The Coliseum Bar & Banquet

We have gone here several times before Badger Hockey games. Bus ride to Kohls Center works out great. We ate food here the last time, and it was OK. (nothing to brag about really) But then I went to use the restroom and it was disgusting. Filthy, dirty, clogged toilets, stunk, etc. I almost got sick. And we were here mid-​afternoon. I can’t imagine the crowd would have been THAT busy that they could have made the bathrooms that bad. It was like they hadn’t been cleaned in over a week… and there are hundreds of people who go there on the weekend. If the bathrooms are this bad, I hate to imagine how ‘clean’ the kitchen is. Don’t think I’ll be going here again to eat.

Atmosphere is typical sports bar, nothing fancy. I’ve eaten here several times for lunch, and the menu has variety so there is always something for everyone. I usually order a Greek wrap which is large and too big for me to finish.
I recently ate here for dinner on a Wed nite, due to reading a review about the nachos and decided that sounded good. Got the chicken ½ nachos and a beer. My food came quickly and yes my eyes bugged out when the plate of nachos was placed in front of me. Needless to say I wasn’t able to finish it, but I do say I made a valiant effort.

Service was inattentive, wings were super greasy and the meat in my Ruben was tough and chewy. At least I didn’t get ill from eating here.

Great location for any game or event at the Alliant Energy Center or Coliseum. I’ve walked, biked, and taken this bar’s complimentary shuttle from the bar. The shuttle is a big yellow school bus with a friendly driver; it was jam packed in a return ride from a Capitols game recently.
In my most recent visit, we all ordered ½ nachos and split then amongst couples. Even the ½ order was too much for any couple to finish. I enjoyed the guac but we all wanted more black beans. The food came out quickly. Decent beer selection; I think we settled on Inaugural Red (?). Staff was not attentive (i.e. we had to use the bar staff instead of waiter a few times), however they were quite slammed.

Desperate for lunch after my first couple dining options failed to pan out, the Coliseum Bar, with its less than stellar 2.5 star Unilocal rating, took advantage of my weakened state to lure me in. As I entered the parking lot, I was oblivious to the fact that some 75,000 very hungry dairy enthusiasts were converging on the nearby Expo Center for the start of the World Dairy Expo. I suddenly became aware of that key fact as I stepped into a restaurant in the throes of utter chaos, teaming with the aforementioned hungry dairy enthusiasts. Instead of having a host manage the near capacity crowd, management felt it wise to have a sign by the entrance informing the throng of patrons to seat themselves. I found an open table where I sat for almost twenty minutes before desperately flagging down a server to get a menu. I quickly ordered the first item that caught my eye, a Reuben sandwich and a side of tater tots. Before my server vanished to parts unknown, he indicated it would be a thirty minute wait for my sandwich because the kitchen was backed up. Oy, that woulda been nice to know twenty minutes ago…
While waiting for a server to appear, I had plenty of time to survey my rather sterile surroundings. The interior of the Coliseum Bar is your basic no frills Wisconsin sports bar with an armada of flat screens, dark wood paneling, tile floors and generic furnishings. With all the hard surfaces, the noise level could kindly be described as a dull roar when the restaurant was at near capacity.
After 10 minutes, my food arrived. It was your classic good news /​bad news proposition. The good news was my food arrived 20 minutes early, the bad news was that my food arrived. (rim shot)
Let’s start with the tater tots, which spend too little time in the fryer on their journey from the freezer bag to my plate. The exterior had not crunch and the interior was mushy, almost like mashed potatoes.
The Reuben sandwich was not better, just an assembly of institutional grade ingredients with little manipulation by the kitchen. The bread, a light rye, with a heavy dose of caraway, spent a minimal time on the grill. While the cook was generous with the thinly sliced corned beef, it failed to bring an abundance of flavor to the equation. The slightly dry sandwich could have benefited from 1,000 Island dressing which was missing in action. If you are looking for a volume play, the Coliseum version of this sandwich will fit the bill, but there are many better tasting options available in town for you Reuben aficionados out there.
Excluding the delay in delivering a menu and completely whiffing on the estimate of when my food would be delivered, my harried server did an acceptable job. As the crush of lunchtime patrons subsided, he even showed some signs of personality. But all in all, the service this day was only marginally better than the sub-​par fare.
If you’re looking for prototypical Wisconsin bar and grill fare, the Coliseum Bar will fit that criteria. However, if you seek elevated pub grub, I’d recommend places like Dexter’s, the Tip Top or Baldwin Street Grill before the Coliseum.

