Tiki Shack

Last time I came here, the bartender was a complete asshole and was more concerned with filling his «drink» up than mine.
Friends wanted to stop over there last night so we did. Officially the worst bar ever.
After getting back to my table (after a smoke) that had jackets on all four seats, my FULL beer was gone. I was super confused so I asked the bartender what had happened (this place wasn’t busy at all for a Saturday night so he was right there) and he proceeded to get defensive and aggressive with me right away, I had a hunch he was drinking. At this point I’m angry! It was my 1^st beer of the night and before even asking me to leave he calls over the bouncer who is 5 feet away and yells, «Get this c**t out of here!!!»
As I’m getting off the barstool to leave, this bouncer yanks me by both shoulders an rips me off my chair! Mind you, I am a petite 5“1, 110 lb 21-​year-​old female! HELLO? What happened to the bouncer first of all asking you to leave, before aggressively trying to fight someone ½ their size?! Okay, now I’m really f***ing mad, I feel like he’s actually attacking me, so here I am trying to get him to stop handling me like some crazy wild dog, at one point this bouncer hits me in the side of my face… He was definitely drinking. Thankfully no bruises.
Im filing a complaint to the Madison police department on Monday. Very horrible and shocking experience. Avoid it here! So ashamed to have this place even be apart of my beautiful downtown Madison!

They have recently had a change in ownership, and since then there has been a drastic improvement in service, cleanliness and overall experience (awesome updated bathrooms)! They have also added food service (I recommend the nachos) that includes great Hawaiian flavored BBQ to match the Tiki Shak theme. The drink specials are always a great must-​have! Would definitely recommend for anyone in Madison wanting to experience a fun island bar.

This is exactly what you’d expect from a college-​ish bar on State Street In Madison.
College-​ish meaning it’s a good mixture of students and «townies». But still with the loud music.
But I think what impressed me the most about the Tiki Shack was the drink specials. On a Saturday night I got a double lemonade vodka for $ 3. It was pretty much a pint glass filled to the top with vodka and a splash of lemonade. I’ll take it! 16 oz Red Stripes for a good price too, and you’d think you were in Jamaica, mon!

It was my first time to the Tiki Shack and from what I remember (I must have been drinking), It was not too bad.
People kept handing me one fruity red drink after another which I believed to be a Bahama Mama. I got most of it in my mouth, and only a few drops on my shorts, so it must have been pretty tasty.
They had a beer special of random beer for like $ 2, pretty much whatever they handed you in a can. I remember seeing a can of Jenny’s Beer… so totally worth $ 2 lol.
Seemed like a pretty fun place overall on a Saturday night, and I imagine I’ll stumble in here some other time in the near future.
Not terribly crowded, so that was a good thing especially for a warm Saturday night on State Street.

Came here as a stop on our bar crawl during Halloween, and honestly, they have some good drink specials.
I think it was $ 3 for most rail mixers/​shots/​bombs/​whatever, so that was a plus.
The bathrooms, however, are super sketch. You have this decent (ish) establishment, and then go and ruin it with your disgusting bathrooms. It’s like a bomb exploded inside, but left everything but the bathrooms intact.
Come here if you’re looking to get trashed, but if not, stay classy, Madison.

Please, please remodel those bathrooms. You’ve got great specials, great staff, and stiff drinks, but that nastiness is making your whole establishment look like a shithole.

We found the Tiki Shack while searching for cinco de mayo margaritas…
No margaritas here, but plenty of other drink specials to start your day drinking right! 2-​for-​1 bahama mamas? We’ll take 6-​for-​3.
Pros:
— cute décor
— good selection of drink specials + full bar
— large, extended seating area
— outdoor seating area
Con:
It wasn’t exactly the most poppin’ place on state street. Understandably, we were drinking at 5PM, which for most people is dinner time… but it WAS mifflin AND cinco de mayo. Which begs the question: what is wrong with this place?

This is one racist place! I’m a proud Asian. Some of my Asian friends and I went in to check it out. Some went use the restroom and the others went to the bars to buy drinks. One of the worker told one of my buddies that he and the rest of us didn’t belong there. One friend got dragged and thrown out the back because the bouncer accused him of pissing in the corner of restroom. This was false accusation because he didn’t do it. The bouncer was even there when it happened. He just wanted us out.
Soon we rounded up our crew because we were treated like shit there and we didn’t want the situation to escalate. One of our lady friend was at the counter ready to buy some drinks. The bartender comes by, not to say «hi what would you like,» but instead he told her that she needs to buy a drink in order to sit at the bar table and to even be in their «fine» establishment. She decided to buy a drink despite the unfriendliness of the bartender. Now imagine this. The two mix drinks she bought costed her $ 50 when it should’ve only costed around $ 7 per drink. RIDICULOUS! We were outraged and stormed out, some of us having to hold back a few of the angered friends. As we walked out the bouncers made sure we were out for good. If you are not white, don’t go in there. And even if you are white, please know better not to support establishments such as Tiki Shack. It says a lot about the managements morality in how they run their business and treat their customers. They need to check the year they are living in.

