Going to Madison for M Football Game This Year - Any Suggestions?

Just one. Win the game. 

Soooooooooo, not a seat of the pants guy, huh??

I was pondering starting a thread for a more time relevant event (IU basketball game 1/25) so instead will try to threadjack this one (apologies Blue_In_Texas, I have the utmost confidence you'll get some good advice in the next 8 months :-).  Anyone have any experience down there for basketball parking?  Good things to do in town if I get shutout from trying to scalp some tickets?  Will I be fighting a bunch of bros if I wear UofM gear?

Ps. I've heard that jumping around is pretty fun in Madison.  Particularly if you're the cream of the crop, you'll rise to the top.

Mickies Dairy Bar - located a block south of the stadium.   Good luck getting a seat on game day weekend, but their breakfasts are simple and legendary.  Also top-notch milkshakes.   

I went to 4 games there in the 80’s, so I don’t have any advice to give. But this thread gives me an excuse to tell my convent story. My mom knew a nun who had recently moved to Madison. She called her up, said we were going to the game and wanted to see if they could meet up. The nun responds, “hey, how about you stay here with us at the convent?” So the five of us arrived there Friday night and watched “Dallas” and “Falcon Crest” with the nuns. Saturday morning, my brother and I played backyard football behind the convent and then we went to the game. Wisconsin wasn’t very good back then, so Dad was able to get 10 tickets together and we went to the game with the nuns, in full habit.

I suggest a quick site search--I believe that there was a posting about 18 months ago with this question and some very good suggestions. Madison is a great town and you should have a good time. I am there once a year at least (g/f is from Madison) and I proudly wear my "M" gear and get nothing worse than playful ribbing. It's a fun environment for a game. Hopefully the outcome will be better than what I witnessed the last time we played there.

My suggestion is to jump around.

Make time to do a New Glarus Brewery Tour.  Game day is more a pub crawl than a tailgate but lots of fun.

But one of them cheese head thingys and paint it blue with maize "holes." Wear it proudly in the Wisci fan section.

As for neighborhoods where you might find an AirBnB, I would suggest Dudgeon-Monroe or Regent. There are nice houses in that area, as well as some apartments, and if you don't go too far west, you can have a pleasant walk to Camp Randall. There are also a lot of first-rate restaurants and bars on Monroe St., just southwest of Camp Randall.

If you don't want or need to be as close to the stadium, you could look for places near Williamson Street ("Willy Street") on the east side, in the Capitol or Marquette neighborhoods. There are also a lot of good restaurants there, and its a very funky area.

https://www.areavibes.com/madison-wi/neighborhoods/ 

For those who compare Madison and Ann Arbor . . . well, I'm not sure about the comparison. Madison is significantly bigger and has a much wider variety of cool places to hang out. It also retains more of the weird college town vibe that Ann Arbor used to have before it started to turn into Birmingham. 

Make it a week long trip.... after the game head north to Green Bay and into the U.P. ...do some things you can’t in Texas.  Might as well go catch wild brook trout, lake trout and walleye for starters.  You got time to plan... extend your stay and further taste the good and finer things in life.

I live just outside Milwaukee,

The Italian Workmans club is solid spot if your looking for Italian food- 914 Regent Street in Madison, WI- The restaurant in it is known as The Greenbush Bar.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/greenbush-bar-madison

Also - looking for Brazilian style steak house which is solid - http://www.sambabraziliangrill.com/

 Nitty Gritty near the Kohl center is another kinda famous place to eat. More for burgers andr inks kind of stuff- even better if you go on your birthday cuz it is free drinks on your birthday !

Lots of Bars on State Street downtown--

Looking for the Boot-  Essen Haus

Looking for music - Frequency Also might be some concerts going on with national bands over at the Sylvee.

Saturday Morning Doughnuts- Greenbush Bakery not far from Camp Randall - The apple fritters are off the chain

Parking absolutely sucks on gameday ! Get their early or be prepared for a long crappy walk.

A lot of bars will be open on gameday in the area before the game early if it is an early game but I expect for some reason for this game to be a later game meaning 2:30- 7pm start. I expect

both teams undefeated so probably a much later start, so try to find a good tailgate if possible .

Also the fans when their winning can be assholes .

I'll be their in September also !

GO BLUE !

Find a good Wisconsin supper club. Go drink copious amounts of Old Fashioneds and New Glarus and eat your weight in fish fry. Don't skimp on the relish plate and cheese curds.

If you don't want to leave Madison proper, there's a restaurant called the Old Fashioned, right by the capitol, with pretty good food and drinks. Get the tiger sauce with your cheese curds. I'll second Greenbush Bakery for donuts. 

Madison is awesome.

Bring some voodoo. Need the W.

Been there a bunch of times for games including vs Nebraska this year. Make sure you gets tickets in the student section. Even being a Michigan fan, it is a blast.

As others have said, go to the Student Union (there are two; the one overlooking Lake Mendota). State Street Brats is fun, and I would also hit Essen Haus and the Saturday Farmers' Market. Walk State Street itself, which is very spirited.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Verona which was a 20 min drive to the stadium. Book early as the hotels fill up early on football weekends.

There used to be a place called OSS (Old School Sausages) that had great cheese curds and even better t-shirts with their logo and OSS on the front and Ohio State Sucks on the back. I just looked it up and it's unfortunately closed. Regardless, cheese curds are a must. 

I was there in 1997.  I thought their fans were crazy, but only during the game.  The same guy that was maniacally yelling "Fuck Woodson" all throughout the game reverted to a normal human being once the gun sounded ending the game.

We were sitting on the side that incorporates the old stadium and I though that getting out of there in an emergency would be a problem. 

Win

Bring your drinking shoes, mix with the locals, go to State Street Brats. Wisco fans can be dicks during the game but are good natured as a whole. 

My suggestion is that you post this again in the fall

I’d highly recommend Greenbush Bar for some wonderful pizza.  Great beer selection in a pretty cool downstairs restaurant.  Right below the Italian Workman’s Club.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60859-d398155-Reviews-Greenbush_Bar-Madison_Wisconsin.html

Dotty Dumpling's Dowry for the best burgers in town, then follow up with some maple blueberry cake donuts from Greenbush Bakery.  Plenty of good bars everywhere, but make sure to try a Spotted Cow at whichever one you choose, classic beer that you can only get in Wisconsin.

bring your drinking shoes.

Union Terrace for beer and pretzels and a great lake view

Dotty Dumpling's Dowry made good burgers.  State Street Brats was good; self explanatory.  Wando's is fun if you like a college age crowd.  Samba had good Brazilian meat orgy, pricy. 

Bring an offense with you