The Cooper's Tavern

Short Summary:  Local fare and imported beers.  Good for a snack on the square or a light meal.

Location:  20 West Mifflin Street Madison, WI 53703

The Coopers Tavern is a Food Fight venture and a locavore's delight.  The chalkboard by the entrance keeps an updated list of their local sources, twenty or thirty in all.  The British influence is unmistakable, and fans of the Commonwealth can find rarely-seen-in-the-Midwest dishes like poutin and Irish breakfasts with Heinz baked beans.

Local Pride

Coopers is a good way to get to know the farmers' market fare.  Local beef shows up in a lot of dishes, as do familiar cheeses and breads from the Madison Sourdough Company.  The menu changes seasonally; the specials daily.  Local sourcing isn't exactly an uncommon draw in Madison, we realize, but Coopers is taking one of the better runs at it that we've seen.

Portion Problems

Coopers falls short on feeding hungry faces.  Even habitually light eaters shouldn't expect to take any leftovers home.  Most dinner entrees range between $12-$15, and I always leave feeling ready for another dinner right away. 

The large and well-executed appetizer list is something of a saving grace, and one of the reasons to keep going back to Coopers.  Soft pretzels with cheese dip, ample baskets of Belgian-style frites, and "Sconnie" (Scottish) eggs make for a good grazing spot in between meals.

The Well-Poured Pint

Sit at the bar if you get the chance (it often fills up quickly), because the tapsters at Coopers are enjoyable to watch.  We've always found a lively staff well-versed in the art of the perfectly-pulled pint.

Beers range from local favorites (New Glarus, Spotted Cow, etc.) to exotic imports (Bavik, Leffe).  With thirty or so on tap there's no real reason to go to the bottle menu, but it's there with a couple hundred options if you want them.  The wine-drinkers on the staff assure me that the selections they tried were interesting and varied as well.  None of us tested the bartenders' mixology -- it's not really that kind of place (though there are hard liquors, and we assume they could rise to the challenge at least adequately).

Coopers won't every be a dinner-time staple just because of the high cost of getting enough food for an evening there.  But it's one of our top picks for a quick snack-and-a-beer on the Capitol square, and that's a market with plenty of competition.