North of the Bayou
- Cru and Hannah
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Madison, Wisconsin
Crusin' Rating: B-
Booze Rating: B-
This week, Hannah and I are checking out a spot on Madison’s East Side that has flown under our radar for a little bit. As both a restaurant and brewery - we were a bit hesitant to check it out - especially after a recent trip to another brewpub didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. So, on a Tuesday night when we didn’t feel like cooking, we decided to take a risk - going in with somewhat low expectations on a 52° day that felt quite a bit colder than the thermostat suggested.
North of the Bayou Brewery opened in 2017 in a easily recognizable, large, pink building just off of Stoughton Road on the East side of Madison. The building used to house a Mexican restaurant back when I first came to Madison and through a little research, it was another South American/Mexican restaurant (owned by the same individual) and is now a spot with some heavy New Orleans influence.
Although the pink exterior is a little jarring - the outside area of the building sports a water fountain, sand volleyball net, propane heaters, large patio, and an outdoor bar. Sand volleyball is somewhat hard to come by in our experience and this was definitely a patio I’d be interested in checking out once the weather gets a little nicer.
Inside of this quirkily painted building though, lies a Mardi-Gras parade in building form - a giant statue of a jester, yellow, purple, green, and gold abound in beads, walls, and masks. It felt like we walked right into a Mardi Gras celebration - what other bars try to do to gussy themselves up to cash in on fat Tuesday - North of the Bayou was living it. There were masks etched into the glass tables, adorning walls, on signage and on statues. Speaking of signage - there’s plenty of bright neon signs in the same colors that - even though it was late in the afternoon - gave the space a vibrant dance club sort of feel. Did I mention the custom neon that serves as the brewery’s logo - a chill gator with a cheesehead - definitely one of the neater logos we’ve seen, but that custom neon was wicked awesome.
There was a group of co workers at the bar - who “cheers’ed” to the end of tax season more than once. There were a handful of other couples at various booths to the right of the bar area, but it was largely quiet, but it was Tuesday night. We were sat down by a polite server and while we aren’t a food blog - we thought the food was fairly affordable, at a decent spice level (I got Etouffee and Hannah had shrimp and Jambalaya), and it came out very quickly. I thought my portion of rice was a little small for the amount of étouffée in my bowl. I also prefer my étouffée to be less soupy and thicker in consistency. While the best cajun food probably still belongs to the now-closed New Orleans Takeout - this is a good substitute if you’re looking for something similar. Hannah, for her part, was happy with her meal as well and was ecstatic with the bread pudding offered on the dessert menu.
The space is huge, and while we didn’t count an exact number of seats, there are two dining areas, the Voodoo Lounge area off the bar, the bar itself, and then a small alcove with additional bar seating. I had never been in the building before but Hannah and I noticed that most of the furniture in the dining area is on wheels and can be moved to accommodate maybe a dance hall? We both appreciated as the sun went down the indoor bistro lights and plant decorations giving the semblance of eating outside in a stone courtyard. There are a whopping 9 TV’s in the dining area and several gambling machines in the bar area .
The brewery has a full bar with wine, beer options, cocktails, and a N/A cocktail lineup with solid N/A spirits rather than just a fruity soda concoction. There are 8 beers available that are each 1 barrel in their system - they range from $6-7 per beer with a flight of 3 beers running you $8.
Crumps Hill Piney IPA (5.5% ABV, IBU - 40) This golden copper IPA had high clarity and high carbonation. We both did a bit of a double-take on this beer, because up until the finish you’d swear this was a blended fruit smoothie featuring very juicy mango, guava, and banana on the nose with a hint of juniper berries. A mix of heavy guava, papaya, and banana slinks across your tongue with some dank and damp hop notes in the finish with a resinous aftertaste. I didn’t really get the pine - dank, resinous, but not pine. I associate dank with earthy, pungent, and a certain smoked plant. Pine, to my mind, is not a dank flavor. While we can quibble on the title of this beer, both Hannah and I quite enjoyed it.
Bayou Berliner (4.5% ABV, IBU - 15) This fruited Berliner Weiss poured reddish-pink with low clarity. With aromas of sweet grape juice, cranberry juice, wild dark grape pulp, and a slight complexity - almost like wine but not quite there. The taste though was clearly lactic acid forward, then some grape skins and a tart finish with some bitterness that left a sort of strange impression - thinking I had drank a sour but then remembered it’s a fruited Berliner. This wasn’t for me, tasted fine, and Hannah wished it was more sour, as always.
Maydin Voyij (5.0% ABV, IBU 32) - This Amber poured dark copper with moderate carbonation and is their flagship offering. With quite a bit of sweet malt on the nose that largely masked any hop presence with some caramel in there, this beer was already better than I had hoped just bringing it to my nose. The flavor had initial sweetness, with some mellow caramel, and then finished with some starkly resinous hops, which I found just slightly off-balanced toward the hop-side of things. The bitterness lingered slightly, but, in all, it was a solid amber. I didn’t pick up any of the described grassiness that was apparently present in the hops, mostly resinous, with some slight pine.
In all, North of the Bayou exceeded our expectations in many ways. The food was better than we thought it would be, and the beer was solid enough that I wished they had a to-go can so I could further analyze some of the offerings at home. There are some heavy hitters in the beer scene in Madison and North of the Bayou has it’s work cut out for it to carve out their own space, but Hannah and I will definitely be back come summer. If you’re in Madison and are in the mood for some Cajun food, or if you want to try some beer in a funky bar, I’d say they are worth a stop.
Until next time, keep on crusin’, don’t stop boozin’.
To learn more about North of the Bayou Brewery please visit their website at: bayou-brewery.com or on Facebook: @TheBayouMadison or on Instagram: @TheBayouMadison