Went last night for dinner with 4 other people. Beer selection was good and the bartender was prompt with service while we waited for our table. Our server was attentive at first and the service gradually declined throughout the evening. She is the main reason the review is a 3 and not a 4. The food was very good. We had the cheese curds and the pretzel. The curds have to be in the top 5 of the city. Definitely better than The Old Fashioned. The mustard and cheese sauce with the pretzel were excellent. One person had the teriyaki steak and the rest of us had burgers. She forgot one person's burger and he had to wait at least 15 min while the rest of us ate. She said she entered his burger and deleted a comment on it and accidentally deleted the whole burger. She gave him a free dessert so that made it better. She did not refill our waters at all and was slow with beer refills. It is too bad because the food was very good and the atmosphere was great. I'd give it another chance but I cannot give 4 stars. Better luck next time. read more

The cheese curds are greasy, as most are, but melt in your mouth delicious! I have not had a fried curd in a while that has the cheese and fried batter equally at the same temperature. Delicious. I had the portabella mushroom sandwich. Stay away! just very bland, my favorite thus far is Babe's. Mac and cheese side- I agree with another reviewer....no good. Service was good, bloody marys look good, beer list is nice...If it is on tap, you can sample it...I hear the brisket sandwich is delicious. Id go again. Just not order the same thing. Menu could be a little more expanded... read more

I enjoy coming here for lunch and brunch. When I come for lunch I always get the pear and walnut salad with chicken. I think it's wonderful. I've had the beef brisket sandwich and porta Bella both yummy. When I come for brunch usually a Bloody Mary, perfect spice and all the good stuff ( bacon, pickle, cheese curd, olive, celery, lemon lime, asparagus) I eat the biscuits and gravy Benedict so good! Biscuit is soft. I love the potatoes it comes with. The mimosa kit is really fun too! Staff is great. I like the bartender Alex and the manager with the red hair is very nice! All the servers have been good! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do read more

We were a table of six. Server did fine getting us drinks and appetizers. One of our party did not receive a plate for sharing, and no servers were around, so I grabbed one off the service station. Our server disappeared for 45 minutes until I went to find her to ask her to take our dinner order. She was in a back booth, folding napkins and gabbing with another employee. (The restaurant was less than half full and every table already had utensils and napkins.) I asked her to come take our dinner orders. Our party noticed that everyone who arrived after us already had their dinner - we had not yet ordered. No one had cleared our appetizer plates - after asking the server to clear them, she picked up two and left the rest. When dinner food came out, I had to ask the runners to take dirty dishes and drink glasses away with them so that we had enough room for our food and weren't sitting in a pile of dirty dishes. No one cleared the dinner dishes, either, so after waiting a while, I started to pile them on a neighboring table. It was just bizarre how our table was ignored all night. I felt terrible as 3 of our party were Black women from out of town - who knows what impression being ignored most of the night left on them about Middleton. read more

This is the second time I have been to craftsman table and tap, and both times have been disappointing. I made a note to the waiter that my food was undercooked. They brought it back to the kitchen and I am not sure what they did, because they did not cool it any more. I left without eating it. That being said, the owner was Very very apologetic to the point I felt bad and he gave the meal for free and offered to pay dessert too. Even with all of that, I did still like the place its a great atmosphere and great menu I think the execution was just wrong. I will go back again to give one last try- I have a feeling it was just a noob in the kitchen because my boyfriend and I ate the curds and a salad and got very sick off of it. Great beer. Curds are too oily and yuck both times I've been- I think their oil is not hot enough. Proceed with caution. Order a burger or something basic and I have a feeling you won't go wrong. Steer clear of the teriyaki steak. read more

A little off the beaten path, this pub is a lovely hidden gem. The cheese curds are AWESOME. My faves come from the Great Dane and Old Fashioned, but these are a very close second! Seating is a little hit and miss. Sometimes you can get seated right away, and sometimes there is an hour wait. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to this. Of course it's packed on game days, but now and again it's randomly hopping! Their fries are delightful, with a hint of parm and garlic, and their ranch dressing is delicious. It's definitely "just a pub", there's no secret pull or anything amazingly different, but it's the feeling like you can just relax after a busy day -- no bells and whistles, no frou-frou drinks -- that's what I really like about it. Fantastic place to chill out. read more

