The Library Cafe & Bar

Great cozy place, especially when you can sit outside. I haven’t had their coffee, just alcohol and food. All the food is wonderful. The loaded fries app is a meal for two! Great drink specials that change throughout the day, but wish they had them posted online or on Unilocal… I never know what they are until I get there.

Quick no-​frills college lunch food option.
I went here to meet up with an old college friend when I was in town and gave this place a try. We had an quick and easy time getting to the front of the line and ordering, which even though it was long and almost went to the outside door wasn’t a bad wait. Seating was easy enough to find even with the relatively small amount of space inside. Our food arrived quickly after we sat down.
I had the cajun chicken sandwich with cajun seasoned fries. The sandwich itself was good with a standard set of lettuce, tomato, chicken and chipotle mayo for toppings. The fries were seasoned well and ordering an extra side of the chipotle mayo was a way to add some additional kick to them.
Overall, I’d come back and get lunch here again when I’m in town.

Favorite bar in Madison!
Awesome specials, the drinks have substance, the burgers are mean, the Cajun fries are great and I absolutely love the ambiance, atmosphere and ALL THE BARTENDERS.
Cheers Joe!

I had been to this bar several times during their lunch hours and never had a problem. I brought a friend who had never been to the Library to have a drink on a Friday night and received terrible treatment from the bartender on staff. Upon asking for our drinks the bartender asked to see our IDs. I provided my out of state ID only for the bartender to tell me «I’ll serve you only if you promise that if the cops come, you won’t admit that this is a fake ID.» I told the bartender my ID was legitimate and offered to give him several different forms of ID to which he said «I was under 21 once, I know how easy it is to get fake forms of identification.» After being verbally harassed by the bartender my friend and I decided to take our business elsewhere.
I am several years over the legal drinking age and have never had this problem with any other bar in Madison. The bartender was a patronizing ass hole who got his excitement off of asserting his «authority» over the bar and hassling legal and willing customers. I will never go back to the Library and will urge my engineering colleagues to do the same.

I went with my friends to have drink. Some white dude punched a hole into the restroom and so the Bartender thought we «unruly» Asians did that. He also plucked the drink from my friends hand before she could finish it off. When we asked him why is he blaming us he told that everyone there was a «regular» who come to play Tuesday trivia and we were the new people.
Some logic for a white racist dude. I told him it is at best circumstantial and he would not agree. My friend also told him that the hole could have been punched by the white dude who used the restroom before him. He simply refused to listen. It had to be the brown people as far as he was concerned.

The Library is a great little hidden gem located in the heart of the engineering g campus at UW Madison. It’s been there for years. It’s been a number of different pubs over the last 30 years or something.
I’ve had beer on their little outside patio a couple of times — but had lunch there for the first time today. Given their tony little grill they turn out a nice mix of burgers and sandwiches. I had the corned beef sandwich. Not a traditional version of this iconic deli classic — but a winner nonetheless. I had it with a nice little mixed green salad. You can also get fries or pub chips.
There are several local beers on tap and an espresso machine. The indoor seating area has an old school library motif in the sense of a home library in a classic UK manner.
I’ll be back — you know my motto… eat at the local joints. The library is joint to be sure and pulls off a local vibe.

Pretty good food. Has beer. Shittiest staff ever though. Every single time. Major assholes.

The Library is a small concrete bunker housed on a triangle piece of land between Johnson and University. Your typical bar food offerings as well as coffee. I went with the bacon cheeseburger. I’m a big fan of bar burgers but the burger didn’t live up to my expectations. Just pretty meh.
Since parking is a nightmare around it’s location, besides stopping in before a Badger football game for a cold beer, I can’t imagine seeing myself coming back anytime soon.

Great for a quick lunch break if you work on the west side of campus and you haven’t packed a bag lunch or if you’re just tired of the South Union food court.
I found the décor homey albeit a bit quirky, but I can definitely see how cramped it can become when it is busy. Also, it seems that the acoustics of the establishment aren’t that great, because even with only a few tables filled during lunch time, it was pretty noisy.
I ordered the jerk chicken sandwich (glazed BBQ chicken with a slice of pineapple on a bun) with a side of greens. The greens were a bit limp, but for the most part, I really enjoyed the food. The chicken breast was juicy and not at all overcooked. I also liked the sweetness of the pineapple in contrast with the tanginess of the BBQ sauce. All in all, for such a filling meal, the price was pretty reasonable.
I’d definitely be open to trying more of the items on their menu or stopping by for a drink in the PM!

