With divisions in geography come differing tastes. Northern Europe has been traditionally butter and beer while the south part of the continent was wine and oil. The state of Wisconsin is still split between the Northwoods, with its venison and fried cheese curds, and the unfortunate people who live south of Highway 29 and are rumored to be vegetarians who don't fry their cheese.
Madison is no exception.
The second you get beyond the Yahara River to the east or Midvale Boulevard to the west, you'll see the type of eateries, not necessarily the food, reflect a deeper divide of this town. Along with the atmospheric split between the gritty East Side and the airbrushed West Side, you'll notice the former has an abundance of neighborhood bars while the latter seems to have everything shoehorned into strip malls.
First of all, you have to see Schenck's Corners in the East and compare it to pretty much any other corner in the West. Schenck's, the area around Winnebago Street and Atwood Avenue and best known for the Barrymore Theatre, is true to its working-class identity. The servers will grill food with no attention given to cancer warnings or health notices. The neon that lights up the windows has some spider webs and the doors usually creak upon opening. The d??cor typically features Packers' paraphernalia and the bars don't acknowledge irony.
Bars like the Ohio Tavern, 224 Ohio Ave., Wilson's Bar, 2144 Atwood Ave., and Woody Anne's, 2236 Winnebago St., couldn't pronounce \pretentiousness"" if they tried. The clientele deserve to kick back and have a greasy burger or a cheap beer. There are second and third shift workers who need bartenders to hear their problems about divorces and alimony, not higher tuition rates and the weather, though the weather is always welcome conversation. At Schenck's, the bar serves its purpose as the place to go at the end of the day.
Meanwhile, the West Side has bars that are there for people who want to go out at night. You won't likely find a factory worker stumbling into J.T. Whitney's Pub and Brewery, 674 S. Whitney Way, though you may find someone of that sort heading into JT's Friendly Tavern, 1304 E. Washington Ave.
Places on the West Side, like Monkeyshines, 6209 McKee Rd., and the Dry Bean, 5264 Verona Rd., are open to provide yuppies a place to blow off steam. SUVs occupy their parking lots instead of rusted cars. People in bars on the West Side try to act young by drinking but are obviously aged, as evidenced by the lines on their faces and the grey hairs sneaking across their scalps.
Just so you know, gentle readers, the downtown offers antidotes to these extremes. You can get your aloofness at Crave Lounge, 201 W. Gorham, or your barebones bar experience at The Caribou Tavern, 703 E. Johnson St. If I had to take sides, I'd stick with the honesty of an East Side bar.
Ben Schultz is a super senior majoring in English and history. He doesn't dislike the West Side; he just thinks it has the personality of a plastic doll. E-mail him at blschultz@wisc.edu.