We had been here before and enjoyed it, but went for fish on a Friday and it was not good--way under what I have come to expect from a Food Fight restaurant. Fish tasted off and the breading was way too thick. Cheese curds were good, but not as good as Graze or The Old Fashioned. read more

I really LOVE the atmosphere of the table and tap. It looks nice and new, everything seems fresh and clean. The servers are all very friendly, except for the one waitress who gets way too pushy and asks if you're ready to order every 1 minute. Their food is quality but I always find myself taking forever to decide because I don't really love anything on the menu. Do you want an okay sandwich for 11 dollars or a steak for 30? Hm. The place is nice but their prices are a little higher than I like. Oh but I should mention their fries are fresh and taste amazinggg! Their cheese curds are great and they're known for them, but really, 9 dollars for fried cheese? For whatever reason, I always find myself wanting to go back. Probably the great atmosphere, staff, and location. read more

I've been here twice and each time I was not that amazing. I was never greeted at the door when I entered, and once I was sat, the service was very slow, even if the restaurant wasn't busy. The first time I went, I had the Craftsman Burger. I couldn't even finish it because it was so bland. The meat had no taste and the toppings (bacon, cheddar, garlic mayo, lettuce, and onion) provided no help with that. The second time, I was going to give a go at the Seasonal Pasta Bake, but that was only served after 5pm (I was there for lunch). Instead, I got the BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich. Decent, but nothing memorable. Overall, I would only go back there for the cheese curds and not order anything else. read more

The meatloaf sandwich with onions was served without the advertised onion rings. The brisket sandwich was good but needed BBQ sauce instead of catsup. The three mini burgers are no longer available. Prices are somewhat high. Ambience is good. Service good. read more

Modern pub with an excellent selection of beer and some great food choices. Seating choices include tables (indoors or out),. booths. and at the bar. I had the mushroom and beef stew, which tasted like it was cooked in wine. Excellent, and they give you a fork because it is so thick that a spoon is not needed, My wife had a wrap, which she said was excellent. Both of us were unable to finish our meals because portion size was generous. And probably because we started with their famous cheese curds. Excellent! You'll like it... read more

They do a good job on lots of menu items. Many of the dishes are excellent. But they can't make good chocolate chip cookies. I'd love to show them how it's done. read more

If you are looking for those great burgers that the Craftsman use to have you better check their online menu first. They just totally decimated their menu and eliminated this as a special place. Sorry, but there are too many other spots which are now better than this old standby. read more

The team at Craftsman Table & Tap is incredible. They went above and beyond to not only make my bridal shower a safe event with delicious food, but also make all of our ideas come to life. Strongly recommend to anyone considering dining in, taking out or planning an event! read more

Food was hit or miss. The hummus platter and the soup of the day were hits - although they really need to serve little plates with the hummus platter so that people aren't dripping hummus all over their place settings - but the reuben was virtually inedible due to them using a pretty strong horseradish sauce instead of traditional thousand island. With Reubens, the kraut already gives it a tangy bite so adding a biting sauce is just too much even for me (and I love pickled things and the like). I wasn't really into the poblano salad with blackened chicken either - the chicken was way too salty and spicy. I think if you're looking for alcohol and apps this is probably a great place, but if you want a foodie dinner haven I'd try somewhere else. read more

We hadn't eaten here in a while. We always liked the layout of this place. Perfect bar:restaurant ratio. The food quality has gone up. We met the new chef, who has Cajun cooking heritage. We look forward to becoming regulars (again)! read more

The brunch on Sunday was great, the best breakfast you can get in Madison area. Portions are big. Bloody Mary's comes with a huge chaser. Must have brunch in Madison area. PS for people complaining: don't go to any restaurant on Friday/Saturday night to expect great service or food, places are JUST TOO F... BUSY, just my 2 cents... read more

Compared to anything else with in walking distance Craftsman has the best beer selection. The overall food selection isn't bad. I've had the Ba Minh. a daily special, and the burger which were all well executed. I did the seasonal Risotto once with steak and I wasn't as impressed. Risotto didn't have a ton of flavor from the vegetables and the steak was under seasoned. The cheese curds are great. My biggest complaint is the music. It's an horrible mix of 90s and some 2000s pop hits. I'd honestly have 2 or 3 more beers but the music is that bad. read more

