Beautiful little hide away so close to the Capital Building. Menu needs work not much to offer but I hear the staff are making changes. Excited to see whats next for this gem in rough.

Me and my wife were planning to hold our wedding reception at the brink for last August (of 2020). We met with their event coordinator in January of 2020, and put down our $750 deposit. Due to the pandemic, we ended up having to reschedule our reception for June of 2021, which they were able to accommodate. Last spring, the Brink reached out and stated that if we put down $2000 for our event, they would give us a $300 credit towards our future event. This was, presumably, to cover losses as a result of the pandemic, which was understandable. We took them up on this, as our original budget for this was around $3000, so we would be saving about $300 in the end, so we put down the $2000, we were also told any money we put down is refundable outside of the original $750 deposit. As in-person restrictions have continued, and with uncertainty of a majority of our guests being vaccinated by June, we decided to cancel our reception back in January of 2021. We reached out to the Brink, where we found out the event coordinator had left her position, and that we should contact the owner, Matt Brink. We have made a total of seven attempts to contact the Brink, and the owner, Matt Brink, via email and voicemail, since January with no response at all from anyone. I also attempted to go in person, and found that the doors to their office space are locked. I would not recommend doing business with them at this time, as it is clear that they are actively avoiding my attempts to contact them to refund the money we are clearly owed. I understand that times are especially tough for businesses such as this, but avoiding any discussion with us is not only disappointing, but unprofessional, and not a way any business should operate.

We had my daughters wedding reception at The Brink and everything was fabulous. I was a bit concerned because it is an older building and the carpeting is dated, but with the color themed table linens and lights we added the place looked great. The spiral staircase was fun and made for some memorable pictures. Ashlie was extremely helpful and kind and the bartenders that evening were really friendly. The night exceeded my expectations and my daughter was thrilled.

Great staff. Great food

Great service! Great drinks! Great time!!!

The bartenders were really nice! It was very clean. My only wish is that they turn down the lights in the party room area. Especially on the the dance floor so it will look more like a smooth setting. Every light was on and very bright! Also, you cannot bring food unless you have some kind of catering license or something...Otherwise you can only bring cake and fruit 😔 What kind of party is it if you cant feed your guess food!

Enjoyed the patio behind the bar.

I had my wedding reception in the banquet room at The Brink Lounge and had such an excellent experience! The wedding coordinator (Ada) was so helpful and communicative leading up to the day as well as during the event. Her calm demeanor was so appreciated. And day-of was exactly what I wanted and expected. The venue is beautiful and required very little decorating on our end, and our guests were so impressed with the unique space! The staff was very kind and helpful, and really easy to work with. I highly recommend The Brink for low stress, low maintenance wedding venue that will wow your guests!

A comfortable and exquisite environment. With a large and great Liquor and Wine selections. Bartenders are extremely nice and create a fun atmosphere. Great place to get together with friends and family for drinks and good food to catch up on life. Comfortable seating and couches too! Its the best bar and lounge in Madison!

Attended a wedding reception here a few weeks ago. Spot on, and the Irish bartender was an added bonus!

Excellent place to meet, eat and drink.

These two girls just love going to see everyone out there.

We got married at the end of October and had our reception in the Banquet Room at the Brink Lounge. The space was absolutely gorgeous, we had no problems setting things up the way we wanted, and the Brink staff was super helpful! During the planning, Ada was very responsive to our emails and was very open to our ideas! We also got a lot of compliments about the bartenders and drinks! One particularly nice aspect of the space was the multiple floors. If guests didn’t want to stay downstairs with the music, they could spread out to the upper floors where we set up couches and games for entertainment. We would definitely recommend this space for wedding receptions!

Beautiful space and bar.

