Drive by Madison Avenue Pub, morning, noon or night, and the parking lot is full.
What’s the secret sauce for this local hot spot?
Located just off Evergreen Way, the neighborhood bar at 905 Madison St. is a go-to for breakfast, burgers, prime rib and a boozy brunch.
Whether you’re catching live music or watching the game, the vibe is unpretentious, like your grandma’s living room, but with two dozen beers on tap, 20 TVs and 61 pull tabs.
Need a snack or a smoke?
A vending machine offers a selection of chips, candy and cigarettes — a trifecta of joy.
No wonder the place is always buzzing.
Basket of happiness
Tuesdays at Madison Avenue Pub mean half-price classic burgers, a meal for less than a $13 pack of Marlboros from the vending machine.
Served in a plastic basket lined with checkered paper, the burgers come dressed on big buns and with free dipping sauces.
For $7.50, you get a burger and a pile of fries on Tuesday. A double-patty bacon cheeseburger with fries is $10. Split it in half and you’ve got the perfect cheap date meal.
BTW: You can catch the same Tuesday deal at the 7th Street Pub, 631 N. Broadway in Everett, which has the same owner.
Brittany, the super-server on one of our visits, took the orders for our table of six finicky eaters: “Pub burger, fry sauce, no pickles, home fries” to “Cheeseburger, extra pickles, no mustard, ranch sauce, crinkle fries – wait, scratch that, tater tots.”
She didn’t write it down. No pen, no paper, no problem. We looked on skeptically (we are journalists, after all).
But Brittany, with a mind like a steel trap, delivered each dish exactly as requested — and to the right person. She even circled back to check that we were all happy.
We were.
Spoiler alert: Most servers write down orders. This was an exception.
Go holy moly bold
If you’re in a gutsy mood, try the Madison Monster 12-Egg Omelet. A dozen eggs, plus hot link sausage, bacon, ham, cheese and veggies, all for $29.95.
“That thing is huge. Holy moly,” pub manager Faith Britton said. “I’ve never seen anyone eat the entire thing. I think they order it just to see the size of it.”
Wash it down with a bloody Mary. Or three.
And don’t forget the Macho Nachos ($24.95), which have earned rave Yelp reviews. One reviewer said, “Three adults against one plate… and this plate kicked all our butts!”
Other fare includes pot stickers, supreme brownie sundaes and prime rib specials.
As another Yelp reviewer put it: “Everything you need in a neighborhood bar.”
7-Eleven roots
Tuesday’s half-price burgers have been a mainstay since the Madison Avenue Pub opened nearly 25 years ago.
“It definitely brings people back,” Britton said. “People come in at 9 o’clock when we open, just for the burgers.”
From outside, the place doesn’t look like it was built to be a bar.
“This used to be a 7-Eleven back in the day,” Britton said.
Aha! That explains the low-profile building with a windowed front.
“It was a laundromat. It was another bar before this one,” Britton said. “Crazy how many different things.”
The walls tell the story of the pub’s music legacy, with rows of framed band photos, many signed. Goldy McJohn, keyboardist for Steppenwolf. Guitarist Michael Wilton of Queensryche. Singer Kathi McDonald. Hot Wired Rhythm Band blues artists Keith Sutton and Polly O’Keary.
Musicians take the stage six nights a week — jazz, blues, rock, reggae. Groove from your chair or hit the dance floor. On Sundays, it’s your turn to take the mic with karaoke.
Creatures of habit
The pub gets a lot of burger traffic on Tuesday from local workers. Orders can also be to-go, so you can score the deal and eat at your boring desk.
Tom Staniford still comes on Tuesdays, as he did for 20 years when he worked across the street at Rodland Toyota, visible from his table near the corner stage that is quiet, for now.
“It’s a good atmosphere and everything’s pretty chill,” Staniford said. “It’s a really good burger.”
His friend, Dave Walker, of Marysville, plowed into a steak and cheese quesadilla, a change from his usual bargain burger.
“I was ready to mix it up a little,” he said, adding it was worth paying full price.
Across the room, Darrell Snyder sat at the entrance table, as he does every week.
“Damn near every Tuesday for two-and-a-half years, ever since I retired,” he said.
Two other Snohomish County PUD retirees, Ed Spence and Jim Petroskie, pulled up a chair to share “lies and laughs.”
“We had a lot of blood and sweat together,” said Spence, of Snohomish.
“A lot of storms, and we don’t miss them at all,” said Petroskie, of Everett. “We get to sit here and watch the white trucks go by.”
The chums are devoted “Madisonites,” as they put it.
They jokingly pleaded with me not to write this story.
“We don’t want anybody to know,” Snyder said. “The parking lot gets packed as it is.”
If you go
Madison Avenue Pub
905 Madison St., Everett
425-348-7402
Facebook.com/MadisonAvePub
Doors open at 8 or 9 a.m. and close at midnight or 2 a.m., depending on the day.
Contact writer Andrea Brown at reporterbrown@gmail.com.
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