Great thin crust pizza! Cute interior and great service. Reminds me of a 1950's family style Italian restaurant. Friendly wait staff.

Went with friends before a movie. It's tough to get a seat many nights, but the staff is friendly and we can usually wait at the bar. Our waiter this night was a little more forthright about the wines on the list that he did not like - but he was right. Great pizza and pasta. Best simple pasta dishes for the price anywhere in town. Most dinners around $10. It's a great deal. read more

The Greenbush is a classic Madison institution that somehow continues to fly below the radar for many diners in town. The thin crust pizza is the best in town, by far. The cornmeal dusted on the crisp, flavorful crust is unbeatable. I love the ambiance, too. For a basement bar, it achieves an intimate and cozy vibe that so many restaurants in town try (but fail) to achieve. The wine list is good, drinks and salads are great, and the waitstaff is generally warm. The desserts are exceptional- especially the pies! We avoid this place on game days (hockey, football, or basketball) because it is too much of a zoo. If you have never been to The Greenbush, I can't recommend it enough. We often bring friends from out of town because it is the kind of charming little place that makes people fall in love with Madison. read more

I went on a Monday night, so I didn't have to wait. I thought that they served decent, moderately priced food. We went with the antipasto starter, which was a tad scant on food, but very tasty. My date had the smoked trout salad, which she enjoyed. She was thrilled with the horseradish dressing. I had the calamari pasta, which was equally enjoyable. The tiramisu was rather mediocre though. We ate at the bar and conversed with a very nice bartender the whole time. A very nice experience all and all. read more

Three excellent dishes keep us coming back again and again: First, the thin crust pizza is excellent. Second, the lemon pasta is zingy and delicious. Lastly, the vegetarian antipasta platter is fabulous. read more

This place is so awesome I almost don't want to write about it. Let me start out by praising their whiskey. They have the best bourbon selection that I have seen in Madison and their prices are fantastic. I am not as well versed in Scotch, but their list seems pretty extensive. I love that they serve themed flights of bourbon. I personally love to compare and contrast flavors, so a flight is truly ideal. In addition to the drinks we had great food at Greenbush. Their pizza had 2 full strips of Nueske's bacon (for those who haven't had Nueske's it is some of the best bacon in Wisconsin). The pizza was hot and delicious and the flourless chocolate cake was outstanding (they make it in house like almost everything else.) The space isn't for everyone, its a bit dark but I enjoyed it as a spot to have dinner and drinks with friends. Overall a hidden gem of Madison and a must go place for bourbon connoisseurs. read more

I've eaten here twice and this place has offered delicious food both times. I have not had and cannot comment on the pizza, but the pasta has been consistently good. The tomato sauce for more standard spaghetti-type pastas is high quality, in my opinion. What makes Greenbush's sauce stand out over that of many other restaurants is that it doesn't pretend to be more than it is--just a simple, but tasty, tomato sauce. I find that most places that serve tomato sauce feel a need to dress that sauce up, perhaps because tomato sauce is such a common component of many dishes. This worry drives chefs to add creams or large, chunky vegetables or overpowering spices into the sauce in order to make theirs stand out. Sometimes this strategy works, sometimes it doesn't. However, at Greenbush, the only strategy is to offer a tomato sauce that tastes like delicious tomatoes. It's beautiful in its simplicity and, frankly, its refreshing. Last night, I tried the Gorgonzola Sauce pasta, which was Fettuccine in a cream sauce with chicken and scallions. The dish was simply delicious--so much so that I finished the whole thing even after eating an appetizer. The cream sauce was flavorful, but the mix with chicken and scallions really made the difference. Together, the flavors blended into something wonderful. There's also an option to replace the chicken with mushrooms, but I can't vouch for this dish if the chicken is missing (I think the flavor would be wholly different). Last, but definitely not least, I have to mention the Vegetarian Antipasto, which I had both times. It is to die for. Be prepared for a good-sized plate filled with: artichoke hearts, slices of fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, spring greens, tomatoes, olivada, bread and olive oil, bowtie pasta in a warm pesto, and a fist-sized clove of roasted garlic to pick apart and relish as a spread on the bread. Both times that I've gone, I've wanted to get one of the two other antipasto plates that have meat on them; both times my partner convinced me to just go with the vegetarian; and both times I have been absolutely content with that choice. One of these days, I'll get to one of the meat platters, but in truth, it probably won't be next time. Veggy antipasto, I love you. My favorite Italian restaurant in Madison is Lombardino's. Greenbush is the second, and loses only by a hair's breadth. The two restaurants are trying to do different things with Italian food, and both do them admirably. For Greenbush, serving high-quality, working-class fare--food that's customary in Wisconsin's historic Italian regions--is the name of the game, and that game tastes pretty damn good. read more

