We went to Dexter's on Friday for the fish fry at the start Craft Beer week. So we knew the wait would be long. It was about an hour or more wait to eat. But that didn't matter because we got to have a couple of tasty beers. Once we sat down to eat, we started off with the clam chowder. I loved it. The chunks of clam were huge and tender, not chewy. The soup wasn't too thick that it overshadowed the clams, onions and potatoes. We both ordered the deep fried cod. One of the best we've had. It came out hot and crispy. The batter wasn't too oily and you could taste the flakey cod. The waitress was very busy but always available if we needed anything. I can't wait to eat there more. I love the atmosphere at Dexters. It's a great mix of people who are friendly and there to enjoy the beer/food. read more

One of my husband's and my favorite bars. We love the pretzels. Packer Sunday's are the best. Beer list is amazing. Pizza and sandwiches are tasty AF. All around a great place. Highly recommend. read more

Great spot to catch a Friday night fish fry. Friendly staff and quick service. Our drinks were never empty. Great job on keeping the place feeling COVID safe read more

Fantastic craft beer selection, really tasty and high quality food at a very reasonable price! Hard to beat on the east side. Also a very friendly and knowledgeable staff. read more

So glad I found d this place by accident. Great food. Great beer selections. Talented bartenders .. will be back for more

Pretty effing good. Great beer selection, really, really good food that is priced right. Cell reception sucks in the area but they have free WiFi. Had a pretzel and stuffed grilled cheese.. both were delicious and served quickly. I honestly can't find a good reason to give this place a 5 star rating... there is just something about it and I don't know what it is. read more

I have been going to Dexter's for years and I have been a little disappointed lately. The last time I went the service was ok. They were not busy by any stretch of the imagination. The server allowed our drinks to go empty before taking our order. My pizza had clearly sat under the lights for several minutes before it got to me. She gave us our checks while we were still eating. The whole situation soured my experience. I felt as though I should have apologized for inconveniencing her. read more

Great service, great food plain and simple! Oh, and awesome beer selection that is always changing.

One of the best places to go for craft beers in Madison. 24 tap lines always have a varied selection of craft brews. They host events regularly with tap takeovers or beer dinners. This week is craft beer week and they have some of the best lineups of the week. Even with being slammed the service is good. The food is excellent. The garlic-chili fries are a must. My friend had the BBLT which is a BLT with brisket. The brisket was more like pot roast, but that is perfectly fine for Wisconsin. If you go there for Fish Fry, plan on waiting...its one of the best in Madison. read more

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Amazing place to go if you are Gluten Free. They have GF buns and bread. The waffle fries have a seasoning that takes them off the GF menu, but the regular fries rock. Highly Recommend. read more

As always, the beer selection here was awesome! I'm only giving it 3 stars because this is the first time I've eaten here. Four of us had the fish fry. The bluegill, cod, and walleye were all battered and not crispy. No thanks...I'll come back and try this place again, but I'll try the Reuben. We will see if I can upgrade this rating after a second try. read more

Came in craving fish fry, thankfully they have it on both Wednesday and Friday nights. It was pretty delicious. Their tartar sauce is not so great though. Thankfully the delicious batter on the fish made up for it. We also tried the Swedish meatball soup which was tasty. Lastly we tried the prime rib sandwich with giardeniera. Yum! Of course you have to mention the awesome beer selection! I'll be back! read more

After tough experiences at Bear and Bottle and Ale Asylum, I've come to appreciate how well Dexters does food, and that their prices are very reasonable. When we need to watch a Packer or Brewer game, this is our go to location. They also have a good trivia night. Awesome beer selection. read more

Top notch beer selection. Pub chips and French onion are the bomb. Spicy pork sandwich is so spicy it should come with a warning! It's delicious, though. All-in-all, a great place to grab a bite and a beer. And you can always check the tap list on the DigitalPour app before you arrive! read more

I usually hit this place because of their beer selections. they mix it up a lot and some time great some time not. Most of the time its great except for the tap take overs. You cannot win them all. Food is great also read more

Dexter's Pub - Founders stout - Pubs Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Oh my yummy goodness! My husband and I were in town for one of our kids competitions and had some time to kill. Found this place on a simple Google Maps search for "pubs near me". Drove by and decided to try it out. The off street parking was a big draw, although the lot is small. I ordered the Boulevard Jam Band on tap, and my husband had a Spotted Cow. We shared a pretzel with beer cheese dipping sauce. The beer did not disappoint. It's an interesting fruity blend. But that pretzel... words cannot describe that phenomenal pretzel. It was perfection. We live more than two hours away but I told my husband I would make the drive to Madison Just. To. Eat. That. Pretzel. The atmosphere was buzzing, getting ready for the St. Patty's Day celebrations later in the day. Staff was friendly and service was prompt. Will definitely be back! read more

