Reviews of Rookies Food & Spirits (Restaurant)

Grumpy OleMann

This is my first time to stop. The baseball memorabilia in the building is awesome. You spend so much time looking at the decor you'll forget about eating. The build your own burgers are undoubtedly the finest in the area. With a full menu available you just can't go wrong.

Kristy L. Fruth

Great little sports bar. Drinks, tvs and a nice, small specialized menu of pub food. Every inch of the place is covered in sports memorabilia! A true treat for any sports fan to look at.

Jeff Gerbitz

Good Sweet potato fries. Everyone was friendly. Would definitely visit there the next time I'm in the area.

Jeremy Gesicki

Quite a long wait for a table and for the order to come out. Could have just been a busy day/time however. Great nachos.

Benjamin Roy

Food and service was great. Ambience amazing as there are sports pictures filled wall to wall and sports always on the TV. The well taken care of whiffle ball field outside looked fun. I'd highly recommend for any occasion...

Donna Duhr

OMG! If you have never experienced Fat Tuesday at Rookies you have to put it on your calendar for next year. It is the best!

Debi Kuzynowski

Always a good meal and great waitstaff..one of favorite places when we are traveling

Thomas Tabaska

The place is visually overwhelming. Every Square Inch has something sports related. Food is great and service fast.

Will Hale

Awesome sports memorabilia display and great food!

cher reynolds

We aren't familiar with the area so we were advised by a local person to try this place. It's a sports bar, and the walls are filled with sports memoribilia. The food was good but service was a little questionable. We had two women coming to our table so we never really knew who are waitress was. We would ask one for something and the other would bring it. We eventually received the requested items, however. That's why I only gave it four stars instead of five. Place was busy and is handicap accessible.

Rodney Faust

Always enjoy their food and drink! Different specials every day!

Steve Hanson

Love the whiffle ball stadium and the good food.

Helen Pullen

Great place

Erich Utrie

The atmosphere of this restaurant is second to none. If you enjoy sports memorabilia, you need to see this place! The food was made to order and had generous portions.

Sheila Connolly

Good food , good service, always free popcorn!

Matt Larson

Wait staff are hit and miss but the food and drink quality is consistently good.

Levi Schubkegel

Interesting place for baseball fans. Great for families. Awesome mini baseball field in back.

Paul Degneau

Good food, good beer, and good service, no complaints.

Jeremy LeMoine

I ordered the ribeye here. I don’t recommend it. I ordered it medium rare. It came super tough and cold. The baked potato and the onions that it came with were delicious. Sub par at best. Sorry Steve...

Joshua Masterson

I gave it give stars, but I wasn't thrilled with the menu options which was largely sandwiches.

jerry dembski

Consistent good food

Charles Willcutt

Rookies, a swing and a miss. We had high hopes based on other reviews, but were let down. We decided to order a couple of the specials of the day after reading their descriptions. Well, 45 minutes later our food finally arrived after 4 tables (who ordered after us) got their food first. We were again hoping that the wait meant good food. It wasn't. The chicken was dry, carrots had the flavor cooked out of them and the potatoes were bathed in beef (with chicken? ) gravy. Neat atmosphere, but the food fell far short of average for other restaurants near by. We're not planning on coming back.

Jessica Greffin

Great Service. The waitress was excellent! Food was hot and tasted good! Very happy with our meal. Very reasonably priced!

Taylor Ann Rodamaker

Love the food and drinks, it's always great. We always go to Rookies and have a great time whether it be just Garrett (former busser here lol) and I, or us and our 2 kids. The atmosphere is great. Waitress' are always so nice. Never a longer wait than at a normal resturaunt. Highly recommend. -Mazomanie locals who come often

GreyGh0stO7

Great Food but triple check your order if you do take out. Third time we ordered here got food home and we were missing something. Frustrating because we don't want to go back and get what we were missing. We called to speak with someone about it and all she said was "oh, I'm sorry" didn't offer a resolution.

Sydney Wunschel

I always look forward to go to Rookies. It just a great place all around

Brian Rahn

Average food but great ambiance and fun to play some wiffleball with my son and others at the restaurant.

Susan Berg

Great food and service this time

William Koenig

Great food, spirits and experience just doesn't do it justice at all. Pretzel burger was cooked as requested - medium, not too raw, pink not too done. Beer was chilled just right and beer suggestion (pretzel) hit the beer spot just right. Service, by Annie was quick, friendly, helpful and fun! Can't wait to go again!

