wait until you're 21 for this place, folks. read more

Yes to free bacon, yes to fishbowls, yes to 4 floors of drunk college students.

I came in for happy hour today and drinks were AMAZING!! We got the famous fishbowl and It was worth It! The third floor is where you want to be, the Double line was too long and not worth the wait. read more

fish bowl is wow! Huge. It's better to bring lots of friends along. It's fun because you get to choose the color. We got pink :D But we didn't have the chance to try the food since the chicken was already closed.. read more

If you like to order your drinks by color and suck from a fistful of straws from a fishbowl...and watch college kids fight and vomit, Wando's is the place for you...and it is fun, the boys are cute and unconcious, what more could you ask for? read more

Every time I went there it kinda smelled. I think the sewer must be close to the floor or something. Drinks are normally priced but not too strong. If you want to drink a fishbowl, you could make it at home with some vodka and koolaid. Service is absolutely terrible. I would not recommend it. read more

Good place, unfortunately they don't have signs in the bathroom that help you talk to women. I am too scared in my own abilities to do so. Other than that, I thought their fishbowls were very overpriced at $22, but I understand because drunk people will buy anything. Kudos to them for recognizing this. Keep up the wonderful staff and atmosphere. read more

Wando's is an interesting multi-story bar. It's usually pretty crowded and when its crowded, it feels a little awkward to get around in. The fish bowls is a large draw to a lot of people. They're a definite part of the experience of coming here. Usually plays a variety of music(I've heard country here?) I'm not sure if its a jukebox or what. No pool table but has darts I believe. read more

Bacon Night (with dollar beers) and Fish Bowls, nuff said. A must go to bar for downtown Madison on the weekends.

Great food and even better night life! I always come to Wando's for a good, cheap, and reliable meal. Some of my favorites are the fish fry and tacos. Not only do they have great food specials, but drinks as well. Make sure you try the fishbowl, which Wando's is well known for. read more