Whiskey Jacks Saloon
552 State St, Madison, WI, 53703
Whiskey Jacks Saloon Menu
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Address :
552 State St
Madison, WI, 53703 - Phone (608) 819-8881
- Website https://www.whiskeyjacksmadtown.com
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :3:00 pm - 2:00pm
Specialities
- Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Ambience : Divey
Noise Level : Very Loud
Music : DJ, Live, Juke Box, Music Videos
Good For Dancing : Yes
Alcohol : Full Bar
Happy Hour : Yes
Best Nights : Wed, Fri, Sat
Coat Check : Yes
Smoking : Yes
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Has TV : Yes
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Piper S.
Once the Pub always the Pub. Still a great place to get harassed by undesirables. Although I did give it one star MORE than the Pub because they did upgrade the paint and architectural conditions inside. Although getting better SLOWLY the service seems to be staffed by castoffs from other downtown places that didn't have the speed to make it at their old joints. I guess it just comes down to you can't polish a turd.
(2)Supriya D.
If you want cheap drinks and to get creeped on, go here. This is the typical trashy college bar- each campus has one, the place no one goes unless they are blacked out. Pretty sure this is it. Came here 1AM on a Saturday night- still wasn't blacked out enough to be here. The crowd is not the classiest, and this was just a gross place all around.
(1)Kat H.
Great place for young 21 yr olds who want to pass out from drinking too many fruity hangover inducing shots.
(3)Amy C.
Whiskey River Saloon is really spacious and offers a great selection of hard alcohol and beers on tap. The beers are also cheap (or maybe $3 a pint is standard for Madison). For entertainment, there are pool tables, some arcade games, foosball and these really lame electronic dart boards. The music selection is pretty sub-par, but I'd put up with it for the cheap beers. It was pretty empty both nights that I went, though it was Sunday and Monday night of finals week so it might be more crowded on other nights. The bartenders were nice and let us stay past closing to finish our pool game.
(3)Molly O.
Oh how I wished I would've read reviews before the girls and I picked this place. Idk maybe I looked like I wanted to be grinded on (at least buy me a drink). After 45 mins we left, too many creepy guys and the music kinda sucked *maybe I'm just getting old lol
(2)Katie C.
Whiskey Jacks Saloon is good at providing three things here in Madison: enough space to support 3+ bachelorette parties at a time, men who enjoy ogling at the members of 3+ bachelorette parties in hopes a stray will separate from the pack, and cover bands that will transition seamlessly from "Mr. Jones" to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". If any of those three things are appealing to you, then you've stumbled upon a gold mine, my friend. Personally, it's not my everyday cup o' tea but that doesn't mean I haven't found myself waiting in line to get in after a long night out with the girlfriends. All you need is one of them to yell out, "I just wanna dance" to know you're either in for somebody pulling up a YouTube clip of Dane Cook on their smartphone or a cover-free trip to Whiskey Jacks. At that point, I'm usually only intoxicated enough to tolerate the latter. One of my last trips to WJ lead me out onto the dance floor where I watched a gentleman make his way through the swaying crowd with a glass of wine held above his head. A young lady inevitably collided with him, causing the glass to fall to the floor. The wine glass maintained it's shape (plastic is a miracle material) but the wine was not so lucky and the man cried out, "Damnit! Not again!" Hello, hilarity and a few takeaways: 1. A place named "Whiskey Jacks Saloon" is going to disappoint you if you go there for the whiskey, let alone a glass of wine. 2. Never underestimate the breadth of movement people are capable of when Hootie & the Blowfish makes it into a live band's repertoire. 3. If you're a straight, single man, getting upset at one of the 10 girls in a crowd of 50 guys means you'll probably only be going home with a souvenir plastic wine glass at the end of the night. Service and drinks are sub-par. Atmosphere is cheesy. Maintain reasonable expectations or move along, cowboy.
(2)Joshua B.
Went to Whiskey Jacks recently, I had been here a few times before and had hoped for a better experience.... Well that didn't happen. My better half and I get there about 945 after stopping at a few places on State Street like Mondays & The Tiki Bar. Walked into WJ and ordered some drinks. 1st drink was a blue uv with well sprite because WJ doesn't carry Mt. Dew, great guys what a start.... That will be $5.00. Wait your charging $5.00 for that drink that I just paid $4.00 for at the Tiki Bar and $3.00 at Mondays and both those places served it with Mt. Dew. What a joke. The place smelled like bleach and Pine Sol inside. The floors were sticky. Not my scene. About an hour later the cops show up and have 3 individuals detained. Great lets slow everyone down. The bouncers looked less than excited to be dealing with these idiots who had a few too many. A tip to WJ owners, Please offer some food, bring your drink prices down a little. Offer a wide variety of drinks and stop with the nasty smelling bar and I may come back.
