The Caribou Tavern

A friend introduced me to the Bou. I love the small townie feel of the bar. MOST patrons, especially the regulars are welcoming. I have yet to have the food, but getting drunk here as the first and/​or last stop is always awesome. My favorite bartender is Winslow! For many reasons but my top reason, well, that man is a beast! With an overpacked bar he can remember your drink, to refill and has the most positive attitude in chaos. If your feeling like you want rowdier scene, downtown Madison isn’t far, so hope on a bus or a cab and you got a good night.

Great beer choices, always rotating. Best burgers in Madison in my opinion. The staff is super sassy but it adds to the atmosphere of the place. Cheap and awesome. Love it here.

I sometimes wonder if the patrons of «The ‘bou» know what day it is, then I visited on a Sunday and got my answer in the form the of Packers paraphernalia. The customers seem more committed to this place than their homes, and it shows. Combined with the cozy atmosphere, the conviviality of the regulars helps give this place its gleeful salubrity.

Absolutely a hidden gem! The burgers here are awesome and super cheap. They also have pretty cheap alcohol (average prices for the area, though). The bartender is always very attentive and generally up for a good chat. It’s definitely a change from the State Street scene. You will generally find local (non-​Epic /​non-​student) Madisonians here with maybe three patrons in the other two categories.

Good burger, slow service. It’s a nice perk being close to the laundromat. The people seem pretty nice, and older crowd for a Monday night.

We started the dive bar tour after lunch and bloodys. This was the first stop on our tour and it was a classic dive, see my pictures.
The place has poker machines and an Atm. The place filled to max while we’re there and seems very popular. They have a grill and serve food if you want a bite. Everyone I saw getting food was ordering burgers so that must be there thing.
Service was friendly and we had a Wi dive bar good time.

Solid.
+ Meets every criteria for a true, townie/​local/​dive bar
+ Small space with bar that extends entire length of the building
+ Great dive bar feel; you can tell there’s a long and storied history here
+ Despite being a dive bar, it felt clean and comfy
— Limited tap selection
+ Dive bars should have limited tap selections
— Taps are pricey (two taps were $ 10.50)
+ Typical selection of domestic bottled/​canned beers
+ Friendly bartender and patrons
+ Good TouchTunes juke box/​system
+ A few strategically placed televisions
+ Excellent cheeseburger. Cooked a perfect medium rare, nice sear, perfect amount of cheese, and a super soft (yet durable) buttered bun. Bargain at $ 5
+ Fries were perfectly cooked — crisp and hot
+ Food arrived quickly despite the place being relatively busy at 6:30pm
— Cash only (typical of a dive bar)
+ ATM on-​site with reasonable service fee

The bartender was just AWFUL, NOT SARAH OR WINSLOW, she refused to give me her name, but she was a loud mid to LATE 40S, aging hipster with hair that is graying very fast, thinks she is the center of the universe in any situation, and had the audacity to actually talk about my friends and I with her other old hipster friends at the other end of the bar while we were still there, and very loudly so we could hear it, I felt like it was the lunch room in high school again. Needless to say we will never be coming in there again, and such a pity because the food is quit good. Oh well, there’s always mickeys.

We had some time to kill on a friday afternoon before Forequarter opened, and The Caribou beckoned.
Stepping in, immediately we felt welcomed though clearly we weren’t locals or regulars. There was an eclectic mix of younger and older clientele, this is probably one of the first places i’ve been with mature ladies at the bar, and behind the bar. It was very welcoming, the crowd had a fun time watching Jeopardy and there was a palpable camaraderie among the group. I didn’t even have a legendary burger and still loved the place.
Though we had a round of Blatz, there were plenty of local craft beer options, notably Ale Asylum, Capital, New Glarus, and others. Overall this place had plenty of authentic character, and I hope to belly up here again someday soon.

My roommate and I are doing an informal burger tour of Madison. We’ve been to a handful of dive bars and a couple of nicer restaurants. This was BY FAR the best burger we’ve had. The meat was excellently cooked; the bun was absolutely fantastic (is that something you can even say was fantastic!?); the bacon was melt in your mouth. Oh my gosh. Go here and get a burger! You won’t regret it.

This place is a total dive. Nowhere to sit except at the bar, and the beer selection is so-​so. Why the 4 stars, you ask? The burgers. This place has some of the tastiest, freshest burgers and fries you can get in Madison. Totally stripped down burger, but the meat and bun are just amazing. You have to eat one to understand. Go there, and get one right now.