Disappointed with meal today. Two salads that were different on menu but essentially the same when served. ... and uninspiring. Generally felt like they opened a container of field greens, threw on a few similar toppings, and called it good. Brussels sprouts were tasty, but the rest was blah. At the price of ~$14 I would like to see more. Service very good. read more

We had the absolute perfect meal here, so either this restaurant is amazing or we got the best items they had to offer. Start with the German pretzels because the beer cheese sauce is TO DYE for. We split the Brussel sprout salad, so delicious perfect amount of crispy Brussels and candied pecans. Then we split the chicken sandwich which was good, fries and garlic aioli even better. Perfect amount of food for two. Under $65 with wine, even better! read more

Great service but the kitchen is a disaster. Got food poisoning eating their mussels, which I sent back halfway through as they were clearly off. The manager gave me the third degree and didn't seem to care. I'm sick as a dog today thanks to them using bad product and cooking it improperly (most of them weren't even opened). The bar puts out great drinks, so if you're going there only to drink, enjoy. read more

Tonight was the last time we will ever eat here. Confirmed, not maybe, for sure.....we will never go back. We have been eating here occasionally for 5+ years. The first, maybe the second, and possibly the third time were pretty good. Each time we go back, looking for that same experience. The service is mediocre at best and was never that great. It seems like something is always left out, after the food finally arrives. Tonight, a Sunday night we went in for a quick meal. It took 35 minutes for a craftsman burger and a chicken sandwich to arrive. The fries were soggy and cold. The burger was a pre-made burger that you can probably get from Costco in the freezer section. Yuk and double yuk. I definitely was not locally grown beef. There was no applewood smoked bacon on the burger. We had water that tasted unfiltered, and a fountain drink. Hardly worth the money of $29!! The atmosphere is loud, TVs on and music playing. There were at least three tables with kids in close proximity. The room temperature was too cold. We were sad we just didn't go to Culver's or another local restaurant, where the service is good, the food is homemade, hot and timely. Maybe a restaurant can stay in business by offering great cheese curds and a wide variety of beer. read more

We live in Middleton so this is a nice location for a nice beer and meal. I have been here a few times out of convenience and I have always been disappointed. I keep asking myself why do I come back here. The service is horrible and the food is bad with the exception of the burger and fries. Food is expensive and I repeat the service is absolutely horrible. Last time we brought friends from out of Towne (again out of convenience) and I ordered a curry vegetable dish. The food was so spicy that I couldn't eat it. When the waitress came to ask if everything was OK I said my food was too spicy to eat it, I had hardly touch it and she said: "Do you want a box?" I didn't want to be rude in front of our guest (I wanted to say what kind of response is that??) so I just said I would think about it. Horrible customer service with zero recovery and food I could barely eat. The question is: In Madison where you have hundreds of places to pick from would you go to a place where you will be consistently dissatisfied? Last time for me. Please vacate the nice location for a better place read more

This is one of the first restaurants I have gone to in Middleton since I moved from downtown Madison. Went during happy hour and got the peach sour which was A+. My friend got the pretzel as an appetizer and I got the hummus plate. My friend said the mustard with the pretzel was not for him. My hummus was delightful however I wish it came with carrots or some vegetable to dip in the hummus. It was just pita and garnishes. For entrees I got the fish fry and my friend got some burger with bacon on it. The burger was supposed to come with a garlic mayo but they were very skimpy with that. My fish was just ok. The whole entree was quite salty. The service was slow but our waitress Abby was friendly and very professional. I don't know if it's a favorite but I would still recommend. read more

I am judging specifically on an Eat Street order I received a few minutes ago. Therefore, I can't necessarily say the food would be the same if one were to eat it there. However, one thing I can say is that this food doesn't travel well. Whatever you do, if you are ordering for delivery, DO NOT order the cheese curds. Ours came sitting in about four tablespoons of grease and were more or less inedible. Rest of food was alright, but I would likely not order again. read more

Great food and great service! Really enjoyed the New Years Eve dinner special and thought it was really reasonably priced for a three course meal and three beers to accompany each course. The reason I couldn't give five stars was because of the misquoted wait time and the inefficiency of the hostess. We called in when we left our home to get a wait time and put our names on the list and the time was 45 min. It took us twenty minutes to get there and after checking in it was another hour before we were seated. Fortunately, we were out on a date so the extra time waiting was just more time to share laughs and stories but I do believe there should be more of an effort to under promise on wait time and over deliver on the time you get seated. Once we were seated the rest of the night was above par and we will definitely be going back! read more