I have heard so many good things about the Library Café and I left unimpressed.
I know it is meant to be small and cozy but I felt really uncomfortable. It was really cramped and it was tough to find a seat. The high top tables are hard to eat at, so I ended up in the corner. I was only with one other person and once people began to move chairs around, we were trapped.
As it was my first time, I was confused that the menus were all on the front counter. So the line grew as people contemplated their order.
I ordered the chicken pesto sandwich with tossed greens. The sandwich was good. It wasn’t great. It was a chicken breast, with pesto, cheese on a sandwich, exactly what the menu described. The «tossed greens» were chopped romaine lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette. Delicious but nothing spectacular.
I would come back for Happy Hour and sit outside. Until then, I will probably skip another lunch trip.

Located just a block away from where I work, this on-​campus little café and bar is a nice place for chilling out, and as expected, they do get busy, especially during lunch/​dinner hours and their happy hours. Unless you are there for happy hours, I would suggest going during ‘off hours’ to avoid the crowd if you just want a place to hang out with friends or grab something for a meal. Before noon is usually fine, also the time between 2 pm and whenever their happy hour begins is also good.
Note: They start serving loaded nachos after 2 pm, so that will be an awesome time to go! Ok, back to those nachos, they are freshly baked to order. The serving is so big you can have it as a whole meal (and feel stuffed after), or share it with a friend (plenty to go around and fill you both up). Those nachos come with a generous helping of black olives, guacamole, cheese and a side of sour cream and salsa.
Their chicken tenders are also one of my favs. Again freshly fried order. I love how they prepare all your food fresh. The strips of chicken are crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside — the perfect combo! Burgers are also a great choice, they have so many types of burgers to choose from, you won’t have any trouble finding one to your liking. Oh, the fries that come with the tenders and burgers, how can I forget them. Cajun is best! *yums*
Noise level a little high, but it’s a bar so it’s not something out of the blue. The café also has very unique deco, just like what they are call — the library. Be prepared to see books on shelves all around, almost every sort of books that you can imagine will likely be there, science, horror, fiction, biography, culinary etc. But don’t worry, you don’t have to read them if you don’t want to ~~
If you are looking for a nice cozy little place, stop by to give them a try. Snuggle up with some good food and a root beer, or go for a real beer.

This place is an average bar — convenient if you work in a lab nearby.

After three and a half years working with business owners, planning events, trying to connect people to places worth praising, I’ve learned a lot. Now this is not to say I know everything there is to know about running a small business, I’d be running one if I did. But I do know a couple of things, and I’m about to reveal a million dollar secret that will take any business from bummer to bustling:
PEOPLE FIRST
Huge, right?
Now what do I mean by this?
If you own a small business, you probably do so for several reasons… but your first should be people. You should want to turn on the lights, unlock the doors, welcome members of the community into your space and exchange something for the money patrons are spending at your establishment. People are your business. It might not be the only reason, but it’s why you exist.
I’ve been to The Library a few times now and each time I’m there I don’t feel like I’m welcome. I understand the place is tiny, it’s typically packed with drunk coeds, it’s loud, there’s little room to maneuver, all of this I understand. But I also understand that it doesn’t take much to make people feel like you value their business and you enjoy them experiencing the things that make you so stellar in a hospitable way. The staff that I’ve encountered is anything but hospitable.
I tell business owners, strive for 5, in other words control everything you can control and work to give people five-​star experiences. You can’t be 100%, 100% of the time, but a smile goes a long way. A thanks for stopping in, come back and see us again goes even farther. I’m not certain what they’re striving for at The Library other than closing time, when they can turn the lights off, lock the doors and not have to deal with people until tomorrow.