(2)Michelle F.
This a perfectly fine place to stop for a cold brew on a sweltering day. It seems funny that such a cavernous place could be so empty, but I guess it's the night crowd they're after...and based on previous reviews, I'll avoid that like the plague. My only complaint is that the floor is so sticky in places that I literally lost a flip-flop. However, with its window bar seating, this is now tied for Irish Pub for best people watching spot.
(3)John G.
In the location of what was once the terrible "Pub" on state street, some entrepreneurial gentlemen created a fantastic new bar. I'm actually amazed that no one has reviewed this yet, despite the fact that it's still fairly new. I was really blown away by how good a bar this is, and part of that is due to the fact that it's something Madison has been missing for a long time. Chicago and Milwaukee both have these niche bars that provide quality live bands, lights, atmosphere, and good drinks while at the same time garnering a happy medium of customers to occupancy limits. Madison, on the other hand, has some nice bars but not anything like this. They don't have good clubs (none I would even consider a club because Scatz doesn't count), and they don't have bars that are inbetween. This is precisely what Whiskey River Saloon is. They kick things off right by having an actual "Wild West Atmosphere" that is created by the customers and not forced by some sort of corporate campaign. I walked in (after waiting in line for 20 min) and was treated to laughing, hooting and hollering, and a band that was playing fantastic music to a small throng of Friday night party-goers. One of the best parts of the place is the space; there's a lot of room to move around despite the crowds, there's a numerous amount of tables setup for groups (and in good locations that are not in the way), and there's a long bar for when it gets crowded. The best part is easily the stage though. It's to the far back of the bar and takes up most of the back wall. The band that night was playing classic hits from Sublime, Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, and others who while normally have subdued music they covered it in a way that really got the crowd engaged (even singing along), and the light show helped accentuate the atmosphere. Part of the hype may be due to it being new and some good advertising, but I know that this bar is going to have no trouble staying afloat if they keep doing what they're doing. My group also had obtained a beer tube complete with a tap which was a nice way to avoid being at the bar forever waiting for a drink (even though the bartenders were fun), and they seemed to all be enjoying themselves. The only true drawback was the line at the door (which I waited in twice after forgetting my wallet), but honestly I'd wait in it again and again for a good experience like the one I had. Couldn't recommend more, so glad the Pub is gone.
(5)Mariana F.
Rudest staff ever. They announced last call at 1:30 am, and I specifically asked what time they closed, to which the bouncer and bartender said 2 am. I fully intended on finishing my beer when we were asked to leave at 1:40 am. I was mid-sip when the bouncer crushed my beer and spilled it on my new shirt. I was denied a refund and carried out.
(1)Kimberly T.
Stopped by after dinner on Friday with my family & had a good time. Very large bar that had live music. I liked that there was enough space for you to talk & hang out, shoot hoops & even dance. Bartenders were great all night.
(3)Alicia M.
I really want to like this place but I just can't. The crowd that hangs out here is just trashy. I have gone here a couple different times and have always been disappointed. I want to like this place because it has a great space, dance floor, pool tables, etc but the trashy stripperness needs to go.
(1)S M.
Ever since Mad Ave was shut down, Whiskey River has stepped up to take the crown as the trashiest bar in town. Overrated is the only thing that can describe this hotspot of guidos and girls with fake tits. The door is manned every night by a couple of self-obsessed meatheads who think they own the entire sidewalk in front of the building, and the godawful fratboy music blasting out of this place on every weekend night should be considered a threat to the safety and well-being of the general public.
(1)Chrissy P.
Despite being a hangout for the drunk and the disastrous, Whiskey Jack is a pretty solid place to grab a drink. As a young, female, college student, it's fun to head to a bar where there's a dance floor and where there's also a place to sit and hang out. The bar is pretty standard, and the staff is pretty normal, so it's a good place to go for cheap drinks and dancing.
(3)jason b.
A place to get beer, drinks, pool tables, music, dance floor. It's spacious. Otherwise nothing exciting, but nothing I'd avoid either.
(3)Anton A.
This is a fun college bar with a Good DJ playing the full gambit of musical genres until 10ish. Then it was a decent cover band. The pool tables are up front, the dance floor in the back. Fin
(4)Joshua J.