Jill Schaefer

Great burgers & beer!!!

Linda Roen

Very good sandwich

Matthew Stokstad

Decent food. Tons of sports memorabilia.

Ashley Kempfer

Food is always good, service is good. Place is always surprisingly clean for all the stuff on the walls and ceiling. It's a great place to take a bit of a drive out of Madison and have a decent burger. The cheese curds are amazing too!!

Earl Martin

Great food and service is excellent. I will be sure to get there again.

casey fuller

Amazing food and very family friendly place

DjCPT

Friday Fish Fry is awesome, Beer selection is great, and the wait staff and bartender were very friendly and quick!! Def plan on going back!!

monica weller

Great food! Chicken wings were yummy. Touch of smoke flavor not dry and huge!

Louise Snider

My husband and I had dinner there tonight and I tell you, it's the best, worth every penny, our hostess was very kind, polite and very accommodating,, thank you all for a wonderful dinner, will be back again forrrr sureeee.

DeAnna raiten

Slow getting the special and very small bones

David Bradley

Lots of televisions great food all kinds of sports memorabilia you can spend hours looking at all the goodies

Jennifer Bussan

Food is good. The dining area is awesome...so much to see. A must visit for badger and cardinal fans. The whiffle ball field is an great way to burn off your lunch after your meal!

Ed Shaheen

Great chicken strips and seasoned fries

Matt Hasheider

Great place and atmosphere. The food is always delicious.

Jim Wollenzien

Terrible service

Rott Schmied

A country sports bar for locals. Lots to see of that's your thing and far cleaner than most other sports collection bars.

Mary Roelke

Had a beer batter fish sandwich & fries. Food was very good & had a nice visit with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile.

Tim Hintz

Very unique place! Awesome food.

Ray Carlile

Great food and atmosphere

Marni Kittleson

The food is amazing - try anything on the Specials menu for a real treat! Play wiffle ball while you wait for a table, or spend hours checking out the endless sports memorabilia after you eat. A really unique experience!

Bryan Holland

Mediocre food, slow service, political straw bullying.

Jason Noble

Burgers were great as always

bigdaddy4875

Awesome food,wonderful service and very nice staff,great environment

Reid Olson

Kids loved playing whiffle ball. Food was good. Nachos and grass fed burger was delicious. Cold beer, beautiful afternoon not to much to complain about.

Chris Gaddis

Chicken tenders and sweet potato fries are the best in the area.

Daniel O'Kane

Good food. Fresh and hot.

Ed Volkema

We love our late night bartender! She is awsome!!

mike cork

Wednesday gyro special 6$ very good.

John Philosophos

Last week the ribs were atrocious-- tasted like they were cooked a week ago and microwaved. Thought If it it another shot. This time, wait staff was incredibly rude. Do yourself a favor-- keep driving!!

Sean Conley

What can you expect from a place that is miles away from anything? Excellent wings, fun bartenders, and a better-than-expected bloody Mary.

Heather Reichert

Very good food and great staff!

Phoenix Fyre

Sorry I spilled my drink on the floor...

Jamie Sindberg

Fun if you like sports. Has a small baseball diamond in the back and every inch on the inside is covered in sports memorabilia. Multiple TVs throughout which they are happy to change to which ever sporting event you ask for. Unique sports bar/family restaurant with great friendlt staff. So if you're a big sports fan you'll enjoy this place but it's all about atmosphere with mediocre food at expensive prices.

Leo Heidemann

As a cardinal fan, I was impressed. Great food too!

Amanda Smith

Really like this place, all of the memoriabilia is amazing.

Ron Binning

An amazing tribute to Sports, especially baseball and the food was also 5 Star.

Doug Rees

Great place for a team building activity

Brett Stampfli

Very cool sports bar restaurant. Sports memorabilia galore. Great food and micro brews

Pearl Vanderhoef

Lousy service and food

Tonlowk

Excellent food and atmosphere. Big mac salad was awesome!

Rod Ofte

Awesome food.. creative classic American menu

Jesse Clayton

Great food!

