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August 2024 by John Manzer
The staff were very professional and great to work with. We had a wonderful event with many folks complimenting us on the venue, the cocktails, etc. it was a great way to celebrate a 60th birthday!
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August 2024 by James “Jamie” Montgomery
This was a birthday party. Really. I thought it would be more like a dining car. But now it's just a train, an empty train with chairs sofas and such at least in the half that we were in
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July 2024 by Catherine Woodward
Such a unique place for great cocktails, in a train car! Vintage furniture and old photos of Madison decorate this old train car, and Wes and Brian serve up excellent cocktails...anything you want. Not your run of the mill bar. A great place for a date, or special occasions, or just a drink on a Saturday night. Only open on weekends, and don't serve any food. I told them they oughta have some snacks to go with the delicious cocktails. (Also a good selection of mocktails). You must check out this unique Madison bar!
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June 2024 by Ewa Zarnowska
Hi Prasana, Thanks for hosting us yesterday. I have heard only good things from my guests about your venue. Everyone appreciated coziness and friendliness of the place. Everyone appreciated cocktails! We had fantastic time. I recommend the place with no reservation. Regards,
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June 2024 by Sophia Salemi
Rented out for graduation party with family and friends of UW-Madison grads. It was a great place for us all to meet up after all the ceremonies! We were able to cater any food we wanted (they provide great recommendations of past catering they have worked with also) and the drink list they provide at the bar was perfect for our group. They took cash and card at the bar and even offered to order us a keg if we were interested. There was nice options for indoor and outdoor seating (patio covered). They had bluetooth for music, LED lights, and a TV to airplay pictures/videos of the grads. Overall it was a perfect place for our group and would recommend! The flexibility of ordering at the bar and being able to cater from anywhere allowed to be as fancy/expensive or chill/inexpensive as we wanted! Prasanna was extremely communicative from time of touring the space, in months prior to the event, day of, and following up after the event!
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May 2024 by Veronica Stargazer
Wonderful venue and great staff. Had a little wedding ceremony here and it was everything I could have hoped for. Thank you so much!
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May 2024 by Margaret Barnas
The team at local motive is awesome to work with and all of our guests loved the unique event space. Would definitely go back in the future!
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April 2024 by FemiBoom
I had a great experience with Local Motive. The event staff were very helpful and responsive, and the bartenders were nice, accommodating, and made great drinks!
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April 2024 by Susan McKay
Cocktail menu is so good! The venue had a lot of our friends talking with all of the old photos of the trains in Madison and how cool that was. It is nice that you allow us to bring in food for a small event. Staff is very patient and super nice to work with. Had a great event and would recommend to anyone.
Susan
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April 2024 by Nicole Engerman
Was a cute, quaint, place!! They were amazing to us behind bar!
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April 2024 by Kirstie Easley
We hosted a team gathering at Local Motive, and it was a total hit! We had about 24 people and kept the space open, while using the exisiting lounge furniture and it was intimate and nice for conversation. The drinks at the bar were delicious, and overall, we had a wonderful time in a unique setting.
Thank you for the great hospitality!
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April 2024 by Stephanie Langlois
I'm honestly surprised they currently have such high ratings... maybe we came at a bad night, but the bar was such a mess and the drinks weren't great. They used soda from 2 liter bottles and our drinks were totally flat... zero carbonation. I was watching the 2 bartenders while waiting to put my drink order in and the amount of contamination happening behind the bar is so concerning. The woman who made my drink dropped a knife on the floor, picked it up, put it in a tiny sink in the corner, wiped her hands on her pants, and then continued to touch garnishes that were being put in people's drinks. She was constantly readjusting a scarf that was around her neck, then continued to prep garnishes without any sort of hand washing. I understand all garnishes behind a bar are typically not handled with gloves, but with how nice this place is supposed to be I was just shocked at how little they cared about contaminating everything behind the bar. Aside from that, the place is incredibly small, and it's near impossible to get up to the bar to get the bartenders' attention for a drink.
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March 2024 by Vicky Volvovski
Hosted a surprise birthday party at Local Motive and it was great. The staff were super nice and helpful and the space is comfy and fun for a group of 20-25. Overall a great place for an event!
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February 2024 by Darsh Dholakia
Hosted a private birthday party, and they did a fantastic job accommodating our requests. All of our guests were incredibly happy. Have been here when they are open to the public and it's a really great place to spend some time with friends.
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February 2024 by Lea Matschke
This is by far my favorite bar in Madison. I love everything about this place. They have all sorts of seating arrangements that are super cozy/comfortable [everything from lounge chairs to couches, formal tables/chairs, barstool seating... you name it, you got it], and they change up their furniture arrangements & art displays regularly so it almost feels like a different bar each time you go there. Though somehow, it never loses its coziness. There's plenty of space + set-ups suitable for both large and small groups of people to hang out comfortably. It's also easy to situate yourself according to your liking, whether that be more or less private, open/lively or less noisy/distracting, cozy/informal or traditional/proper, etc. The walls are always covered with art displays [often featuring local artists] that spark conversation and provide entertainment if you walk around & appreciate it. In the summer, their outdoor area is just as lovely as the inside, and they manage to keep it all clean/tidy despite the gazillion surfaces/fabrics across the space. Local Motive has everything, making it suitable for practically any occasion / party.
Also, the staff are super friendly/welcoming and are quite pleasant/insightful to converse with. They make fantastic cocktails using unique flavors/flavor combinations and will customize drinks upon request if it's possible. They seem like genuinely nice people, and I've never seen them treat people with anything but the upmost respect/politeness.
Don't be fooled if you don't see them on Google maps... Just walk up the steps into the train car on the right side of Hoffman House, and if you catch them when they're open, you won't regret stopping inside!
I drive through the parking lot on the other side of the train tracks to grab coffee from Panera frequently, and I'm always excited whenever my night is still free and I see their "Open" sign lit up in the window. Highly recommend Local Motive! Really glad I found out about this place.