The atmosphere and actual seating area of this place are pretty awful. Its hard to tell what they are going for. Is it a lobby? A bowling alley without lanes? An airport gate ready for boarding? Not sure really. Some areas are so well-lit, you could perform surgery. The place has so much open square-footage that, although there are actually around 50 people present, it would appear there are about 5, but then youre reminded that there are much more because the two bartenders on staff on a Saturday night are overwhelmed and take forever to fetch you a menu, let alone a drink.So why 4-stars? Simply for the live music. The collective of blues and jazz musicians performing on a Saturday is so incredibly exciting, uplifting and mesmerizing, you forget about so the wonky atmosphere altogether. There is a huge wine selection, at very reasonable prices, which is another plus. But the music is just spectacular and something that more people should see/hear.

Jason is the best. Really enjoyed chatting

Great atmosphere, great staff, music, food, drinks, etc. Fun events. All in a great location,... I COULD go on about it...❤

Fun place for live music. Full bar; always has nice craft beer, always seems to have some good dark-malty porter or similar beer. Friendly patrons, never too full (when Ive been there). Check out Madisons Big-Band Jazz Orchestra ... theyre great and they play there monthly!

Great lounge for events. I go nearly every Wednesday for swing dancing. No matter what type of swing you dance, its going on Wednesday. The atmosphere is great, and food is good, the drinks are also pretty good as well. Its worth swinging by to check it out, or at least people watch.

Outside dining, Thursday trivia! Nice staff like Isaiah!

Fun spot

We had our wedding here last night and had an amazing time! Ashlie, the General Manager, (who was so incredibly easy and enjoyable to work with) as well as the rest of the staff worked hard to keep everything going as smoothly as possible for our 200 guests. One of our guests left a negative review because of dinner. We ordered enough servings for our guests as well as about 10 extras (not 50 as she implied). We’re not made of money! We nearly ran out of food because our guests were taking MASSIVE portions rather than the single servings they were asked to take. The Brink Lounge staff worked as quickly as possible to get more food on the buffet and keep to keep the line moving. Tip to anyone planning a wedding: If you have buffet, plan for multiple servings per person. We thought people would listen, and just take one but that didn’t happen.We would 100% have our wedding here again. We probably would do dinner differently, haha.

Amazing venue for Wedding. Food was delicious

Ive been to a wedding here, a music concert and a comedy show. All were great events. Nice large, clean place. One if the bartenders always gets flustered when it gets busy. If youre not in a hurry its kind of fun to watch.

Excellent venue for number of events. Always warm staff and great service. Cozy atmosphere. Either dance night, music concert or event of some kind always enjoyable to be there.

It has a spacious dance area conveniently separated from bar area. You can sit around the table and talk to your friends or dance tango, salsa or bachata on Tuesday 🌃

I had my wedding reception at the Brink on August 25th. The food was awesome and the bartender (I believe his name was Jason) -- was incredibly helpful. However, there were a number of basic things that were not in place and/or werent getting done without a lot of hunting down of the new manager, Ada and repeated requests. There were no glasses for guests for water for the first half hour, the food was late and there were no plates without repeated requests. There was nothing set up for the 4:30 toast at 4:30, except unopened bottles and 24 water glasses (for 60 guests). I had to find Ada. She claimed that the set-up she had was fine. I essentially had to argue her into either doing the pour or allowing myself and my brother in law to do it. (She and Jason did get glasses and do the pour at that point, while my brother in law and I kept count and ran the glasses to guests.) Most disappointingly, the second bar we were promised was not set up in the banquet room and when I asked about it, I was shut down pretty rudely. The whole idea of the second bar was accessibility for our disabled guests and the ability for folks to know the beer, wine and coke there was free. As it was our guests had to go into another room to access the bar, and since it was unclear what was free, many paid for their drinks or just drank water. Jason was tending bar and doing all of the clearing of plates, as there were only 3 staff (Jason, the never-present Ada and the cook) for the entire function. The bar was understandably not manned while Jason was attending to all the table clearing by himself. We couldnt even find Ada for the last hour we were there. I paid hundreds of dollars for unused beer and wine, and have not been able to get the venue to even talk about these snafus with me, despite emailing and calling. I love the Brink and love to support local businesses, but I was pretty disappointed by these glitches -- particularly the drink situation. Sadly, given the glitches and lack of response over the past two weeks, I cant recommend them.