Scott Thomas

Some friends and I rented out the ball park in the back for 4 hours and had them set up a buffet for us. Every employee that I interacted with was extremely nice and helpful. They knew what we needed before we even asked. The food at the buffet was delicious BBQ. It was moist and came with their own BBQ sauce that you could put on it. As for the field, it was kept in great shape and was a lot of fun to play some wiffleball on.

Kurt Schoenwetter

Neat atmosphere good food.

Todd Grimm

It's a really neat experience right when you walk through the door Any an every sports or competition memberbel a but the best is wiffel ball stadium free to use my team won of course!

Julie Neu

Loved the food. And atmosphere was great.

Jay Scholz

I love this place. Tons of sports memorabilia on the ceiling and walls, a baseball field, and awesome food. It's always difficult to find just the right thing on the menu.

Dave Broome

Fantastic food fantastic service fantastic price

Cathy Barman

Love going to Rookie's great food and staff.

John Berryman

If you are a sports fan this is the place to go! The owner has all kinds of sports memorabilia all over the building. Great food great service and reasonable prices. They have daily specials. One of my favorites is the Tuesday meatloaf special. The Friday night fish fry that's awesome a very good meal.

Kurt Kraft

Food is always good. Eat here eveytime I go to the Shoe Box. Never had a bad meal. Service is also excellent.

Warren Knaub

Good food and they even had dessert

Rahne Forbes

Super bloody Mary with a huge chaser. Tasty food as well. Perfect stop after shopping at the Shoebox and scoring your $2 off coupon!

Dan Jackson

As far as bars fair this place gets an A+. I should give it a 4 star rating after going to so many bad, dirty dive bars that Wisconsin if full of. Rookies tries hard to make your experience a good one and it shows. They offer hand bake pretzel roll and their food is fresh and well seasoned. The decor is very eclectic, the place is clean and the staff is always friendly. I recommend this place highly.

Johanna

Horrible experience. Service was exceedingly slow. Didn't receive food until 40 minutes in. ***Asked to remove my pistol from my hip because staff were uncomfortable*** Anti-Gun. Anti-personal rights/protection. Will never go there again. And there was no 'No Guns' sign on their door. Dane County liberals. Wish there was a zero stars rating. In response to below: Dave, This is no game. We were at the Shoe Box where there was no problem with me open carrying. As the manager, you have the ability to tell the uncomfortable customers that it is perfectly legal for someone to carry a gun in your establishment. But instead, you ask me to remove my gun. You did not present any option of allowing me to continue carrying. That shows that, yes, staff (you) were uncomfortable with me carrying because you asked me to remove it. You also asked me why I was shocked that people were uncomfortable. I open carry every day in a populated area of WI and have never been asked to remove my gun. Many other people open carry as well. It is legal, no issues. Conceal carry is a sly way for liberals to slowly grow an attitude of shame in gun owners and to condition citizens to become uneasy when they see a gun out in the open. Do not fall prey to their antics. Having a gun for personal protection is more than being an NRA member or gun club board member. It is my constitutional right and something I do not take lightly. My family's life has been threatened by gangs. Human life is more valuable to me than people's emotions. Next time someone carries a gun in your business, I hope you reconsider confronting the one carrying a gun and instead educate the "uncomfortable" customers on American rights and the importance of personal protection. Your Facebook shows an anti-NRA cartoon. Clearly, there are some lies embedded in your response.

Dan Bourbeau

As good as you'll get in the area. Good burgers.

John Clark

food was good. But I was at work and sent a friend to go get us dinner with my debit card. He was call a thief bc the card didn't have his name on it and she shouldn't take the card. I under stand were they are coming from. Seeing it was close to a big city. But instead of saying that, refuse service to him and I would have called in my order. All in all she still ran the card and we got our food witch good.

Spring Klaus

Very interesting place with tons of sports memorabilia.

Eric Willhite

A great place for kids there is a small baseball diamond in the back of the restaurant. The inside is like a museum of sports history. Great food and don't forget to grab some popcorn from the bar on your way in :)

Carlos Alberto Zeituni

You entered in a sixties sport restaurant... and remember if you bought a shoe in the city, you have 2 dollars discount...

Cathy Cull

Lots of sports info on walls to look at. Did not eat there though I heard the food is good

peta gerry

Awesome food n awesome waitresses very nice place to eat.

Tina Birkett

Great food. Friendly service. The wiffle ball field is great fun.