Great local bar. Cold beer stiff drinks friendly service and good food. Mike and staff will go out of their way to make you happy. Volleyball during the summer adds to the fun.

I love to come here on Badger Game-day’s because the bus is such a great deal! For a couple of bucks the they drop you off right in front of the stadium and pick you starting at the end of the 3^rd Quarter. Two buses run continuously so there is never much of a wait.
This place could be a real money maker. Food is good, the pizza looks awesome and the atmosphere is great. This is a large bar with an open attached banquet room. They also have a outdoor area with tables for when it’s nice out or for the smokers.
My problem (on game day) is that they are always understaffed. The place is always packed, yet they have 3 bartenders. Three might be a good number if they didn’t have to prepare all the drinks for the waitresses. Getting a drink or paying your food bill at the bar will take forever!
I got seats at the bar, which was great. They were located right in front of the cash register, next to the register was a little machine that continued to spit out drink orders from the waitresses. It seemed like the bartenders concentrated on those orders and got to the «bar» seats when they could get to them. They actually looked like they were avoiding eye contact with customers do they could get the waitress orders first.
I’m not knocking the bartenders in any way. They worked their tails off! Management however… Your missing a lot of potential profit. As I looked around the bar I saw so many patrons standing with money in their hand waiting and wanting to get a drink or a refill, or to pay their food bill.
Hire AT LEAST one more bartender! Hire someone with a ice cooler to sell caned beer outside or in the back corner. Otherwise you will continue to get the people who use the bus service to get to the stadium and spend their money at one of those bars.
Management, your welcome! I’ll take a free drink at the next home game!

Great place to swing into when close to Alliant Energy Center. Sam W. Was awesome !! Great Burgers and Pizza. Super fast even when they are packed ! 2^nd time in two days and gets better everytime. Worth a stop in.

Stopped in with my mom after a day of shopping. We just wanted something small to get us to dinner. We tried their house made chips with a jerk dipping sauce. The chips were hot and clearly just out of the fryer. They needed salt though! The sauce tasted like miracle whip with a little nutmeg… Might have been better on dessert… It was odd. I was expecting something super flavorful with a little kick and instead it was sweet and left me feeling confused. It looked great but when I took a bite, meh… Season your chips and maybe offer a different variety of sauces… Something not sweet!

I came in for a quick lunch as I had some meetings at a nearby hotel. The service was good and my meal came out really fast and was very enjoyable even though I was in a hurry. The staff was friendly, I would highly recommend

The bartender was awesome. It was cool how they were aware of the events at the complex (as in Comic Con) and it appears they sometimes have free tickets for the Capitols.
The ambiance is weird. The food is decent.
I had the Extreme Grilled Cheese (American cheese, bacon, tomato, red onion, ranch) with a side of roasted veggies. I also ordered it without red onion. My biggest complaint is that my cheese was not melted except for a little bit in the center of the sandwich. The bacon was chewy. The roasted veggies weren’t really roasted as much as steamed (?) stewed (?) and soaking in watery buttery bath. Vegetables included were zucchini, onion, broccoli, squash, mushroom, and carrots. The carrots were under cooked.
My husband was a bit hung over so the Newcastle and cheeseburger with extra cheese hit the spot. He also appreciated the variety of sides.
When you can’t make a melty grilled cheese (with American cheese at that), I’m going to be disappointed.

This was my second time having lunch here. It’s a nice middle-​ground for meeting up with my cousin, so it’s our default location until we think of something else.
We got a table right away (plenty to choose from — more on that later) and service was pretty prompt. No complaints there. My «cowboy burger» was pretty decent. The burger was prepared as-​ordered (medium rare), so I was pleased with that. The burger was topped with BBQ sauce, bacon, and onion strings. While I will certainly pay for that later, it tasted very good at the time. The fries on the side were just okay — had better, had worse. My cousin got a wrap that looked plenty big and filling. I’m not much of a wrap guy, but maybe I should try it sometime.
This isn’t a place I would highly recommend going, but I wouldn’t tell you not to, either. For me, it’s a nice meeting place from people coming from all around.
One good thing (for me, not for them) is that it’s not horribly busy over lunch. While on one hand that could be because people think it sucks. On the other hand, it’s not exactly in the best location to draw people in (outside of events at the Coliseum). Again — that works well for me. We can zip in, have a decent lunch, and zip out.
The menu is diverse enough to try several things and not burn out on one item. I can see myself getting out of the burgers and trying a wrap, the gyros, or even a salad.