Cool casual place close to Downtown Madison. Great wine selection and beer selection. Great layout to sit in comfortable chairs to relax and watch a game. Have live bands from time to time on the weekends. Draws an older crowd as well so young college kids do not crowd the place.

In town for a wedding and The Brink was a great venue. It was a quaint and intimate setting. The staff did a great job and it was an awesome evening.

Great space for events. I recently went to a wedding reception here and everything was amazing. Staff was wonderful as well.

Nice low-key alternative to the High Noon. Awesome that theyre in the same building.

I love having drinks and food down in the Bri k Lounge. It is very spacious with tables or couches. The menu does not have many items, but it is great. Pizza is really tasty and s pretty good deal. There is often live music with a cover, which is great, but if you come on a night with no music, it’s also a nice place to hang out.

Performed here through Ladies Rock Camp. Such a beautiful venue!

The nicest upscale loungeFood served at your table. inexpensive.Live entertainment. Two separate dance floors.West Coast Swing Club and Jump town swing club there Wednesday nights 7pm to 11:30 pm.

Was a nice place to see a friend put on a show. The atmosphere was pleasant enough. My whiskey was a little too small of a poor for the price but what can you do. I hear the pizza is to die for put didnt have a chance to try it out. I would go back.

Went to a wedding reception here. They ran out of some of the food and the bartenders didnt know how to mix a brandy sweet. Used club soda.

I had my retirement party at The Brink. There is a lot of space in the various lounge areas around the bar, so we never felt cramped. The food was great, its handicapped accessible, and they were great to work with. Parking is the only issue right now because theres so much construction on the immediate area, but that will clear up eventually. I would definitely have another event there, or just visit to have a drink and goid food with a friend.

Good as an event venue. Food is okay, the pizza is the best of it. Good bottled beer selection and pretty decent liquor selection.

Nice Environment. We didnt have a chance to try the food. But the Live music that was plan was great. Drinks are little expensive but there is a great variety of local beers. We will definitely be back to try the food.

5/5 why? Because if you want to go to the bar and have the experience of a lifetime.. Then you go to the brink. Is it the lights? No. The drinks? Eh theyre okay! But the real reason you go is for the bartenders. Nowhere else in madison do you get this kind of care.. Trust me. Ive lived here for 62 years. Jason is the bar manager and an irishman and you will not find anyone more passionate about their trade. A great place to enjoy live music, a place to bring your friends, and a place to have an overall great time. The brink is my go to lounge and has my go to bartenders

This is a great spot in Madison to have a drink or grab a slice of their homemade pizza. Multi level so you can usually find a comfortable place to relax while you have a signature drink. A great spot for hosting a large event. Bartenders are consistently friendly.

Was here for a wedding reception. Venue was great! Good dance space, nice stage, good bar. Bathrooms were clean.

The Brink Lounge is a wonderfully warm place to spend an evening. There are an abundance of comfortable leather couches to cozy up in and converse with friends. The bar staff are very friendly and conversational (if thats what youre into). A good selection of beers on tap, Scotch whiskys, gins, and other drinks are available. The Brink hosts live music many nights of the week and hosts Swing and Blues dancing on Wednesday evenings.

The food was really good! However the manager walked by our table and refilled our drinks more than our waitress did. Great management presence.

I love the Brink! Great bartenders who can actually mix a drink - and they have great live music and its right next to the high noon! Great place to get a drink or take a date!

Went to a wedding here. Nice setup.

Nice place for music and whatnot. A little on the pricier side. They have great spaces that they rent out for parties or whatever. Its a neat spot.

