When the weekend rolls around, us girls on campus can finally ditch the loungy lecture attire, don black leather boots and mini skirts and tease our hair into flashy updos or glistening slickbacks for a drunken night out on the town. Troops assemble in snug apartment living rooms for cozy pregames filled with good music, tasty drinks and the warm buzz of weekly recaps being unveiled. It’s all glitz and glamor galore until the time comes to depart the pregame for our final destinations — sweaty sports bars blaring Morgan Wallen and full of men who all seem to be preprogrammed with one cliché pickup line: “Come here often?”
Girls don’t want testosterone-charged college bars — we just want to keep the good vibes of the pregame going all night. Instead of returning to trashy student hotspots over and over, migrate to one of these five classy, near-campus cocktail bars that will have your girls’ night feeling like the prolonged pregame you’ve always wanted.
Genna’s Lounge
A cornerstone of Madison’s electric Capitol Square, Genna’s relaxed first floor and buzzing upstairs lounge are great hideaway spots to hunker down for a night filled with good music, engaging conversation and fun people-watching.
Concerning your drink of choice for the night, take a page from Carrie Bradshaw’s book and go for the cosmopolitan. She essentially invented a night out with your girls, after all. 105 W. Main St.
Greenbush Bar
This Regent Street hidden gem is located in the speakeasy basement of one of America’s oldest continually operating Italian social clubs, the Italian Workmen’s Club. Adorned with charmingly festive lights and retro decor, the basement setting presents a perfectly cozy atmosphere for dishing out the latest gossip with your girlfriends. Speaking of dish: Greenbush Bar’s pizza is absolutely to-die-for. But that’s not why we’re here — try the Greenbush Old Fashioned, a drink so strong that by the end of the night, you won’t be feeling quite so classy anymore. 914 Regent St.
Leopold’s Books Bar Caffè
Here’s a recipe to try: Combine three to four friends in desperate need of a catch-up session with a dash of espresso and a whole lot of liquor, then mix together in a cozy cocktail bar. The result? A perfect night out at Leopold’s Books Bar Caffè. Leopold’s menu features plenty of craft cocktails and coffee drinks, including, of course, the tried-and-true espresso martini. Pair it with a decadent serving of tiramisu, then cap off the night with shots of limoncello. But be careful when navigating your way to this Regent Street bar: One wrong turn and you could accidentally end up next door, at — gulp — Lucky’s 1313 Brew Pub. 1301 Regent St.
Oz by Oz
Us ladies all know that a bar’s lighting is of paramount importance. (A drink is impossible to enjoy if the Big Light™ is on.) Oz by Oz, an eclectic and maximalist King Street hole-in-the-wall, understands: Come for its weird and wonderful lineup of astrology-inspired cocktails, and stay for the delightfully witchy lighting. 113 King St.
The Robin Room
East Johnson Street might be a bit of a hike from your downtown apartment, but this cocktail bar’s distance from campus at least means you won’t need to spend your evening dodging tactless college guys and scanning the room for your class nemesis. Hip, rustic and folksy, Robin Room is the ideal setting to dissect where your last relationship went wrong over a libation from its rotating drink menu. 821 E. Johnson St.