Service was terrible. No respect for customers. From the bartender to the waitress to the lady who sat us, they were all rude.

The food was good. I had a pasta with a gorgonzola sauce and a cannoli for dessert. It had a very strong cinnamon vibe, on the verge of too much, but not quite. I liked the atmosphere. Low ceiling and low-key. read more

I've eaten hear many times and love going back. It's a snug place that is made for going on dates or just hanging out with friends or family. Their food is regional, prices are totally reasonable and the food is great. I may have had slow service before from one server but that's not a problem when I know that I'll be getting food that's better than some of the more expensive places in town. I usually start testing restaurants by eating their simple spaghetti and meatballs. If they can do that simple task, I come back and try the rest. Buon Appetito! p.s. thank god there is no t.v. I just saw Ryan's review. There are so many other places to go if you want t.v. T.V. mutes the taste of good food and the conversations of good company. read more

This is one of the best pizzas you will ever have! It is usually pretty busy but it is well worth the wait. It is pretty cozy so not the best place for a huge group. Try it ! You won't be disappointed! read more

A true Madison gem! One of my Top 5 spots in Madison. The pizza is outstanding. The dough and crust are amazing, perfect balance of toppings, comes out hot and just the way I like a pizza to be. A knowledgeable service staff, including expanding their classic and newer cocktails. A great wine list - both by the glass, and bottles as well. And specialty list of Zinfandels (not white zin grape juice, but well researched and delicious hearty and selective list of true great red zin's - I am impressed!). Enjoy great Wisconsin tap beers for all tastes. And local additions for pizzas and menu. This place always pleases for all tastes, for drinks, pre-dinner, salads, pizza, pastas, and LOOK OUT -- their desserts are amazing too. Greenbush is traditional and classic, yet changes just enough to always please your pallet. I've been frequenting Greenbush for 14+ years. I recall when it was a well-kept secret. Slightly hidden, slightly dark. I'm hesitant to review, as I want this wonderful place to remain unknown, so I can enjoy more of it myself, but the cat's out of the bag now - Greenbush is tops!! read more

Came to the Greenbush mid week with a group of 20. Staff was initially grumpy and rude but pizza was excellent. House special with arugala and neuskes bacon is to die for. Would have given more stars if we had been treated better. read more

Over inflated prices, not much food for a family dinner costing $107 before tip. $30 16" pizza with scarce toppings. Rip off!

Wonderful pizza and cozy environment to catch up with an old friend... if you come at the right time and if your entire party is ready to be seated. Larger groups will likely be disappointed (unless it happens to be a slow night). The implementation of the seating policy comes across a bit harsh the 3-4 times I've visited and prevents me from being super-enthusiastic about this place. There are plenty of other more spacious, more accommodating and more friendly establishments in Madison to choose from. The policies of this place just seem overly rigid for a place like Madison, but I'm sure they serve a purpose for the owners/managers. read more

Best pizza in town. Hands down. Not to mention great staff and atmosphere. No matter how much time passes, Gretchen knows all of our kids' names and keeps them occupied. We love Greenbush! read more

Called to give them a heads up that I would be bringing in a party of 8 and I was very rudely informed that they not only don't take reservations but don't allow anyone in the party to sit down until the entire party is there. Not an option for my 95 year old grandmother. Very cool that they use local beef but not enough to choose over other restaurants that do. read more