I'd say the place is pretty cool. It's very different than a lot of the places around it. It reminds me heavily of a bowling alley or sports bar(more like Pooley's than anything in the area.) The live music sounds cool and the dance floor is a cool idea. The main problem I've had is the drinks -- there is not enough specials and its hard as hell to get a drink in the first place! There is also a minimum on the card that you must spend which .. I don't know, I don't think I can spend enough here on drinks to enjoy it :)
(3)Cris D.
We went there during the day to start off our adventure. The bartender was excellent. Yes we were the only ones there but he was able to do his opening work and hold a conversation. Large selection of alcohol. Larger selection of whiskey. A huge list of shots. Seriously, its huge. Decent prices Dart bored Right on state.
(4)Jeremy S.
I mean, if, like most of the crowd here, you're just or not-quite legal, and you don't mind getting panhandled while you drink, and you have shitty taste in music, and you like your shots to have six ingredients, and you're just going to go with it on the fact the bar you hang out in is a black hole, and you've never been to any other better bar, and...well, and a lot of things, I could see this maybe being three stars. In other words, this might be just fine if you are an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin. I must admit that I had fun getting in the wayback machine and debating with/lecturing to kids 20 years my junior on how to make flaming shot cocktails. I see that vomit-tinged college pub culture hasn't changed much since 1995. So, it isn't like I didn't know what I was getting into here; it's just that Wisconsin's bizarrely early 9pm carryout deadline (that I missed) for getting beer and going back to my room forced me to go somewhere to quench my thirst, and Whiskey Jack's happened to be the first thing I stumbled across. And they do, in fairness, have a pretty good beer selection and, like college bars nearly everywhere in the Midwest, specials that seem to be sold below wholesale. Three dollar PBR pitchers on Tuesday!? No, I'd never go back, but I'm not really sorry that I went, either.
(2)Peter Y.
Ok people, seriously? You're in a college town filled with young people, and you go to a college bar, obviously you'll meet some creeps. There's no reason why this place should lose out on points for living up to that stereotype. This place is spacious, so you'll have room for all of your "bump & grind" and whatever it is that young kids (LOL) do these days. The drinks are strong and cheap, which definitely seems to be a trend in Madison. The only problem I had with this place was the sticky floors and the clientele. There's nothing wrong with getting trashed and having some fun, but most people here are a bit too drunk. Expect to be bumped into a lot, mostly by obnoxious bros who don't have sorry in their vocabulary.
(3)Amanda A.
Walked in around 11am after the Shamrock shuffle to get a drink and warm up. It was pretty clean and very big with a large beer selection. We got Bloody Mary and a fuzzy navel to start and switched to green beer. I can't comment what it is like at night but I'd be happy to go there again during the afternoon on a weekend for a drink. The bartender was alone and busy but did ok.
(3)Sarah P.
I rode a mechanical bull for the first time, so there's that - otherwise the music was too loud and I almost lost my voice from trying to have an actual conversation with people. Of course, there was also karaoke, and a group of folks who went on stage and totally nailed Outkast. It was amazing, and I shook it like a Polaroid picture. So yes, a good night, but that was because the place was reserved for us and QDoba was catering. Dancing to karaoke is a whole experience of its own.
(3)Pearl S.
DJ booth, pool table, arcade games, mechanical bull, long bar with a ton of stools, and spacious middle ground with tables and room for dancing (if you care to-most people dont). Definitely a recipe for a good time!
(3)Katie M.
The employees at this bar are the most unprofessional people I have ever had experience with at a bar in Madison. My horrible experience started with a bartender, who literally threw ice at someone who was waiting for their check but not looking. They threw ice on a patron! Later that night my purse was stolen. I had set it down on the stage next to my friend and walked to the bathroom 5 feet away. Upon returning it was gone. Shortly later, at bar time, my friend and I were looking for my purse near the back of the bar when the bouncers started screaming in their usual rude-tone to "GET OUT OF HERE". I politely told them we were looking for my lost/stolen purse and was told that 'we had plenty time to look'. Ends up he grabbed my friend by her arms and carried her across the bar (a good 50 ft) to the door. She did not incite this attack, and told him she would walk out herself-yet he would not let go. She has DARK bruises on both arms. Come to find out that was the second purse stolen that night. I will not be going back to this bar and will tell everyone I know how horrible of an experience it was.
(1)Don L.
Place is huge but I'm not entirely sure about the integrity of the bartenders. When I looked online at my bank statement I was overcharged by a couple dollars. I called about it and was told someone would get back to me, they didn't. Called again, same deal. If you do go here don't use a card.
(2)Jenni B.