Went here before seeing Wicked after a mishap at a different restaurant. The drinks were good at fair prices and the appetizer was fine. The restaurant area was closed and I was confused if they actually did dining. I would say go for the drinks.

Cheap strong drinks, island atmosphere, can’t go wrong.

We stopped in to this bar late Saturday afternoon after reading an intriguing chalkboard boldly stating 2 for 1 shots and $ 2 shots. Tis true — $ 2 kamikazis and $ 2 washington apples, you say? Sign me up!
We agreed. This deal was too good to pass up. Tiki Shack was revisited after digesting an over indulgent lunch.
The bartender was semi-​friendly, but you could sense a little DB in him. The crowd was mixed — some college kids, some older. There did not seem to be a very loyal following. The crowd seemed to change relatively quickly.
At the end of the day, I would visit again — but not because the drinks or the service were outstanding, moreso because who can turn down $ 2 shots?

Good tight nit fun. Chill. Nothing special though.

This place is rad. I’ve only been there once but had been excited about it since it moved in to it’s current location. I’m a big fan of the atmosphere. The sort of cheesy Caribbean themed decorations make it seem like a place where you don’t have to take things seriously and everyone is there to have fun.
The drinks were very moderately priced although I’m guessing you’re not getting the highest end liquor in most of the cocktails (I guess this should be expected from a bar on State Street). they could also use a bigger rum selection. I didn’t get a chance to try much of the food but the menu looks great.
One big reason I give this place four stars is because the bartender was super nice and engaging. Sometimes that makes a huge difference with the way a place is perceived and that’s definitely the case here. I will be back.

I was at the same party as Carolyn and Jen E — heyyy ladies! And yes, it was terrible. The owners/​bartenders/​managers (three in one! tripe threat alert!) lacked any discretion, acted obnoxiously rude, and were total douches — and this was on top of NOT honoring our agreement on drinks, et al.
At one point they kicked out my friend for calling o/​b/​m a d*ckhole, which is indeed insulting and slightly out of line, except for the fact that they were, in fact, being huge d*ckholes. Upon kicking him out, they nearly refused to let him get his jacket in the –15 degree weather — and (get this) said he was welcome back «any time.» WHAT!!! Please, o/b/m’s of the Tiki Bar — take your meds before coming to work, because you are seriously wacked out.
There are so many wonderful places in Madison to have a drink — skip this one. Unless you like showing your hoo-​has for water at the end of the night.
I hope it goes out of business with all its shady practices and ludicrous douchebaggery.

Went here for New Years Eve. While the evening went well, towards the end the bartenders were more sloshed than then partiers [and observed taking multiple shots] and refused to serve us water unless we paid $ 1-​$ 3 OR flashed our lady parts. (such a deal! video camera not optional)
I could write more, but frankly there are hundreds of places to have a drink downtown and this place should be your last last last last last last choice.

Avoid at all costs.
Some friends rented out the Tiki Shack for a private party on New Years Eve, only to arrive and find that management had no intention of living up to their part of the agreement. Luckily, one of the organizers had the presence of mind to bring up on her phone the email conversation which showed everything the bar had agreed to. I’m sure if she hadn’t thought to do this, they would have completely screwed us over.
Even though things got slightly better after this, some of the damage was already done: the bar did not bother to order the keg that was requested and paid for in advance, couldn’t understand why we weren’t paying for the beer (hello, we ALREADY bought it), and continually overcharged people for mixed drinks and water. Despite the fact that we had a list, they kept letting in random strangers.
On top of this, the bartenders were completely obnoxious. At one point they pulled out a video camera and asked women to flash them. Classy. They also helped themselves to food that was provided for the party, without bothering to ask. And apparently refused to return the cell phone of one of the partygoers.
I’m willing to believe that some of the issues may have been caused by a miscommunication between the management and the staff over the details of the party. But that doesn’t excuse the subsequent ass-​hattery that went on, or the complete failure to treat the partygoers with an ounce of respect, especially given the amount of money they made off the night.

1 star for huge margaritas
1 star for inflatable palm trees
1 star for beachy music playing
1 star for nice, attentive, unpretentious bartenders
1 star for patrons wearing Hawaiian shirts… in Wisconsin.

I just rolled into Madison for a conference, and I was tired, and looking for a place close to my hotel. So at that moment, I wasn’t picky.
This place surpassed my expectations — the food was quite good — it’s sort of caribbean-​influenced american. It has great sweet potato fries, and a nice broad menu. The food was good, the service was attentive but not rushed (nice balance).
I didn’t have them, but they had pretty inexpensive crab legs, that the people next to me seemed to be enjoying.

2−4−1 «Tiki Punch» for Happy Hour time– 4 kinds of rum and 4 kinds of juice makes this drink go down very easily. Plus, since this place keeps changing it’s name and signs, the outdoor seating on State Street is always available– a giant «plus» in the summer when it is impossible to find outdoor seating.
The service is good, but the food is overpriced… a giant side of sweet potato fries will compliment any of their funny «tropical drinks», though– delicious!

I’ve only been here a couple times, but we always managed to have a lot of fun. I can’t remember much from my visit, but I do recall it being a lot like Camelot — it’s a silly place!