Which bars does this Watertown, Wisconsin guide cover?

This guide covers five: The Score Sports Bar, The Riff Dive Bar and Uptown Bar & Grill downtown, Bigg's Bar & Grill on River Drive and The Buffalo Bar on North Church Street.

Which Watertown bar is open latest?

Google lists The Score, The Riff and The Buffalo Bar open until 2:30 am on Friday and Saturday, and Uptown's own site lists the same.

Are there kid-friendly bars in Watertown WI?

Google marks Bigg's Bar & Grill and The Riff Dive Bar as good for children, and Bigg's lists a children's menu.

Which Watertown bar is closed on Sundays?

Google lists The Riff Dive Bar closed on Sunday, while the other four in this guide are open.

Where can I get a Bloody Mary in Watertown?

The Buffalo Bar on North Church Street describes elaborately garnished Bloody Marys with rotating toppings such as hot dogs, meatballs and cheese cubes.

Watertown WI Bars Compared by Distance and Late Hours

Five Watertown bars compared by distance, late-night hours, food, kids and parking, from a coin-pusher sports bar to a Bloody Mary counter.

The Watertown Historical Society's account of the plank road years says the finished road made the town a bonanza for taverns. Today, Watertown bars still run from a sports bar with a coin pusher to a dive bar with guitars on the walls, and five of them are easy to compare by distance. Three sit within about 0.2 miles of the center of town, one is about 1 mile south, and one is about 1 mile northwest.

Pick The Score for a game and pool, The Riff for smash burgers under music videos, Uptown for a Friday fish fry, Bigg's for a family-friendly kitchen and The Buffalo Bar for a garnished Bloody Mary. The sections below take each in turn, then cover late nights, kids, parking and what to do when a bar is closed.

If the plan is bigger than a drink, start with the activities around Watertown.

The Score Sports Bar: games and a screen on North 4th Street

The Score Sports Bar at 300 North 4th Street is about 0.1 miles east of the center of town, a neighborhood spot for televised sports and pub games. The bar floor has a pool table, electronic dart boards, a coin pusher machine and beer pong setups, and the owners serve pizza for evening bites.

The Score Sports Bar

One reviewer wrote that the new owners had turned it into a place they would sit in alone or with a group of friends, and another praised the holiday and seasonal drink menus and free Packer touchdown shots. A different reviewer reported that on a Friday night the kitchen offered nothing after 8 pm except pizza, so eat early if you want more than a pie.

Google lists the bar open 2 pm to 2 am Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 2:30 am Friday, 10 am to 2:30 am Saturday and 9 am to 2 am Sunday, and prices a visit at $1 to $10. The profile does not mark it as good for children, and it lists contactless payments, a free lot and free street parking.

The Riff Dive Bar: smash burgers under nineties music videos

The Riff Dive Bar at 215 South 3rd Street is about 0.2 miles south-southeast of the center of town and about 0.2 miles from The Score. The Watertown Daily Times reported that the owners of The Score planned it as a dive bar with a music theme, guitars on the walls and a drum set showing its logo. The same article describes a stage for live music and MTV videos on the televisions when no band is playing, and Google's listing describes nineties and two-thousands videos.

The Riff Dive Bar

The storefront was the home of D&J Sports Bar for about five years until that bar announced in February 2025 a move to a larger space at 301 East Main Street. The kitchen centers on smash burgers, pizzas and fried chicken wings, with fries and cheese curds on the side.

Reviewers split on the burger, with one calling the smash burger overcooked and dry and another saying it was the best they had eaten in a long time. One reviewer who liked the place noted the beer selection leans toward IPA cans, so check the lineup if you drink amber. Google lists it open 4 pm to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 am to 2:30 am Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday, and it marks the bar good for children with a free lot and free street parking.

Uptown Bar & Grill: a hand-pressed burger and a Friday fish fry

Uptown Bar & Grill at 416 East Main Street is about 0.2 miles southeast of the center of town and about 0.1 miles from both The Score and The Riff. Its own site promises hand-pressed, never-frozen burgers, wings with a choice of twelve sauces including grilled, cheese curds, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders and a Friday fish fry.