The Library is one of several iterations that this location has gone through since I’ve been at the university. It offers upscale bar food, which I’ve usually found to be pretty good. It’s funky and cool on the inside, with a good beer selection, an odd assortment of tables and chairs, and boasting actual books. It does tend toward crowded and noisy at peak hours.
All that being said, my experience today somewhat soured my opinion of The Library.
First, I would suggest that you sit in the patio area ONLY IF:
1.) You are fond of bees.
2.) You enjoy eating lunch within spitting distance of the Indy 500.
3.) You think it’s cool to watch little bugs boiling gently in your beer as you slowly roast in a 150 degree oven. (Umbrellas would be a good idea.)
Second, anyone who has read my recent ecstatic ravings about the smoked turkey sandwich at Brasserie V can appreciate that the bar in the turkey sandwich arena has been set very high. So I can speak with confidence when I say that The Library’s Best Turkey Sandwich Ever was… not. Not even in the ballpark. To whit: 1) the turkey was cut thickly, but lacked the wonderful smokiness of B. V’s offering. 2) I generally like my grilled sandwiches to be hot on the inside, and this was not even warm enough to melt the cheese. 3) The overwhelming mayo was gagifying. 4) Most distressingly, I opened my sandwich to see the inner workings, and I was greeted by a couple of chunks of turkey that were clearly not cooked.
Please pass the salmonella? Not best ever. Not even good. DISGUSTING.
Gross sandwich aside, the Cajun fries were screw-it-I’m-going-to-be-fat-and-happy awesomely good. The Library is a nice little hangout, and I’m sure I will be back for the odd after-​work beer – but sans turkey sandwich.

Come here for a cheap long island and a basket of cajun fries during happy hour on Friday afternoon after a long week in lab! You’ll feel right at home amongst other lab rats doing the same.
This is the go-​to bar for most grad students, post-​docs, and faculty in the science departments due to its proximity to most of the buildings that we work in. It has a fun atmosphere, the service is pretty good, and the food is decent compared to other options in the vicinity.
The Library offers decent bar food, a reasonable selection of beers on tap, pretty good coffee, and cheap happy hour specials. The people who work here really know the clientele, which makes for a fun and comfortable environment. The place gets pretty crowded during happy hour and lunch, but just hang around for a bit and you’ll be able to snag a table pretty quickly. This is also a good place to get your sports fix… lots of TVs and they’ll gladly accomodate requests for certain games if you ask.

Visiting Wisconsin this past weekend, a couple of friends and I were looking for a bar to hit up without straying too far away from the South Union. There wasn’t much, but we did find the Library, and their odd schedule of specials (4−7pm, 7-​close, 9-​close). We were there in between 7 and 9, so we got to have cheap Long Islands! Oof… oh well, can’t complain too much about cheap booze. No one can really, which explains why it was so packed.
We also ordered some food; I got a brat with cheddar on it. I think it was pretty good — at the very least it helped keep the Long Islands from destroying me.
We came back much later the same night, and this time we also qualified for $ 2 domestics. The place was pretty much dead at this point, but we didn’t feel any weird pressure from the lone remaining bartender. In fact, he came by to talk to us for a bit which was pretty cool of him.
Overall, a place that can be cramped at times, but when you’re serving drinks up at those classic campus prices, it’s worth dealing with.

The food was alright, but I thought this was a cool bar. The walls are lined with books and there are some comfy couches in the middle to sit on. If you get bored you can always grab a book off the shelf. The crowd was definitely mostly grad students. Oh by the way, did I mention they have $ 3 long islands?

The «Cheers» bar for most of the Biochemistry department. No crap on tap. Good burgers and sandwiches for lunch or later. Fun pub quiz some Tuesdays. Interesting crowd, much more so than most University and State bars.
–1 star for the coffee — it’s a nice feature, but my order could have been made better in half the time at Aldo’s or Prairie Fire (though it’s certainly better than the Union delis).

Whenever I hit up a game (or attempt to scalp tickets)…I usually end up at The Library Bar for a drink or two. I’ve never eaten here so I can’t comment on the food, but it looked pretty tasty!
Years back a friend and I stopped in, freezing, and a nice bartender made us a spiked cider. I haven’t been able to get it here since then, but I dream of the day I can enjoy another one of those magical hot beverages.
The Good:
–It’s a stone’s throw away from Camp Randall
–Pretty friendly and efficient bartenders
–Tons o’ books line the walls
–Cozy fireplace
–Decent amount of seating
The Meh:
–It can be incredibly crowded and in such a tight space, no bueno
–Two bathrooms total
–The crowd is very mixed. Sometimes it’s douchey, drunk coeds and other times it’s full or really funny professors and interesting alumni (game day crowd).

This place is really close to campus, good food, good beer, BAD service.
I’ve had two bad interactions with the owner and waitstaff now. I had to wait 10 minutes for food that was completely finished and sitting on the counter as the servers chatted it up. They then got my order wrong and said they wouldn’t do anything about it when I told them.
Be sure to go prepared for a bad attitude. They’re one of the closest bars to campus and they know they have a corner on that market.