The Greenbush Bar doesn't need a good review, or a bad one. When you walk in, you immediately understand that this is a one of a kind space by Madison standards. There's a sensibility to the entire place that makes you intuitively understand that you're in the right place at the right time. Seeing the owner bussing tables and getting her hands dirty, seeing waitstaff doing their best to assist patrons and refill water glasses. These are good signs. The beer, wine and liquor menu covered a lot of ground, and had something for anyone. Starters included a roasted garlic app, which had good flavor, and was a nice compliment to their in-house bread. Another good choice was the tossed green salad, which included reggiano-parm cheese, olives and cucumber slices. Finally, a reliable pizza topped with sausage and green peppers. Incidentally, they give you a choice of crust thickness, and even have a gluten free crust option. The only disappointment was a corn and leek soup, which was too brothy and had no spice profile (as in NONE). In spite of that, I'll be back. read more

I don't make it here very often, but when I do... I walk away full and oh so happy!!! I love the atmosphere of this place. Last time I got the spaghetti and meatball with an Italian sausage. Simple. But man it knocked my socks off. Staff here are always so nice. A great restaurant for date night :) read more

This place has some of the best pizza in Madison. I am from Chicago and I love good pizza, however, in Madison there are not many options I like. This place was the closest thing to Chicago pizza I could find and it was surprisingly good! I eat pizza from here all the time and it feels like home. read more

It's been a while since I've been here. The pizza is still great, the atmosphere nice and cozy, and the service is top notch.

One of my favourite places for pizza - and some of the pasta dishes are alright. The ambiance is great - I always think it feels like somewhere other than Madison. Service is dependent on which server - some are great, some are a drag. Same for the bartender. I've had great drinks, and some sub-par drinks. But the pizza never fails. read more

The people I went with swore about this place. .. I wouldn't go that far. They are 4 other places that beat this place out of the water. Pizza was ok. Drinks were DELICIOUS. Appetizers were very greasy. read more

Not a pleasant experience at the Greenbush Bar. First it took the waitress about 20 minutes to bring the water. Patiently waiting for the food to arrive ( a good 35 minutes) only to be told that they ran out of cheese for the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. We were never given an option about the type of pizza ( thin or thick crust). Finally, the food arrived with a pizza baked to a crisp/ burnt. Very impersonal atmosphere. Too bad! read more

We have been here many times and the pizza is wonderful. The thin crust is awesome and all the ingredients are fresh. The atmosphere is quaint and unique and can be very crowded. It can be very loud which there is not much you can do anything about. The problem we encountered last week was one we have run into before. The owner who is usually seating people every night and some of the other staff are not friendly at all. The other rude person we have encountered is the bartender! Such a turn off as bartenders can really warm up a small place like this. He was out of his way RUDE! The night we were there last week was busy as usual but once we sat down we waited 55" for our pizza. We ordered 3 large pizzas all the same. They came out 1 at a time with about 6-8" between each! No explanation or apology and 1 of them had no tomatoes which was one of the main ingredients as we ordered the special of the night. The other problem was one of our party ordered a salad as her main course and it came when we were half way done eating. We reminded the waitress in the beginning of the meal she hadn't gotten her salad and the waitress said "yea I know". It is a shame this all happened as we took out of town friends there bragging of how wonderful this place was. We were actually embarrassed. I am thinking we will not go back there. There are many other places with the same feel as this restaurant with wonderful friendly staff (Lombordinos) and food is wonderful there as well. I even tried to contact Greenbush through email and on their web site there is no place for feedback...Mmmmm. read more

This place has fantastic thin crust pizza. It also has a pretty decent bourbon selection at the bar. There is almost always a wait to get a table but it is absolutely worth it. Oh, and if you are over 6' remember to watch your head; the ceiling is pretty low. read more

We came here because we wanted an affordable place to have pasta and thought this was it. We got carbonara and garlic bread and both were very mediocre with very little flavor. It still ended up being about $40 and I wished we would have splurged and gone some place a bit more expensive for really good pasta. Perhaps the pizza is good, but the carbonara and garlic bread were very disappointing. read more