I don't care how good the food is or the beer selection. This was my first stop on my return to Madison, and it was horrible. To our waitress, who had no notion of hospitality or customer service: you messed up, and taking 90 minutes to get our order to us is totally unacceptable. Not even an apology? You should be ashamed. That's all I need to say, really. Piss-poor service that warrants nothing more than a single star. Bartenders were great, waitress was embarrassingly bad. Not going back. read more

As a non beer lover (I know, I know), I wasn't expecting to fall in love with Dexter's. I don't think one has to worry about that considering my experience. Our food was just so...terrible. I ordered the salmon salad, not having any huge expectations with it due to ordering it at a hipsterish hole in the wall type establishment. The salmon was a weird color...it had greasy fried peppers, croutons, tomatoes and cucumber...I was pretty sure I was going to get food poisoning but miraculously, I did not. My husband ordered a burger....the bun was dry and crusty, he asked for it medium well and it was slightly alive still. Plus, they didn't even provide a leaf of lettuce or tomato. Just cheese, a ball of raw hamburger and 1/3 of a slice of bacon. Our meal was so unsatisfying but at least the waffle fries were the highlight of the night! read more

Easily one of my favorite local hangouts, Dexter's is a "dive" bar without the "dive." The beer selection is wonderful, bartenders and staff are knowledgeable and attentive, and the food is well above typical bar food standards. There are tables for dining, a long bar for sitting and watching the game, and volleyball courts out back for summer fun. If you're going for the food, I have to recommend the fish fry and/or nacho platter. If you're going for the beer, you won't be disappointed. And if you're looking for a fun place to watch a Badger victory with friends, you've got the right bar. read more

I'm from out of town and was looking for a place to have some beer and some good food and this place was excellent. First of all, the waitress was very kind with great service and helpful advice for a couple "newbies". The beer selection was great and we got a pitcher of a microbrew for $10, which I thought was a great price. The burgers were huge and very tasty along with the cheesecurds and fries. I will definitely visit this place again next time we're in town. read more

Great sconnie place. Good place for a fish fry. Interesting beers on tap and a full bar.

From outside appearance it would seem that Dexter's would be a great place to hang out. They have a large selection of craft beers, a fully stocked bar, a menu that aspires to be something other than "Wisconsin pub fare", a late night menu, and the place is large and is clean enough. I've been here more times than the establishment deserves because it is closest to my house. The singular worst thing about this place is the service. The bartenders and servers simply don't seem to care about anything other than who is going to buy them their next shot. Last night, in the mood for some different late night food, I decided to give this place a second chance. What a mistake! First I had to wait for the bartender to finish his conversation about cars with the guy sitting next to me. When I finally got to order he said they weren't serving food. When I mentioned the late night menu he said "well you can order off that I guess". To complete said order I had to shout across the bar at the bartender while he stood at his touch screen. I had to repeat my order at least five times over the sound of the jukebox. The food arrived, the three appetizers my dining companion and I ordered were only two. Not that I could have done anything about it as the person who cooked the food dropped the plates and ran. Having had enough I asked for the tab which I had placed on my card. When asking for the tab my dining companion clearly stated "we want our tab but we will pay cash". To which the bartender responded "okay" and then immediately ran my card. Oh, and he charged me for the appetizer that didn't show up. I couldn't get the bartenders attention but I got the attention of the girl who cooked the food. She took the appetizer off the tab and apologized by saying "sorry I messed up your order, we're not cooks we're bartenders". Really? I'd question her assumption... read more

I've been to Dexter's several times before for drinks and really liked the place, and a few months ago we went for the Friday fish fry and the food was delicious- some of the best fish fry we've had in Madison. However, when we went back a month or so later, we had a horrible experience. We had to wait nearly 45 minutes for our food and then when we got it- it was terrible. My boyfriend had the garlic chili fries and they arrived not only COLD, but DOUSED in disgusting grease- they were inedible. We mentioned it to the waitress and she offered to bring a new order, but it turned out the new order was just as terrible as the first one. I had the roast beef sandwich and it was horrible- very dry and bland. To her credit, the waitress did give us free cupcakes to take home to make up for the horrible food (although it turned out the cupcakes were also inedible and terrible). We hoped this was just an unusually busy night and not the norm, and because the fish fry is so good, we went back again tonight, hoping for a better experience. We were wrong! We went around 7 and waited 15 min or so for a table. Once we were seated we placed our order right away with the waiter, since we already knew what we wanted. An hour later, we were still waiting for our food. All we ordered was the fish and waffle fries- so nothing complicated- and on such a busy night, you'd think they'd be making sure to keep batches of fish and fries going steadily into the fryer. When we finally got our food, it was the tasty fish we'd remembered from before, but by that time, we were so tired and crabby from having to wait for so long, it wasn't quite so enjoyable. After our meal, we had to wait quite a long time for the waiter to bring the check, and then he didn't come back to pick it up for a good 15 minutes. We would still go back to Dexter's just for drinks, but I don't think we'll be going there to eat the food anymore. Two terrible experiences with inexcusably long waits is enough to keep us from going back for dinner. It's too bad because the fish is good, but not good enough to justify the SLOW service. Edit: Turns out the fish wasn't so good- ended up being up all night with food poisoning. Yup, definitely will NOT be going back there for dinner! read more