Donna Heilmann

Food was great, service superb. Decor superior.

Jason Tart

Good lunch and reasonable prices

Melissa Wandrey

Food was sad to say the least, the corned beef was tough and inedible. The curd burger was a joke it literally had 2 tiny curds on it!

Linda Howard

Great food and service. Had a fun time with girlfriends.

Rodney Morris

Good time great food

amanda smith

This place was a treasure trove of sports memorabilia. The food was pretty good too but the $1 High Life's made everything great.

Sandy Martindale

Very impressed with no straws and a cardboard doggie box!!! The service was great and the food was good!!

Hawkere Jamison

This place has aye great sports mobilia. Mi waitress was very pleasant the bartender was beautiful and inviting. They made mi felf welcomed. The food was excellentee. That burger is aye national treasure mun. One of the best I have evah tasted. I will mek it aye point tah travel there again.

Tim Seiler

Had the Friday night fish, it's very good, along with the sweet potato waffle fries. We hit this place whenever we go to The Shoe Box.

Duane Yaeger

Great food and 5 star service

Michael Schlick

Absolutely fantastic all the way around!

Abigail Benz

It was a hoot. Wiffle ball stadium is fun for an outing with friends or coworkers.

Gene Cupp

Good Sunday pork dinner.

Andrew Murray

A rural roadside restaurant with treasured "Odd Wisconsin" tradition, this family-friendly bar and dining room has sports memorabilia-themed walls, ceilings, and trophy cases, and also a wiffle ball field out back (complete with pennants flapping in the breeze). And, don't be shy: you are welcome to wander the restaurant in search of sports heros from your childhood--and perhaps even last season--and even hit a few wiffle balls at your leisure, which is generally best done before or after one of Rookies' famously inexpensive and generously portioned meals. While the field itself can be reserved exclusively for birthday parties and similar events, the use of the field, bats, and balls are always free. In a nod to that sacred American sports story, the wiffle field is built into the side of a corn field: if you build it, he will come. And come to this restaurant many, many loyal patrons do. The place is always hopping with locals and travelers near and far, young and old--all enjoying pure Wisconsin-American cuisine, and dining in the memory of sports greatness.

The Tacky Tourist

I loved looking at the mass collection of baseball memorabilia. The food was amazing! I've never drooled over a tomato bisque before. Can't wait to get back for another meal!

J B

Always slimy, brown pieces of lettuce in my salad but great otherwise. I love the goats outside, and the atmosphere is great. Don't forget to munch some popcorn while you wait for your food. Tons and tons of sports memorabilia in here, bring your eyes with your appetite. Highly recommend their chicken wings, fried/panko jumbo shrimp and grass fed burgers. I don't know where they're getting their ranch dressing from, but it's the best in show for the driftless region of SW Wisconsin and beyond.

Tom Ender

Fun with old friends and better food than I expected.

Terra Hanna

The food is mediocre at best, they never seem to get my order right. I have seen/heard the manager be extremely rude to his staff. I was sitting at the bar and over heard the manager tell one of his VIP members that he was on probation bc the food he ordered was incorrect and all the sudden the customer was rude, he walked out without taking his food and the manager still charged him. That is an awesome way to treat your VIP customers & staff. This is NOT the first time I’ve seen/heard the manager being rude, but hey who cares when you have money to blow, oh wait it’s your customers that are reason you have money. I hope when the manager reads this he realizes what people really think of him and how he portrays himself in public. I will never step foot in rookies again, been there a handful of times and each time it’s a bad experience

Jenny K

Not bad for a small town bar! I really liked the unique food we had. And the fact that there were pet goats next door! My friend and I had a nice time here. We really enjoyed the food and service. They were super nice here.

A Google User

Great food and atmosphere. Excellent service

Char Goebel

Food was good. However way to long of a wait time for food. Great service from the waitress

Kimberly Kahl

Great specials!

Stephanie Baxter

Service, food and portion size were wonderful!

Guy Ambler

baked potato was served only warm, couldn't melt butter but the fish was delicious

Patrick Jost

No reason to look at the TV's although there are a lot if them. It is the all the awesome baseball memorabilia. A must for any baseball enthusiast! Unfortunately the grill closes at 10:00. Apps are good, Friday fish is good served until 10:00 pm.