We were visiting Madison to see a concert and found Caribou in Unilocal walking distance from our B&B. We were looking forward to having some burgers at a great dive bar.
Sit down, order drinks — and we tell the bartender we wanted to order food.
We got a HUGE EXAGGERATED GROAN, with shoulders slumping down and leaning on the bar.
NEEDLESS to say — we did not order food and went to our concert with empty bellies. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Perfect. If you want a great burger and a few cold ones. We ordered a pair of cheeseburgers (regular and the ‘Bou) and fries and she loved her burger. I too thought it was great. Prepared just behind the bar and a nice toasty bun. We then went with jalapeño poppers for dessert. Diverse tap and bottle selections. This is a bar no doubt. No tables, just the bar and a line of stools along the back row. So, you’ll share yours and share in others’ conversations. This may be our new pre Badger hockey spot.

I love this place. It’s like an escape back into reality from the oddness of Madison, which can be quite refreshing. Down-​to-​earth crowd, bar food as you’d expect, and friendly staff who don’t think they’re better than you are. Good beer, good food, good people.

After 2 years in Madison, I finally made it to the Caribou. I ordered the Caribou burger with cheddar and a side order of cheese curds. The bun for the burger was mind blowing. I devoured my meal in record time and found myself planning my next visit.
There are many great meals in Madison, and that burger is one of them.
(Cheese curds were not prize winning)

Love this dive bar! I stop by here and grab a burger and fries while I wait for my laundry. The burger has a perfect buttery bun, and is topped with pickles, cheese, and caramelized onions. Basic and delicious. I like to drench my fries with the ranch that they have and I’ll order a Pepsi. There is usually a very welcoming lady who works the bar. She has vibrant white hair and she really is a sweet heart. Very attentive and makes you want to come back! Till’ my next load of laundry, I shall see you soon Caribou Tavern!

It’s a frigid night, but I don’t want to cook. There’s nothing in the refrigerator that resembles any sort of meal that can be slapped together unless I want to give a pickle taco sans any goodies a try. I don’t. If I was a less fortunate soul, I’d have to get dressed into something resembling publicly acceptable and hike it to the Pinkus McBride up the street, but I don’t…I have the ‘Bou.
The Caribou is my neighborhood’s dive gem. I can walk in through the back door, in anything that counts as «clothes.» It’s a bar, it’s small, it’s dark. There’s a jukebox and darts, and only one person working any night I’ve ever been in. They are cordial and willing to banter while bar tending and cooking the food. It’s cash only, leave the AMEX at home. The crowd is heavily bearded or has something else interesting going on with their facial hair/​hair in general, but with a streak of friendliness you’ll only find in the Midwest. The music is eclectically good, since you may have forgotten that there is a time and place for slow jamz and AC/​DC back-​to-​back.
This is my favorite Madison burger. The bread is fresh, the meat is from Jenifer St. Market, and they basically cook it in front of you, to order. There’s no question of freshness, and you can customize as you wish (yes, I’ll take extra onions and pickles). Make it a cheeseburger if you’re feeling frisky. Not everything is as magically delicious as the burger unfortunately — I am a grilled cheese aficionado, and my worst grilled cheese in Madison has probably been at the Caribou. It breaks my heart, but then I fill that grilled cheese sized hole with a beer.
The beer selection is decent, and they have interesting stuff coming through on their rotating tap. You can get your basic cocktail on here too, but don’t ask for a wine list.
This is a good place for a chill night during the week for a few beers with friends, or a place to end the night on the weekends, although it tends to get pretty crowded in the wee hours.

I don’t think I was very fair in my first review of the Bou which hinted at the fact that if you squint your eyes, everything will be ok. Tonight I’m stand before you to say (er, uhm… Unilocal) that Caribou Tavern now has a special place in my heart. It’s a block and a half away, so it scores major convenience points, and the interior is harmless, despite is rough exterior. Bartenders have always served up service with a smile, and each time I see something on tap that I’m not familiar with, they give me a taste. I much the prefer the place when I have a seat at the bar, as opposed to standing in an uncomfortable thoroughfare of passerbys wanting to get to the bathroom. But all in all it’s a solid place that I’m happy to call my neighborhood dive.

Well, it’s about as divey as Madison gets. BUT, if you go knowing that, this place is pretty enjoyable.
I’ve heard the burgers are pretty good, but we just stopped in for a few drinks, mid-​walk to downtown from East Johnson.
After a few shots and beers, we were on our way, but the drinks were cheap and we met some fun characters.
Overall, a pretty cool place, although it is quite a ways away from the Capitol bars and State Street.

Old-​school neighborhood bars have a special spot in my heart. Especially a neighborhood bar that actually has decent beer on tap (ie, anything else besides the run of the mill Miller Products or other equally as terrible/​generic beer). Couple that with heart-​attack inducing bar burgers and you’re golden. I stopped in one night with a friend of mine who lives divey-​neighborhood bars as much as I do and he was equally as pleased. There is something magical about dark Wisconsin bars with good people watching qualities.
Good beer. Good burgers. Good neighborhood. Good people.