Perfection of the cole slaw! Sauce, cabbage, onion. Worthy of greatness. Also, consistently good service, fast and friendly read more

Great selection of beers! I am gluten intolerant, so I sadly can't enjoy those anymore, but they have a good selection of good ciders too. Sadly no gluten-free beers anymore, apparently the demand wasn't high enough. Fun place to watch football. read more

Great beer selection, okay bloodies (little acidic), decent food (asked for M burger got W) and great Friday fish fry. Friendly neighborhood bar. read more

I don't live quiiiiite close enough for this to be MY neighborhood bar, but it meets all the requirements: laid-back atmosphere, great food, and seriouslygreatcraftbeerlist. Their beers are all of the cant-pick-up-at-the-gas-station variety and it's worth coming by just for that--the menu diversity is the cherry on top of my craft beer float. read more

We have been here a few times and always have great food and service. We were here on a Monday night a couple of weeks ago and had the best southwest burger! Our server was friendly and shared her knowledge of the menu. She actually provided SERVICE, not just going through the motions. I like coming here for that reason. It's a great local place with good food. read more

Service is excellent. Food is good and priced fair. Crowd was a bit rambunctious but it was Saturday afternoon. Excellent selection of beer. A couple of good food selections for the vegetarians like me among us. Wife had the burger and reported good results. I had the stuffed cheese sandwich very good not greasy as most are. Will visit again. read more

Hey let's grab a drink at Dexters after work! Oh, great idea, I'm in! I wish we said that more often. And yes, great beer selection (especially love the color coded items!). But, and pay attention here, chile garlic fries. Really that's it. Yes, other food good too, but chile garlic fries. Wine menu could be better, but is this really a wine bar? No, it's a chile garlic fries bar. read more

I have been to Dexter's several times for drinks, food and football. I love that on Badger saturdays they have a shuttle that will take you down to the stadium for the football game and pick you back up. Their breakfast is FANTASTIC and very large portions, 2 of us usually share something. They have a great selection of beer and pour a great drink too! The wait staff is fantastic as well, extremely friendly and hard working. They seem short staffed often but they all run their butts off and there is hardly a wait for anything! Last night I had the Rueben w/ waffle fries and it was delicious! I would suggest getting a big screen TV for watching the games but what they have works well too! I love this place, a definitely must go to! They also have trivia on tuesday which is a blast! The food is great, prices are cheap, staff is fantastic...what more could you ask for? read more

Really is the best fish fry. Try their pretzel the stone mustard and cheese dipping sauces are a must!!!

Great food. Has a local feel, not quite dive-y but pleasantly local. Not unexpected based on the location. Went for the Bell's tap take-over for Mad-Craft-Beer-Week. Wife and I had the fish, right tastee. read more

Still tasty! This is just an update to say that trivia night is only on Tuesdays now, and Friday night is very busy with their fish fry - so go early! read more

I love their friday night fish fry . The price is right and great bluegil and perch. I have to keep going back there. love it! I defeintely recommend fish or even sandwiches, burger. Oh, don't forget their greasy chili gralic fries :) read more

Decided to give this place a try for the friday fish. My husband had the blue gill, was surprised by the very small portion. Fish was good though. I tried the shrimp poor boy. The bread was old and not toasted, but the shrimp was cooked well. But the beer was excellent. They have quite a few to chose from. read more

Love this place! I visit Madison from NYC a few times a year to stay with family living in the neighborhood and always make a point to stop by. I've had their beef burger, the black bean burger, fish, curds and sampled their vast beer selection. The fries are crispy and delicious, the black bean burger is one of the best I've ever had, and curds are on point (we don't have real curds in NYC). Prices are completely reasonable, and the place is completely unpretentious. A great restaurant and bar all around! Stop by if you haven't had the chance. read more

The food is good! I particularly like the more unusual offerings, like the mozzarella rolls. The pizza is only mediocre. The beer selection is wide and diverse, with an emphasis on Wisconsin brews. It only gets really crowded for trivia nights (Tues and Wed 8-10) but other than that not too bad. read more

Had a great 5 piece perch fish fry with yummy waffle fries. Good food, neighborhood bar.

When I lived in the neighborhood I went here a lot because it was convenient. Everything I've tried there has been A-OK. The dining room feels a little bit like a cafeteria, but whatever. Love their tap list with detailed descriptions. read more