Creeps on creeps on creeps. Whiskey Jacks (or Whiskey River if you refuse to acknowledge the change like myself) is a great bar in concept. It's big open space that can literally accommodate hundreds of people, and yet there is usually still a line if you get here past 11:30. They have two bars along the right and left walls so your line to the tapper shouldn't be very long. If you are into games at the bar they have quite a few billiard tables, darts and even some basketball hoops games. They do have a dress code (essentially you can't be wearing workout attire) which helps limit the creeps in the summer - they usually travel in hordes and one of them has to mess up, but in the winter everyone's so bundled up that anything goes. The dance area is the best (if not the only real dance floor) on campus, and they have live music or a DJ every weekend. If you're here during live music you are bound to have a ton of fun, apparently a pop country sing along is not the scene for a creep. You're in the clear until after the last set when the DJ takes over, then ladies you gotta watch your back (no really, that's where they come from, try to make it as inaccessible as possible). There are lots of cute guys here, make sure you pick one to dance with, don't get prayed on. If you do, you're going to turn around to a mustached Adidas tank top that smells intensely of Indian food or body odor, you won't be able to tell which. You can have a great time at Whiskey Jacks, just make sure you go in with a big group, your big strong boyfriend or incredibly low standards.
(2)Patrick T.
Totally a college scene. Crowded, fun dancing, next to qdoba to satisfy your late night drinking munchies. The shots menu is posted on the wall over their bar so you can see what goes into the delicious shooters (note-- you have to order at least 2). Music was not bad when I went on a Saturday night. Don't wear anything too nice, as someone will probably spill a drink or two on you.
(3)Robert S.
The bar is okay with pool tables, dj, and live music; however the owner, and staff really should change their attitude about how they treat customers! For example, insulting paying customers, and being rude to them shouldn't be tolerated!! Hey Josh, get this through your fucking head you, I have no interest in talking with you!!!! Your a moron owner pushing one of the last legal drugs! I have two professional degrees from uw Madison, I have a real job, so shut up you idiot, we the customers put money in your wallet!!
(2)Tatiana F.
I had a really awful experience while visiting Whiskey Jack's. I am Canadian and after waiting 30 minutes in line to see the bouncer and was not allowed with my Canadian drivers license due to the fact it was an international form of ID, something I have never heard of before. When I asked what forms they do accept the bouncer stated passports. WHY WOULD ANY INTERNATIONAL TRAVELLER RISK LOOSING THEIR PASSPORT (and on top of that my visa allowing me to go to school in the states)TO GET INTO A BAR? Such a ridiculous waste of my time and awful customer service by the bouncer.
(1)Luis B.
My best friend came to visit from Mexico, and wanted to go out. A couple of friends said that a band was going to play at Whiskey River so we decided to head over there. there was a line and we only waited around 15 mins to get in. The man at the door checked our id's and my friend presented his Mexican Passport to prove age. This bouncer, started going through the passport pages and I told him the age was in main page of the passport. He said he needed to find the "Visa" to let him in because he wasn't a US Citizen. This upset me because it is none of his business to look for the visa stamp, I can understand if it is and police officer, TSA, government official, but not this "bouncer" who gets paid to check ages. Very unprofessional and just plain racist from his part. After finally going in, the music was good and the band was great! until someone vomited in the middle of the dance floor (not the place's fault). it was cleaned right away. Drink prices were reasonable and the place is big. But the bouncer ruined our experience and I will not be back to Whiskey River. Incident happened 01/16/2011 around 11pm.
(1)Matthew T.
Rudest staff I have ever interacted with. If you are 19 and hate humanity then this is the place for you. If you are of age and want to avoid stepping in vomit then avoid this place at all costs.
(1)Jesse R.
The employees were not friendly at all, the people their are too rowdy. A lot of immature kids who shouldn't be there. Don't get me wrong, I love to party but there were just too many tools!!
(2)Mzz. Julia X.
Hey, wow- I was downtown yesterday and walked by this place. Ouch. Still a shithole where morons congregate. The shitty music blaring out onto the sidewalk, and the greasy, simian dudebros inside managed to offend me, and I didn't even set foot inside. Seriously: auditory, visual, and olfactory (the wave of Axe, B.O. and cigarette smoke hit me and I wanted to vomit) nastiness, all in one bar. Add to that the latest aggressive spam campaign here on Yelp (the staff are 'hot'? Really? How disgusting! I wonder how your 'staff' feels about being objectified so blatantly?), and you've got Whiskey Jack-Shit or whatever it's called now. Seriously, y'all- give it up. Your bar SUCKS.
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