Hody Bar & Grill

In my opinion service here has always been sketchy at best. Stopped in on Christmas Eve [it was the only area place open]. but this time service was outstanding, friendly and attentive. Shout outs to Shannon and Kate in that regard. Not my favorite place overall, but that sure does help!

Sunday morning, was looking forward to a bloody mary. Sat at bar, all three bartenders saw us, but no one even brought us water. After over 5 minutes we left. Their bloodies didn’t look that good anyways. Was so perplexing. Wasn’t even busy, one bartender was standing around doing nothing.

Was in town on business and wanted some local flavor and comfort food. This place looked perfect, beer, burgers, TV’s. I walked in with 2 female coworkers and sat at one of the high tables near the bar. There were maybe 20 people there, all sitting at the bar. I counted 4 people working there based on their presence behind the bar. We grabbed menus and decided what we were eating. 15 minutes later after being completely ignored, we hadn’t been approached or spoken to, so we left. I guess you have to order food via osmosis, or maybe we were overdressed or underdressed (unlikely) or maybe we had the wrong haircut. Maybe they only serve locals. There weren’t remotely interested in us or our business. It was uncomfortably weird. Wednesday night, September 2, 2015.

Walk in to a hody grody bubble that wraps your body with indescribable grossness. Harmonicas in your face, no ginger ale. Let the grody begin! Cheers.

Ah.
The Hody.
The Hody is the kind of place that «Stefan from SNL» would make a great skit of. This place has it all. Dad bands wearing witty t-​shirts. Moms dressed up in studded jeans from that little boutique store at the mall. Drug addicts fighting over who gets to play pool next.
But that doesn’t necessarily detract from its… charm? It is a PRIME time people watching spot, and they always have «the game» on. The beer is cheap. In the summer time its always cold from the AC. On weekends it can be hard to attract a bartender as this place always seems to be packed by said locals watching the band. So take it for what is worth.

Went to the Hody bar with some co-​workers. Was having a nice time and the all of the sudden the bar tender came unglued… it was 1:45 and she started screaming at us to leave the bar. She said she was going to have a nervous breakdown and didn’t want to deal with us. She was screaming. I didn’t want to leave her a tip but my boss was with me and said I should in case she shares tips with the others. We won’t ever go back after being treated so poorly… no wonder we were practically the only customers in the place.

Not my cup of tea… or beer. Seems like a hang out for UW faculty, or some place my mom would hang out. Little disappointed with my beer too. My Spotted Cow tingled as soon as it hit my tongue, not how it should taste.

A wide variety of people mingle at this bar… classy, trashy, young, old, professional, you name it. The band was o.k., the beer was not very cold but the prices were ok for the area. This place needs to place more emphasis on bartenders that are courteous and clean in appearance. Probably the longest wait for a drink in an unpopulated establishment! Tip accordingly

We walked in the back door… and out the front door.

I’m from a small town in Kentucky. I likely won’t attend my 30-​year high school reunion, but I imagine it will look exactly like Hody’s. Lotta flannel shirts and fiddle playing in here tonight. Cowboy hats, beards, and MILFs a’prowling. God bless America. The only drawback is that there seems to be a raspy, sideshow bob type of lady chain-​smoking outside. I guess that comes with the territory.
The skating rink cheese sticks more than make up for that spectacle.

Went here for lunch because we had coupons for bogo sandwiches. The food was pretty good for a little WI bar! The biggest downfall was that their freezer had just broken so we could not get any fried apps. The waitress did let us use both of our coupons even though she said they were one per table (that was not printed on them) but still nice of her!
SO CHEAP! Out bill was around $ 20 for 4 people?!

Absolutely the best club sandwich I have had in a looong time. I order it everytime I go and it has never been less than awesome. And it’s priced really well.
Anytime I’ve gone at night the crowd is a little rough looking and the music is too loud. But going in the early evening or for lunch usually works pretty well.

Just had to review to mention my addiction. The Hody Club. Its a club sandwich with a fried egg on it. Most will think it sounds gross. They do something to make this sandwich just magical. SO good — I want one every time I hear Hody. Yum.
They also have awesome Quesadilla’s too. We usually get ours with spicy, but I think you can customize. Otherwise a decent bar with average prices and service. Good TVs and a very local crowd. I think they have small bands on the weekends.

They have decent drink specials. However the bar is sometimes filled with older trashier drunks. Its defintely an older crowd where Cougars are lurking.
On the weekend they have free live music. Its usually too loud to converse with your group but the bands usually arn’t terrible.
Ive never had their food but Ive heard its pretty decent.
Overall it an ok place to go to get a few drinks. Sadly its one of the better bars in Middleton. Not as much of a dive as the Club Tavern or Bristled Boar and not as Towny as Pauls grill… And if your into older trashy women this place is for you.

Very local bar with local flavor. Not the best scenery like I’m used to in LA.
Near the end of the night the cougars come out at night and try to bag them a good one before the evening is over.
Great drink nightly drink specials. Live bands some nights. Decent bar food. A stumble away from the Staybridge hotel.

The Hody is a pretty solid local bar in Middleton that often has great live music and decent drink specials. Thursday nights feature Westside Andy & Mel Ford, and that is always a good time. There are decent taps, though last time I was there I believe they had removed Esser’s Best which was my go-​to every time there. Most of the specials tend toward the $ 1 shot variety, but I especially like that Capital pints are $ 2 on Wednesdays and you can get pitchers of Spotted on Fridays for a crazy $ 5. I also learned that your second drink before noon on Sundays is free, and domestic taps are 50 cents. More on that later. The bartenders are for the most part good, but if you’re there on the wrong day they seem to forget about you in favor of talking with the regulars.
The food is pretty standard: not too fancy but good. Sometimes the food doesn’t come as advertised in the menu. Once I ordered a Reuben that strangely was lacking Swiss cheese, though I didn’t notice until halfway through as it was still a tasty sandwich. I like the bison burger here, but the last time I ordered this it came sans tomatoes, likely due to the salmonella issue at the time. Also that day my sister found the Hody Chicken’s buffalo sauce to be beyond her tolerance for spiciness. My sister’s boyfriend was suitably impressed with the Hody burger, but he thought that they had left of the special Hody sauce. It might have just been a bad day, because most of the other times I’ve been here there were no problems. I do believe that the overall quality depends on the day you stop in. Some of the bartenders kind of throw things together, while others take their time and do a decent job. I haven’t been there regularly enough to establish a schedule, so it’s been hit or miss for me lately. I’ve also tried a few of the appetizers and the onion straws and quesidilla wrappers are very good every time I’ve had them.
The main drawback with the Hody is the regular crowd. On Thursdays when Westside Andy & Mel Ford are playing the crowd is great — a variety of people, young and old, some dancing to the music, some sitting at the bar or nearby tables. Other nights the crowd can get a bit too townie for my liking. It can be uncomfortable, especially when half the bar turns to look at you when you walk in. Sundays can be the worst. I think that some of those people nearly live there. The place is pretty open and there is a lot of space, but it still can get quite smoky. There is a few outdoor tables along Elmwood, and these are perfect for a weekend afternoon. I would probably return to the Hody more if it weren’t for the small inconsistencies in the food and the slight hostile feeling that I sometimes pick up from the regulars, but overall the Hody is a reliably good time.