The Robin Room — Restaurant in Madison

A friend kept talking highly about the Robin Room, so I had to give it a try! We were at Breese Stevens for an event, so we decided to walk over to the Robin Room for a refreshing drink. I'm so glad we did.

The building is kind of nondescript on the exterior and we totally walked right by it. We turned around and the double Rs on the door told me that we were at the right place. They were about half capacity, so we were able to get a seat at the end of the bar. We were greeted right away by the busy bartender. He was very good at multi-tasking! He was making complex cocktail drinks and taking new drink orders at the same time. If you want to try one of their crafty cocktails, they have a cocktail book to order from.

The casual but trendy place was clean and smaller than I expected. They have quite a bit of seating though. Some patrons had opted to stand at the bar with friends, even though there were open tables nearby. Everyone around us was chatty and pretty cool company as we drank our beer/cocktails. I had a Door County porter and its was great, as always. Next time, I'm opting for one of their crafty cocktails. I was mesmerized by the creative cocktails that I saw the bartender making. They have a large variety of cocktail enhancements (bitters, liqueurs, etc) that they were using for drinks.

I was sitting next to a retro record player. I wanted to scratch a record on it so bad! The music they had playing was upbeat and great though.

As a side note: they have some fine Japanese whiskeys here (I took a photo for you whiskey connoisseurs out there!). Some of them are hard to find and quite a few places in this area do not have them in stock. If you're looking for a quality whiskey, make sure to put the Robin Room...

Full disclosure: my gal dragged me here. I don't typically enjoy going places that don't have a parking lot, especially bars. I also don't like places with loud music and a younger crowd. This place had all these things when I was there.

By some magic of fate, we found a spot on the street right out front. Couldn't see which door it was; wouldn't know it existed if it weren't for the internet. Walked in and the music was booming some repetitive pop. Wasn't bad, but certainly loud. Crowd was anywhere from 21 to 35 years old, huddled around each other closely. I'm a sit-at-the-bar kind of guy. Another trick of fate - there were two spots at the end of the bar.

The staff looked super busy but they were somehow keeping up the pace. We were greeted with drink menus the moment we sat. Lots of tasty, cool looking drinks. One of three bartenders took our orders, somehow hearing us clearly past the music. I ordered my normal mix - brandy and coke. Best I've had. Don't even know what brandy they used, but after watching them measure and pour over the course of two hours, it was very apparent they knew exactly what they were doing.

We tried a number of mixes through a number of different liquors and they were all fantastic. One after the other I was impressed. Didn't go so far as to order a special, but the ones they made in front of us looked absolutely amazing.

Long story long, they had were the best mix drinks I've had in a long time and they more than make up for an atmosphere that I'm sure most bar divers would not normally gravitate to, with prices we would normally expect....

Tonight, I had gotten off of a late night at work and desperately needed a quick bite and something to drink. The bartenders immediately satisfied my needs with an excellent ham sandwich and a glass of wine.

The ham sandwich was finished much before my glass of wine was, and despite its simplicity, constitute of succulent meat and elegant mustard, with a pillowy bun to boot. In essence, it was as if I was enjoying a sandwich the day after the Christmas ham was carved.

The glass of wine was agreeable and exceeded the expectations of a cocktail bar, which was immediately followed by a conversation with the bartender to result in the perfect drink for me this particular evening; something simple, yet particular; a glass of Benedictine over ice, with a splash of water. I had asked for Drambuie, but the barstaff had made the right call with the extensive collection they had.

All in all, my experience this evening was outstanding, and fulfilled my every wish for an after work outing.

The Robin Room employs some of the best bartenders in the city, truly willing to help you satisfy your needs. The only thing I would posit to anyone looking to visit: know your needs before you come in, so they may help you with their remarkable talents of drinkcrafting and...