7/20/13 My wife and I biked downtown and came across The Rigby. Â We had no idea it had been open since 2011. Â Awesome 70's music was playing. Â The bar is decorated with music memorabilia. Â They had $2.50 Edmund Fitzgerald's from Great Lakes Brewing Co for a special. Â Their spinach dip with veggies, crackers, and tortillas was tasty. Â The bartender was very pleasant and welcoming.
Review Source:Team Trivia here on Tuesday nights, but there are better options in Madison.
There are two floors, and there is a basement that wasn't open (cave-themed, a relic of its previous tenant, the Casbah). Â We opted for second floor seating.
I immediately noticed that the it's the "Rigby Pub & Grill" but there's no drink menu! Â A server just had the beers on tap written on the back of a receipt but that's it. Â In some areas of the restaurant, some beverage options were written on a chalkboard, but there was no way to see that from my table. Â There were about 7 taps.
Appetizer: Cheese curds, tempura style, served with buffalo dip. Â Curds were good, although I prefer a sauce other than buffalo.
Magical Mushroom Burger: A disappointment. Â Normal sides include pub chips, coleslaw, and potato salad. Â I ordered fries for an additional surcharge. Â The fries were oily. Â As for the burger, the menu said that it came with "caramelized mushrooms and onions." Â To me, this implies that the onions are caramelized. Â They were sauteed, not caramelized.
Team Trivia was fine. A forewarning; if you are on the 2nd floor, you have to run down to the 1st floor to drop off your entry, so if your team is the type to procrastinate, sit on the 1st floor.
Overall, "eh." Â I would not go back.
The Rigby is a fun bar just off the Capitol Square. Â It is unpretentious and has some pretty good food and solid tap list. Â Try the Sergeant Popper Burger, a burger with cream cheese and jalapeno peppers. Â It is a theme bar, which I usually don not go for, but The Rigby makes it work. Â In case you couldn't tell by the name, the theme is rock and roll with a big Beatles influence. Â A big draw here is Team Trivia on Tuesdays at 7PM. Â Prizes are awarded for 1st through 3rd place and for best team name. Â Win or loose it is always a good time. Â The waitstaff is rock solid. Â With good food, a solid tap list, friendly staff, good friends, and trivia, this place has become a weekly staple.
Review Source:This place is really quirky, but awesome if you get to know it. It's Beatles themed, and the menu is goofy, but the fried cheese curds are fantastic, as is the jalapeno popper burger. The turkey swiss and slaw sandwich is also a winner.
If you really want a great experience, go on a Tuesday night and play trivia. Kim, the trivia reader, is hilarious, and the waitstaff are super sweet and really friendly. They have a decent beer selection
This place is just OK. The bartender walked by to-be-orderers several times before noticing them. Drinks were sufficiently stiff. The food was hit and miss.
Nachos - cheese sauce (come on, we're in WI!) and very little cheese. The meat on top was dry, almost like jerkey. It must have gone on before it was broiled, or it sat under the heat lamp for too long. It should have not been served; it clearly looked dry.
Chicken Tenders - overall quite good. Good but probably not home made BBQ sauce. Fries were just OK.
Cheese Curds - very good, but not the best in town. Although unusual, the dipping sauce was an interesting change of pace. I think it was ranch dressing mixed with Franks Red Hot. Â
We got a goodie bag of free baked goods just before we left, which was a nice touch and a creative way of marketing.
I am tempted to take off another star because stakeholders in the business clearly wrote their own 5-star reviews (that were filtered out by yelp)
We stopped in for a drink while waiting for a table at Red Sushi. Â
We grabbed a seat at the bar, inquired about the tap selection, and within a few minutes were enjoying a refreshing Bell's Two Hearted and a Vintage Banana Nut Bread. Â We were there quite early, so the crowd was minimal; service was quick and friendly.
The Rigby appears to have an upstairs and downstairs area; the downstairs was closed during the time of our visit. Â
After finishing the first round, we decided to share a Delirium Tremens (on tap). Â It was excellent, as always. Â
The crowd started to pick-up just as we were leaving - I imagine this would be a fun place to hang at while listening to some live music and enjoying a fine beverage or three. Â I'll be back!
Do you ever psyche yourself up for an experience but you have a feeling that it's not all cracked up to what you thought?
Before I got there I knew that I would like the music and the decorations.
Dark menu-No that's cool I want to squint my youthful eyes at excessive descriptions.
Fish fry-was two pieces of soaked fish that were extremely unpleasant on my tongue.
The fries were not worth crying about.
The chicken tenders were tough, come on bros, THEY'RE CHICKEN TENDERS. How can you go wrong?
This place has potential, it should work it's way from the website to the menu to the service.