My girlfriends and I stopped here after a fun run. At first the service was just so so. The bartender seemed confused and impatient, not a fan to wait on us. But, after we mis-​ordered our nachos, they swapped them out for us. I felt the love a bit more after that. :) The nachos were good, and big, the four of us couldn’t finish them. It was super busy, but there is plenty of seating, inside and out.

I went here a couple of months ago with a couple friends after an event at the energy center. We walked in and there was an empty table towards the front so we immediately sat down.
The place was moderately busy, but not unmanageable. We talked while we waited for a server to bring us menus… And waited… And waited…
Half hour goes by and not even a «I’ll be right with you» from any server. We weren’t completely unnoticed though since one of the waitresses was talking to her friends the next table over and blatantly saw us there.
So we got up and left. First & last time we will be here. Id say the staff is less than incompetent.

Pretty decent. Nothing special but a solid place. The interior is cold with no real décor. It hots sand volleyball courts and league nights. There are also outdoor tables with plenty of distance from the road that you can enjoy your meal.
This is a good no-​frills sports bar. It has great beer specials every night of the week. I had lunch here. It was a buffalo chicken caesar wrap with my choice of one of six sides. I like options. I ordered the seasoned waffle fries. I was impressed with the wrap. It was fresh with good flavor and a nice crunch.
I was pleasantly surprised by the food. However, the comfort level is ok. It is all just bar stools and linoleum.
All in all, it is a solid A-​ok, three stars.

Just stopped in with family to enjoy Saturday afternoon meal with Living Social deal. First-​other couple with is had own separate deal, and waitress wouldn’t allow us to sit together with separate bills. The waitress acted like I she didn’t need any tip, answering with 1 words and acting cocky. Then after throwing a fit, she came back and told us that Living Social made «a mistake and 20% was auto added to bill». A lie. When I asked «Manager» about it, he called out that there was an event across the street and they didn’t even have to allow the deals. Btw, 3 other people in the place.
How dumb of this place to lose my business as well as the other 50 people I will tell about this. Can’t believe that they think they can treat families this way and still stay profitable. Unfortunately, I will make up for that 20% faster than they will. College dropouts running grills don’t work, Owners!!!

I just held my wife’s 40^th surprise birthday party in the upstairs banquet room. Mike was great to work with in getting the details set up and Sam met our every need and and more on the night of the event!
The food was fantastic! The stuffed mushrooms are to die for. The banquet room has a large dance floor, large seating area, and large windows. It is very spacious and open. My guests are still complementing me on the choice. They loved the room, the food, and the service. This is a great place for any event; birthday party, wedding, etc. I highly recommend holding an event at the Coliseum Bar and Banquet!

Good sports bar atmosphere… go there for beer ‘n’ Badgers, but not the food. The nachos were the worst I’ve ever had – seriously. And what was that other horrendous concoction? Oh yes. PIZZA QUESADILLAS. if it had been up to me, I wouldn’t have ordered it, because… C’MON, MAN! Pizza. Quesadillas. Two words that have no business being next to each other. And as expected… Really. Truly. Disgusting.
But the Hopalicious was A-​okay.

A small group of us made the short trek from the Polar Plunge to the Coliseum this past Saturday; had it not been for the close proximity to the plunge event, we probably would’ve gone elsewhere, and in hindsight, should have.
The place was a zoo, due to the Polar Plunge, so I wanted to cut them a little slack. Even with the massive influx of people, I’m not so sure that I’d hurry back to the Coliseum Bar. It appears to be quite dated and sorta’ uninviting — clinical, almost. Tap selection isn’t anything to write home about, and the back bar area is limited to bottles/​cans only (though they can mix drinks back there as well). It was also a little pricey; 4 beers (2 taps (served in plastic cups), 2 bottles) were $ 18.
There was a «DJ» blasting music the entire time, and neither he nor his sound system were very good… the sound was heavily distorted and lacking any fullness/​bass. Thankfully, we were standing in the back bar area, semi-​shielded from the «music.»
Ultimately, we stayed for one beer, and then headed to the Wisco on Willy Street, where we enjoyed a great burger, a great selection of brews, and a better experience.

Home coming weekend. And packed crowd!
I was in Madison for a wedding and the after party was here. The staff was pretty attentive considering the crowd. Got my local brewed beer and hung out with my friends.
One of my friends got the nachos. They were huge! And really good. Instead of melted nacho cheese (which I can appreciate) they melted a bunch of shredded cheddar. And topped it with awesomeness. Loaded.
I was told the waffle fries and the quesadilla was really good too.