Tip Top Tavern

I love having this little gem nearby. Their food is delicious, and tap list is amazing. We love their outdoor seating and Friday Fish Fry too!

Great food, great beer, great service. Good fish fry for when Dexter's is packed. Place is small so expect a wait during busy times.

Stopped in for brunch today around 11:30am, we didn't plan on going here but the other restaurant we were going to was closed. First impression, it was packed and loud but the staff was super friendly and cleared us a table quickly.

They had serve yourself tea, water and coffee which is in the front, a little rough getting back and forth with through a busy restaurant. All the food being served around us looked excellent, I tried the The Rooster and my dining partner had a special with poached eggs on a English muffin, pulled pork with hollandaise sauce.

The food came pretty quick considering the volume of people. We both agreed our breakfasts were just okay. They had all the fresh ingredients to make a excellent breakfast but I don't know if it was because they were so busy or what but it just didn't taste as good as it looked. Examples: the bacon was obviously quality meat but seemed pre cooked and had gotten tough to chew more like beef jerky. The sour dough would probably be nice and chewy but over toasted made it hard to bite through.

I am sure this is a good brunch stop but when it's super busy it just wasn't that for us. Additionally we had to almost yell to have a conversation across our small table. Oh yes cash only, didn't see that when we entered but they have a ATM for a $2 charge.

One of my all time favorite bars in Madison! Great food (including a wonderful fish fry) and always good beers on tap. The open mic on Sunday nights is one of Madison's best kept secrets and I recommend anyone come and check it out even if you're not interested in performing. There's such a wide range of performers and talents. It's a very special thing.

We made our way here because seemingly every other bar in the area was closed due to the polar vortex of January 2019. I walked in with pretty low expectations but left satisfied and with plenty of alcohol consumed.

This definitely screamed "dive bar" to me but that's not necessarily a bad thing as far as I'm concerned. The group I was with ordered a few different types of drinks; anything from cocktails to beer to shots. The bartender seemed like a good person but service wasn't especially fast by any means.

The food didn't exactly impress me so I definitely wouldn't go out of my way for it. The basket of chips and dip we ordered seemed like a bag of Lay's Original and some random dip bought at the grocery store. In other reviews I see some good and some bad things being said about the food so I think I may give it another chance and order some of their more popular items.

Interior was clean. Bathrooms were clean enough where I wasn't disgusted like I am at some dive bars. If I lived farther east I would definitely come down more for a couple drinks throughout the week. As far as dive bars go I'd give this place 5 stars. In relation to some of the nicer places usually open I'd give less than 5... but it's definitely a spot I'll be back to in the future.