Always a good time at the brink. The food is always delicious no matter what youre eating. The staff is very good with people and makes it a very friendly place.

Very upscale place to have a wedding in the heart of Madison!

We love to stop here once a month to enjoy pizza and beer while listening to the jazz orchestra.

Love the vintage bar atmosphere & perfect venue to listen to an acoustic band. Very attentive bar tenders & wait staff.

Nice, somewhat classy (for a bar) venue. Almost cozy. I went there for Jumptown Swing, a weekly social swing dance.

Comfortable, great band. Good beer

Bartender Dustin was top notch!! Best martinis weve ever had. Love place will be back soon!!

Had the Steak Sandwich - could be a little more seasoned but the drinks and billiard tables were a great addition to the experience.

A quiet little bar on a Friday night. The food looked good and the show we saw was great. Bartenders that night were very slow though.

Super fun, big enough for everyone, good food, good party, bathrooms kept very clean

It was a great place for a holiday party!

Good food and drinks. Great location with a lot of atmosphere.

Very nice looking venue. A great place to see a show or just have a drink and some food to share..

Great place for big events!

Nice bar with good drinks and a good size area for hosting events. The staff could perk up a little more.

Excellent place to relax an hear good music and refresh with some adult beverages.

Great place! The bartenders are amazing. Lots of fun in a great location. Try the pizza!

Love seeing live music there. It is such a classic.

Amazing place and staff. 10/10 for my event, and a solid place for music and drinks.

Nice setting. Went for a work holiday party.

Just dont. Unwelcoming. Unprofessional. Youll be much happier spending your money elsewhere.

Great atmosphere and a variety of beers behind the counter.

Local Music venue, meets cosy pub. A combination of near perfection.

First time, for a company party. Food decent, staff friendly.

Great space for private party. Easy to get around with a wheelchair. Parking for handicap is a challenge.

Its a roomy place if you have people.

The best thing about the Brink Lounge is the event schedule. Theres always a band, jam session, dance group, meet up, fundraiser, or other community event going on.

Wonderful service, great food on a very busy night for the Brink Lounge!

For a small city, they have a really fun Tuesday night salsa/tango combo going on here with great people.

Bachata dance lessons were awesome!

Was there for a live band performance. While that was fine and so was the location, the bar service was horrible. The bartender kept going to the same area over and iver ignoring anyome out of his direct (infront of him) vision. And when after noticing this, we went to stand in front of him (after several and i mean several attempts to get his attention) he decided to just start serving another side.

Good enough place to go for a drink. It was too bright (on a Saturday night) and the bartender was rude, but they had a decent band.

Nice atmosphere and yummy appetizers!

We had a fun work Christmas party here. Nice venue.

On no great pricey beer tap

All three bartenders were super rude. Doesnt make me want to spend money here with so many better options...

We were there for a wedding reception. A bright, clean place.

Love this location great staff and great people.

Lovely venue with tasty food!

Nice place, good drinks:)

Ok place. Kind of neat atmosphere. Live music sometimes.

Good beer, interesting venue, strange architecturally.

The bar was average and the cocktails were not very good. My pearway to heaven tini tasted like cheap perfume and the name was an embarrassment. But the live music was a lot of fun.

Great place to hangout, have a drink, or to host an event! Spacious, clean, and welcoming.

Wonderful large venue with nice bar tenders

Only stop for a hamburger and water but it was very good

Great place for events and dancing! Also nice bar

Great place for a private event!!

As can be typical, I order a wrap and the menu gave 3 choices for the tortilla: regular, spinach and herb, sun dried tomato. I ordered spinach and herb but they brought it out with a regular plain flour saying they were out of what I asked for. ... Maybe could have told me that at ordering or at least asked me before just deciding what to substitute for me.

Fun cocktails. Nice for music

Excellent music venue.

Attended a reception here. Was great!

Great music and drinks! Dancing is always fun!