UPDATE::: I gave the place another chance, and though it wasn't mind blowing, I felt it was good and the staff treated me well. I didn't order dessert this time, but the pretzel was quite good, Creme brulee? More like butterscotch pudding with torched sugar on top, and raw pecans. The best part was the pecans. read more

I've been here 4 times now. 5 if you count us walking out the door after being told it would be an hour and 45 minute wait with no bar space to get a drink..... They don't take reservations but I think I overheard the bartender say that they do take call-aheads?! When you can get a table it is definitely worth it! In the summer they have a small patio which is nice to sit and have some cocktails with brunch. They have a very tasty Bloody Mary and a DIY Mimosa kit that comes with a lovely picnic basket full of one bottle of champagne and three small carafes of different juices. Their cheese curds are melt-in-your-mouth delicious! Their half sandwich and soup combo at lunch is quick and delicious with the sandwich option rotating daily. You can get full service at the bar if the restaurant is too busy. The half hummus plate is a perfect light lunch especially if you pair it with a shared cheese curd order!! read more

Craftsman Table & Tap - Gastropubs Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Cheese curds. OMG the cheese curds. They have me going back and back, so I've had a chance to try other things. Don't get the Brussels sprout salad - the things are pickled (yuck). Most of the salads are bland. The sandwiches, ditto. It's like the chef doesn't taste anything he makes, so he doesn't use any spices. The fries are bland, though excellent if you dip them in the sauce that comes with the cheese curds (they come with a "garlic aioli" that is really just mayo, with no garlic I can taste. So really, the cheese curds. God, those cheese curds. I dream of them. If you get a sandwich, go for the brisket. It's the only one that's decent. Also, a walk around Pheasant Branch ending at Craftsman is a very nice day out. read more

I had great expectations upon entering this restaurant. The smells were powerful and mouth-watering. I was expecting rich meat or exquisite paninii. When I saw the menu I noticed 1)there were few vegetarian options, 2)there was no simple good food and 3) there was no bold flavors. I ordered a (modified) ham and gruyere melt expecting sizzled ham and melted cheese on fresh bread. I recieved tiny peices of cold sizzled ham that were falling out of the sandwich and bland cheese dropping out and concealing on toasted cheap multi grain bread. The appetizers were too complicated and a root beer was served to me lukewarm and without ice. They placed old glass bottles of tap water on our table. The service was also abysmal. They were grossly understaffed(we had one waitress for a table of 15 and she was working 2 other tables. ) Summary Bad food bad service mediocre atmosphere read more

This is a go-to restaurant for me and my family. Excellent food, good mix of entrees and sandwiches, and a tasty mixed-greens side (or fries, for the carb enthusiast). Drink selection is great, and though there are rarely deals available I think the drink prices are comparable to other pubs in this price bracket. Can't go wrong here. Give it a shot. read more

This isn't my favorite place, but I eat here often because it is really good for lunch. They do everything well but nothing great from what I can tell. More of a place to be seen but offer strong food options. read more

Craftsman Table & Tap - Gastropubs Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

Here's hoping there are still kinks being worked out. I really, really WANTED to like this place. It looks great on paper- locally sourced food, tight menu, good drink selection, close to my neighborhood, food fight affiliated... I was even willing to give it the lovable-enough-because-it's-closeby handicap. But.... this is weird. Somehow they are able to make all of their food without flavors. I KNOW! My husband and I went on a Saturday, mid-afternoon, so we were able to be seated right away. Our server was super nice (though he kept calling my husband "brother", which made me think of Desmond from Lost) and the food was delivered quickly. We had the cheese curds based on Yelp reviews. I am a cheese curd fan. I even like bad cheese curds, because hey, cheese curds. These are not top 5 in Madison quality. They want to be, but they were greasy (not in a good way), and yes, FLAVORLESS. How do they do it?!!?! The presentation in the bucket was super cute though. Props to that. And there seemed to be some promise in the breading. I had the Italian grilled cheese, which I regretted ordering after I ate too many greasy cheese curds. The sandwich was ok- the tomatoes had good balsamic flavor, and the bread was good. The fries were super boring and wilted. My husband had the BBQ pork sandwich... and had to ask for a side of BBQ sauce because there wasn't any on it? He had the greens for a side, which were fine but a little over dressed. We didn't finish more than half our plates, and didn't bother taking the leftovers. Oh, I almost forgot- I also had a bloody mary. I swear they have some kind of flavor-extracting device in the back. How do you make a bland bloody mary?!? (Just in case you are starting to doubt my tastebuds, my husband agreed that it was bland! We really like food!) I didn't want to write you a bad review, Craft! I'm not sure the food is enough to bring us back, but the impressive beer list and that rooftop bar might be awfully appealing come summer. Hopefully they'll find their spice rack by then. read more

