Red N Deb’s Bar and Grill

Best college bar in town. Glasses are chilled to keep the beer cold, and always have great specials on drinks.

I don’t usually post reviews of a business but today I am. I went to Red N Debs last night with a few friends to use a gift card I purchased off
and was informed rudely by Deb that she would not honor the card as of Jan 1^st and which I had purchased on Jan 6^th. I was told I would need to contact them to get my money back because it wasn’t her problem. She was not very professional about it and was rude. I have been a customer of Red N Debs for years an I will not be going back in that bar. Another patron in the bar offered to pay for the gift cards because they disagreed with the way Deb handled it also. I turned it down because money wasn’t the issue it was the principal of the matter. Deb could have offered me something in return for the cards and nicely explain what the situation was but she did not.

When I would head on down to Platteville to visit my sister when she went to school there we found our way to Red n Deb’s for a burger and a beer. I believe it was my sister’s favorite place in Platteville at the time. She seemed to know just about everyone and her boyfriend’s mother tended the bar. I found the place friendly enough, especially because I was the brother of a semi-​regular. The bar seemed to be more of a local watering hole as opposed to a college bar, because I never saw many college-​aged kids there aside from my sister and her boyfriend. I never was there very late at night, just lunch and dinner so it may change over after the sun goes down.
There was a modest menu with pub food standards, mostly burgers and sandwiches. My favorite was the Wun-​Doe burger, made with the locally-​made Wun-​Doe-​Mus spice seasoning. The Wun-​Doe-​Mus is a mix of spices, like a cajun seasoning blend, that was spicy but not overpowering. I recall you could also get a chicken breast done up Wun-​Doe style. I have no idea of where they got the name but it did the trick. I remember trying the cheese curds and fries and nachos during one afternoon and while not the best everything was perfectly acceptable bar grub. You could probably get the fries with some Wun-​Doe-​Mus on ‘em too — that stuff is versatile!
The beer selection was adequate. Coming from Madison I’ve grown quite spoiled, but Red n Deb’s had about five or six taps — Spotted Cow and the rest domestics. Fine by me — Spotted goes well with spicy. I never went for anything other than pints of Spotted, but my sister and mother used to hit up the Bloody Mary bar for weekend lunches. The attitude of the regular crowd was always pretty friendly and warm. I remember seeing a local guitarist set up on a small stage in the corner and play a few songs one night. It looked like he had a weekly gig there, and his music was a nice change of pace from the standard juke box classic rock & country fare, which was universally terrible. The place was always pretty comfortable, nothing flashy or worth making a special effort for, but great for a leisurely lunch and a few drinks. Once my sister graduated and left Platteville I haven’t had much reason to visit. I’ve driven by on 151 more than a few times but have never had cause to stop. One of these days I’ll probably find a reason and I’ll try to stop by, just to see if the Wun-​Doe is still as good as I remember.