Behind the bathroom door: Know before you go

Sep 09, 2023

Food editor and arts reporter

Food editor and arts reporter

Matt Tebo, the person behind the @places_id_poop_madison Instagram account, is pictured in the bathroom at Plain Spoke Cocktail Company in Madison on Friday, April 28, 2023.

One Madison man has made it his mission to shine a light in the city's most private public places. Matt Tebo, a soccer coach and assistant property manager, documents local bathrooms on the cheeky Instagram account @places_id_poop_madison.

"Everybody posts about foodie things, and everybody writes about desserts and drinks," Tebo said. "I was like, you know what, f--- that, I want to know who has the nicest bathrooms."

Tebo suffers from chronic GI issues, so the closest, nicest bathroom was frequently on his mind. He came up with a criteria he liked — cleanliness, size, clean exit, convenience, amenities — and recently added an asterisk for gender neutral signage. He started posting photos in December.

"It's actually kind of exploded a little bit, where people interact online with comments and questions," he said. "My friends are always sending me different bathrooms, like, ‘what do you think of this one?’"

High scorers have included Amara, a new restaurant at Hilldale, and Plain Spoke Cocktail Co. on King Street. The lowest scorers he sometimes skips. Tebo remembers one spot where the stall didn't lock ("that should be illegal"). He's also very conscious about germs, so air dryers plus a door handle to grab knocks a bathroom's rating down.

Tebo would like to see Madison be able to adopt the more progressive design he's noted in his travels to other countries. Dusseldorf has beautiful bathrooms, he said. He remembers a Russian train station that was very private and fully gender neutral, all by design.

"For whatever reason we’re hung up on keeping everything gendered," Tebo said. "I would hope to see more gender inclusive facilities, however that may be.

"It's just going to the bathroom."

Madison restaurants, bars and cafes are switching their bathroom signage to be more inclusive. The trend is visible but inconsistent, slowed by outdated rules.

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