Ted Strang

Great food. A sports bar full of locals most nights. Tons of sports memorabilia and the everywhere. Very clean and well lit. Has a mini wiffleball field in the back, with indoor and outdoor seating at the field and can rent the field and seating for parties or meetings. Kids love it.

Kim Shuler

Awesome food and service.

Han SoloWalker

Sports memorabilia is amazing. Great food at decent prices. A wiffle ball field for the kids.

William Sanford

Good food and service. Eclectic decore.

Robin Olson

Took some kids to play and eat. They loved it. Lots of memorabilia, but I didn't eat so can't rate food

Derek Skogen

My wife and I stopped in the other night on our way home. The food and service have always been very good in the past. This time, the service was great, but the food was lacking. I had asked for a well-done burger and it came out medium at best. The waitress was great and had the kitchen make a new one, which was so burnt I could taste the crunchy black char with each bite. The service is there, but I was not impressed with the food this time around.

Doug Ready

Bar/Pub food. Great small town spot. If you like sports memorabilia, you have to check out the thousands of items in the place.

pioneer sawyer

I waited 56 minutes for a take out order of two cheese burgers. Neither one had anything on them other than meat, buns, and pickle. Seriously? 56 minutes for that? Ended up getting sick from it a half hour later. Manager, Dave is not an NRA Lifetime member as he stated in another review. His FB shows posts that are typical of an intolerant liberal. He lies about his wait time for food just as he lies about his personal life. This establishment could use a new manager. At least get folks their food in a decent amount of time... This was a few months back... Google just reminded me to review the places I've been recently

Rusty Shackleford

Pretty dank. Maybe could use more staff, at least in the kitchen. Staff was friendly though and the food is good.

Nicolas Leighty

Pretty dank. Cool atmosphere, especially if you're into sports.

Steven Dingfelder

Great place to rent the lower area for a party and playing wiffle ball. Food is not good.

Randy Ernst

Very friendly staff. Food was excellent and bartender knows her stuff. Nice memorabilia throughout the establishment

Robbie Bolton

Played wiffleball while waiting for food to arrive. Very cool field. Glad we stopped and would stop again.

Dover Amos

Everything was good! Service was good.

Kenny Oyen

Great food, great customer service! Great atmosphere

Bigode0039@google.com Dahl

Normally great but this time the bottom of my bun was saturated with grease. Could not eat it.

Shownfu Yang

Great place to drop in for Happy Hour.

Richard Finn

Love the sights and food

LHS Flying Arrow Parent

Had an excellent meal!! Lots of food for the price. All the baseball memorabilia is neat to look at.

Carol Jovanovich

Great food and atmosphere!!

Cynthia Kuhnau

Where's the nacho cheese sauce very dry nachos daughters enjoyed there lunch be back when you bring back the Nacho cheese sauce !

Angela Retzki

This is one of my favorite restaurants. I always find something great, the burgers are awesome and they have many great appetizers, especially the onion rings with ranch. They also have a great beer selection with many local microbrews. The Friday fish fry features many things besides the typical cod, like a panfish sampler. All around a great place.

Jake Kummer

Food was pretty good but not what I expected for the price.

A Rose

Excellent food, fish fry is the best I've had and to top it off 3 dollar old fashioneds, as of recently bartenders on Friday's are horrible and very disrespectful. Shouldn't employe husbad and wife barenders on the same shift they're very rude. 8 years and as a vip member I'll not step foot into this place again if they're bartending, couldn't beat this place for a friday night out when maleda was working on friday shift. Place is going down hill having these two as the face of rookies how sad.

lori graessley

Good food

john harvey

Good food and service!

Chip Palmer

Good food, great service, nice atmosphere

Matt Janicke

Very excellent food and service!!

Dina Bertolini

Really fun place, lots to look at, staff was really great, very kid friendly and ballpark is open for some fun if not in use

Ernest Fry

Only problem I had was someone wrote on my truck door, LEARN TO PARK with their finger in the dirt that was on my truck. Far as I can tell I was parked nicely in the parking spot at Rookies. Must of been someone that was Drunk or Stupid. I do know how to park a Vehicle I have been driving and parking a Vehicles for over 30 years. I was always told to keep your hands off other people's stuff and keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything nice to say ! I wish I would have saw the person doing it because they wouldn't of like what I would have said to them!!!!

Matthew Balch

Great food and service like always!