I can't speak to the food here as I have never eaten it but this place has some SERIOUSLY affordable drinks for a bar on the square. Â $3 for rail cocktails... This is dangerous. Â The staff always seems friendly and they have a few different spaces, the upstairs has two rooms and then the downstairs bar. Â They also have bands from time to time. Â The new bar manager used to be at vintage and brought their fabulous Apple Pie Shots with him. Â Not a bad place at all!
Review Source:I want to preface my review with the caveat that I frequent The Rigby for trivia on Tuesday nights.
Atmosphere - Two levels. (three technically, but I've only been to the lower level once) It isn't anything fancy, but it is clean and has  nice windows on the top level.
Wait staff - Usually really great and quick to please. They are friendly and treat their usuals (like me) very well.
Beer - I think they have really improved. They usually have 6 to 7 local draws of solid beers with some standards (ie: two hearted)
Food - They have improved here as well. Besides having cheesy Beatles related names, their food is pretty good for bar food. Chicken fingers have a nice, crispy batter. The homemade chips are usually spot on. The turkey slaw sandwich is yummy.
I've never eaten here, but I've seen a few shows and had drinks here. There was one server who was pretty undesirable, but I was informed that she no longer works there. The rest of the staff is very warm and welcoming. The drinks are always good. The Rigby draws a crowd, but never really feels packed. The location is fantastic. Â The live performances are intimate. Overall, a great place to spend a Saturday night or a nice Sunday afternoon (all day happy hour prices).
Review Source:This area of Madison has really got it going on with tons of great options including The Rigby!
The Rigby is good ole fashioned Wisconsin bar confort food done right! They make their salads (potato salad, coleslaw) from scratch and their burgers are very underrated! Staff is great and speed of service is definitely better than some other spots in the area. I've never had any trouble getting in and getting out when in a hurry, and the food is awesome. Try the Rigby burger and their homemade coleslaw!
OK, I've been returning for Team Trivia. Service has gotten much better, and they have beer lists on all the tables now! This rapid and positive change is enough to get another star from me. Â The food is good; I recommend chips over fries. I think happy hour is 3-6 now, with specials each day.
Review Source:We stopped in here while taking a break from smoking cigars at Maduro's next door (Great Bar). It was a huge culture change. The bar is Beatles themed, but this doesn't seem like the kind of place anyone who was alive when the Beatles were around would ever actually go too. Even we felt out of place a bit at the wisened age of three decades.
That doesn't mean it was a bad bar though!
The tap list was small but decent. Traditional hipster juice (PBR) and assorted microbrews including Fixed Gear from lakefront and Gumballhead from Three Floyds. The bar is narrow but open with a decent amount of seating. The crowd was Hipster Bi-Curious, and young. Early twentiesish and fashionable. Not Madison Ave Fashion  but indie rock band/don't give a shit fashionable.
They had TV's tuned to sports which seemed odd and out of place. No old VHS of the Ed Sullivan Show? Do kids even know what VHS is? Some girl at my wife's work was asked her why she used the phrase, "Tape it" in reference to recording something on DVR. How times have changed. PRESTO! I just became my Father. Also the music was good but not just Beatles or even Beatles era. Plenty of new indie music was on when we were there
The bar had three floors which I never would have guessed from the outside. The lower "Cavern" level wasn't open when we got there and when we asked about it weren't really given an answer. The upstairs was getting a lot of traffic from members of a band that were playing later in the evening.
If you're younger go to the Rigby. You might hear some music that is better than the shit on pop radio.
If you're older go to Argus next door or Maduro's for a cigar.
Cool theme. Curious to see if this place stays quiet or explodes in popularity. It could do either with the whole beatles/classic rock niche. Very excited to see some shows in "the cavern", their dark and dusty brick basement. Kind of creepy looking but its an awesome venue to see some music. They havnt had any shows yet. Tried the Rigby burger, which was ok. The meat/toppings wasn't hugge by any means but the kaiser roll it was on was the size of a football. A little too much bread IMO. The sides were the highlight in my opinion. I don't like super tangy coleslaw and theirs was nice and creamy with a touch of twang. Overall, a cool place with a decent beer selection and cheap, solid food. Its a nice addition to Madison's dynamic bar scene. Ill return to catch a show sometime.
Review Source:Stopped into the Rigby (in the former Casbah location) earlier today with some friends, and I think it has some potential. It just opened and it's a rock (mostly Beatles) themed bar.
It's a big space (3 floors) and they did a nice job decorating. The upstairs has a pub feel with a pool table and restaurant seating up front. They are currently converting the basement into a venue, which could be awesome with a dark, cave-like feel.
I tried some of the food - the philly cheese steak and the pork sliders - both items were overly bland and tasted like something I just microwaved. Sandwiches come with ripple chips. Unless they start serving french onion dip (yum), that's not going to fly in Madison. It was 2-for-1 sandwiches and apps, which is a great deal.
Service is good, staff was very nice. I think it's a good addition to the block (if they work on their food).
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