Went here Friday night with a group of seven expecting a wait since it's a small-ish place. Waited 1.5 hours for a table, which I would never mind for a good meal. Unfortunately, this was not a good meal. To be fair, the waitstaff is awesome. Very friendly, accommodating, etc. The food is so-so and that's being awfully generous. I love traditional Wisconsin fried-food types of pubs but this was blah. The only thing worse than their over-cooked and bland French Fries was, wait for it, their Mac and Cheese. So sad! Fair selection of liquors at best but a solid selection of beers. Would not return unless I heard they made some fairly significant strides in improvement. read more

I'm sorry to call out Elizabeth V. below, but you are an idiot. Soft shell crab is exactly what it sounds like- a soft shelled crab. Your sandwich was supposed to have a shell on the crab. I've been to this place twice. The best cheese curds that I have ever tasted! They are so crunchy, but still light and fluffy. I don't know how they pull that off. Amazing! Their burgers are great. A good lean piece of beef on a pretzel bun with blue cheese from a local farm that could be a blue medal winner! read more

Not going to survive if changes are not made Just visited Craft for the first time, and left feeling very disappointed and like we were a pain to the staff. We tried visiting a few weeks ago about 11:45 for a quick drink after a meal, only to be told they had just closed. We went tonight About 10:00 and there was over 25 people there drinking and socializing. We went to order another round at 10:45 and asked to keep our tab open and were told they would be closing shortly... At 11:05 still with the original 25+people there they turned on all the lights. I could not believe they would try to force paying customers out. Many other groups were also surprised and made many comments, it was a Saturday night with a good amount of people there. We went to order our final round and they bar man and a waiter were talking behind the bar, saw us and continued talking. Try even were talking about how they made no tips tonight's loud enough for a lot of customers to hear. They turned the music off at 11:45, and at 12:10 we were asked to leave. This is not how a business should handle itself when trying to establish itself in a nice community. Having such a great location, it's a shame the staff can ruin the whole thing for more than one group of people. read more

Best cheese curds ever! We have only been here a few times but love it and will go back. Went with some friends and we all got a variety of things, the best being the curry! read more

I found the food at Craft Table & Tap a 3 at best. I went for Friday night fish. The fish was coated with a bit too much batter. The fries were soggy, my fiance order a sandwich that had turkey on it. I tried a bite of the sandwich and it was awesome. They have a nice selection of ales. The service was mediocre, our server didn't seem interested in any of her tables. I would go back to sample ales and try a sandwich, however I would not recommend the fish fry. read more

We were told if you like unique craft beer that this is place to come locally. Our sources were correct. They had 20 beers on tap maybe.... but these were not just your normal beers you find at every resturant. So I was super excited to see that selection. They also had a great bottled beer menu. This alone just won me over as a new customer. The buisness itself is located in a cool complex style building stuck right in the middle of the community in Middleton, WI. It is a newer, clean, well kept establishment. Staff were all friendly, smiling, and happy to answer any questions we had. They even offered up suggestions which should me they knew thier stuff. We did try the cheese curds that the bartendar reccomended to us. They were delicous tasting and homemade. The batter was wonderful! You have to try these! They came with a really good tasting garlic aioli sauce of some sort. I will try thier food next visit. It all looked and smelled really good as the sandwiches past us by at the bar. This visit was strictly meant for drinking.... We will be back! read more

We went in for dinner on a Friday night. They don't take reservations but they have an upstairs lounge with drinks and apps to sit in while you wait for a table. We didn't have to wait too terribly long. We didn't get drinks but just ate dinner. The burgers were fantastic and the fried perch was very good as well. Service was attentive and friendly and the prices are reasonable. They get a slight mark down for the lack of entree options in the upstairs lounge but overall very pleased. We will likely be back! read more