text: I have been coming to the Brocach for seven years since before they even employed Sinjin everyone is favorite con artist httptinyurlcommmert for some reason the article confuses the Brocach with the Claddagh no wonder people are not buying newspapers anymore It is now my favorite place for bar trivia in Madison though the drinks and food are fairly averagennFirst the atmosphere The bar has two stories with several different seating areas and tablebooth options and an outdoor patio It is a little dark as a proper Irish pub should be with heavy dark wood and plush padding on the seating areas It can get loud on the weekends and during St Patricks Day since there is not much on the walls or ceiling to absorb the sound The bathrooms are kept clean and wellstocked and they even finally fixed the lock on the stall in the upstairs womens bathroom The patio area is small and can sometimes seem cramped and drunker patrons will sometimes smoke out there It is normally not too bad as long as you are sitting indoors but sometimes it wafts up and in through the secondstory windows which are open during nice weather which is fairly unpleasant for a nonsmoker like myselfnnSecond the staff They are great absolutely one of the highlights of going there They are very capable and enforce certain rules when they need to do so Marcos and Sam currently run Sunday night trivia though Sam will be departing soon and will be replaced by a longtime trivia regular They are funny friendly and conversational and they are great at knowing the regulars Marcos always remembers to talk to me about the latest Lifetime Movies a shared campy obsession of ours The other night I asked for a Diet Coke and Sam gave me a regular I noticed immediately and he profusely apologized and rectified the mistake right away They also give great advice about the beer and scotch selections and will pour beer samples if you are interested but unsure Sam and Marcos do a phenomenal job of juggling trivia questions and answer grading pouring drinks taking orders for food running out plates and clearing away empty glasses and dishes all at the same time not easy I have never had bad service herennThird the entertainment Trivia is on Sundays The teams with the best names each week get free whiskey shots for each of their players and the names are one of the best parts of trivia night The Brocach staff write their own questions a welcome difference from the dreaded Team Trivia WI with its incredibly stupid point final question Their questions are interesting Some rounds are weekly fixtures current events a picture round a matching round potpourri and occasionally literature They announce two of the trivia subjects each Sunday afternoon on their Facebook page which is nice They are also really responsive to questions posted on their wall as to whether a usuallyscheduled event will be taking place on holidays They do take requests for round topics which is great There tends to be more of an emphasis on pop culture and media and somewhat less of a focus on sports which my team loves I have also been to openmic nights which are great They do a great job with the artists nothing too loud or grating When one regular openmic performer had an album coming out the Brocach did a minialbum release party for him which was great Live Irish music nights are fun as well though it can get fairly loud pretty quickly if you are near the bandnnFourth the food and beverages Both are somewhat overpriced although the happy hour deals are not bad The potato leek soup and Greek chicken salad are fairly good but not standouts The lounge fries are addicting and delicious and they are great for sharing in a group of The beer cheese dip is pretty gross I would recommend avoiding it Their corned beef in both sandwich and with cabbage is pretty knockout as it should be at an Irish pub The reuben is delicious although a bit greasy The thickcut fries are great The Brocach burger is serviceable but the black bean burger can get pretty dry My boyfriend is a big fan of the fish fry Another favorite of mine is the shepherds pie I have never tried the main courses though they are comparatively very expensive The servers are excellent at listening to order modifications I have a friend who despises pickles but I love them so every time we go together he asks to have his pickle put on a separate plate for me and the server remembers The tap beer selection is diverse and seasonal but quite good and there is always a beer on special for trivia nights The scotch and Irish whiskey list is phenomenal Old Midleton is insanely expensive and worth every penny when you drink it neat The mixed drinks are fantastic especially the Irish coffee but a bit expensive for a regular night