Uptown Bar & Grill

The listing adds crinkle-cut fries, dart boards and slot machines, and says food comes dine-in, carryout or delivered. One reviewer described crinkle-cut fries as the crispiest they had eaten and the wings as large and crispy, while another noted the room has little seating, orders go through the bar and the TVs run loud.

The site says the kitchen is open 11 am to 8 pm, so late drinkers should eat before dark. Hours on the site run 10 am to 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 10 am to 2:30 am Friday and Saturday, and Google prices a visit at $10 to $20. The profile does not mark the bar as good for children, and it lists a free lot, free street parking, an accessible entrance, parking and restroom.

Bigg's Bar & Grill: the family-friendly kitchen on River Drive

Bigg's Bar & Grill at 1217 River Drive is about 1 mile south of the center of town and about 0.9 miles from Uptown, in what Restaurantji calls a residential setting, away from the downtown trio. The owners describe a classic tavern menu for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with seasoned burgers cooked to order, hot wings, house-made mozzarella sticks and grilled steaks.

Bigg's Bar & Grill

Restaurantji shows 4.5 out of 5 from 243 ratings, and the page describes a clean, welcoming room with a video-gaming theme. Reviewers praise the burgers, wings and mozzarella sticks, and one credited the bartender for the Old Fashioneds and the kitchen for steaks done as ordered.

Google lists the bar open from 11 am daily, until midnight Sunday through Wednesday and until 2 am Thursday through Saturday. It marks the place good for children and groups with a children's menu, plus a free lot, free street parking and a wheelchair-accessible entrance, parking, restroom and seating.

The Buffalo Bar: counter stools, Sheepshead and Bloody Marys on North Church Street

The Buffalo Bar at 814 North Church Street is about 1 mile northwest of the center of town and about 1.8 miles from Bigg's, so it is the northern anchor of the group. The owners describe a counter with taps, bottles and weekly menu specials, pub fare of burgers, wings, chicken tenders and onion rings, and regular Sheepshead card tournaments for local players.

The Buffalo Bar

The bar is known for Bloody Marys garnished with rotating extras such as hot dogs, jalapeño poppers, meatballs, cheese cubes and beef sticks. A reviewer who visited on May 17, 2026 found a whole hot dog on top, and another said they wanted to return for the Sunday Bloody Mary.

Google lists it open 11 am to 2 am Monday, 9 am to 2 am Tuesday through Thursday, 9 am to 2:30 am Friday and Saturday, and 9 am to midnight Sunday, and prices a visit at $20 to $30. It lists outdoor seating, a free lot, free street parking and a paid lot, and an accessible entrance, parking and restroom, but does not mark it as good for children.

Why Watertown has tavern roots

The historical society says the plank road made Watertown a bonanza for taverns, and the Buena Vista was among the early ones, opened under Captain Henry Bogel. A local newspaper expected about 62 liquor licenses in 1891, which the society says would have brought $12,400 into the city treasury. Beer was local too: Fuermann's Empire Brewery dates to 1848 and Bursinger's City Brewery to 1852, and Hartig Brewery was the last survivor, getting through Prohibition on near beer and also making ice cream and root beer. Wikipedia adds that German immigrants began arriving in the 1850s.

Planning: late nights, Sundays, kids and parking

On Sunday, The Riff is closed, while The Score, Uptown, Bigg's and The Buffalo Bar are all open, with the Buffalo and Bigg's closing at midnight. For the latest close, The Score, The Riff and The Buffalo Bar all list 2:30 am on Friday and Saturday, and Uptown lists 2:30 am on Saturday on Google and on Friday and Saturday on its own site. Bigg's closes at 2 am Thursday through Saturday. Hours here come from Google profiles and one bar's own site, so call ahead for holidays.

For a family dinner, Bigg's and The Riff are the two that Google marks as good for children, while The Score and The Buffalo Bar are marked not good for children. All five list a free lot and free street parking. Bigg's lists the full set of accessible features: entrance, parking, restroom and seating. The Riff lists accessible parking but no accessible entrance, so ask before you go if you use a wheelchair.

For dinner before a drink, the Watertown restaurants have the sit-down options.

Anyone planning the night around pies can compare the pizza places in Watertown, where Bigg's and The Score appear again.

A town that was a bonanza for taverns in the plank road years still keeps its taps running on a Friday night, whichever of these five stools you pull up.