Went there for dinner on a Wednesday with my family. The atmosphere was the reason for the 2nd star or else I'd give it a 1. It's a cute little place with Christmas lights very dimly lit. We walked in and no one greeted us. We put in our name and had to wait(which is fine).The lady who was putting our table together was rude and unwelcoming. We sat down (going to look past the rude first impression) and order drinks and two orders of calamari and salads for the table. drinks came out the margarita was really good. Quite some time went by before the salads came out and they were ok(we had our hopes up because it was a special and it sounded amazing) , then more time (too long in my opinion for appetizers ) went by and calamari came out, no apology for the wait or anything at this point. She just plopped them down and left. the calamari was lightly breaded which would be good only it was very greasy. We had ordered the pizza at the same time as all the other things and it took awhile for those to come out. The waitress brought out one pizza at a time and the one family member who was with us who doesn't eat meat ordered a salad as entree. The salad came long after the first pizza and most family members were finished eating. still, no apology for the time and even when we asked "she had a salad" no apology. needless to say it's hard for me to compliment the pizza , it was good but not worth the poor, poor service. read more

One of the best places for pizza in the local Madison area!! Let's start of with the ambience I love it. It may not look comfortable but it is, many people having fun and talking! The service is good. The staff explain the dish really well. The food is so good the pizzas and the antipasti/salads are really good with great seasoning! Not only that the cannoli for dessert is really good and fresh it's hard to find a good cannoli in town but they have it here!!! read more

Love the pizza here. Cozy, nostalgic atmosphere. Drinks are spendy, like most restaurants. We usually make sure to ask about the pizza toppings to make sure they are fresh rather than out of a can. Be careful if you order onions, one time we got more than we bargained for and it kind of overtook the flavor. Other than that, the pizza is great here! read more

wonderful pizza and fun atmosphere. makes it seem like you found a secret club in your neighbor's basement. parking is never easy but we've never had to walk more than a couple of blocks and it's so popular but small that there's almost no room to wait (hence, 4 stars). read more

Even though this bistro is located inside a hospital, the food is of excellent quality and tastes amazing. You can get restaurant quality and taste at great prices. Almost all of their meals come with a side. My favorite is a tuna melt with a side of fruit for just $5.50 read more

rotten pizza tonight. special was pizza with olive oil, bacon, gorgonzola and tomatoes with fresh arugula on top. came out like a warm over-crispy (boring) cracker with a little bacon, a few tomatoes and I think some cheese (not much), buried under a layer of arugula. was dry, boring and basically rotten for $26. have been enjoying their food & pizza for a long time. tonight was rotten. communicated with staff but was actually really surprised no real effort to address substandard meal. I was sad as I walked out. No other recourse but to express how disappointing it was. read more

Excellent thin crust pizza, delicious sauce. The tastiest, gooiest garlic cheese bread in the city. Yummy key lime pie with a thick, buttery graham cracker crust and a quaint, twinkling-light setting to boot. Definitely will be back. Appetizer, 1 beer, 1 soda, 12-inch two topping pizza and dessert for less than $40. We ate EVERY SINGLE BIT OF FOOD! read more

Terrible acoustics, but that's the only negative thing I can possibly say about this fabulous little slice of Madison charm. It's small, so there is often a considerable wait if you go on a weekend night or there's something happening at the Kohl Center. The desserts have been disappointing in my limited experience, but that shouldn't matter if you've ordered their awesome antipasto platter and easily the best ultra thin crust pizza I've ever had. read more

Loved it! Dark basement bar/restaurant with the best thin crust pizza. Enough of a selection of beer/wine to keep most satisfied, yummy anitpasto and salads. I think the busyness makes it lively and interesting. Folks of all ages. It's not an easy in/out, and not for the fans of quick and sleazy pizza. This is proper, slower paced Italian family style casual eating with a Wisconsin easy-going flair. read more

One of the best pizzas in madison. Crispy cornmeal crust provides just enough thickness to stand up to the toppings, many of which are sourced from local/sustainable wisconsin farms. They also have the best bourbon list in town and bartenders who know how to mix a drink. If you come on a weekend you'll probably encounter a bit of a wait and a lot of noise, so be prepared. read more

Excellent pizza and beer. Was there at a very busy time. Everyone was very accommodating. Rather small place with good atmosphere. Will go back. read more

Hands down the best pizza in Madison. It is absolutely delicious. We love the atmosphere too!

Just went to Greenbush tonight with a friend for dinner. I had been here once before and it wasn't so memorable. Tonight, it was memorable. We got the nightly special pizza - topped with Nueske's bacon and arugula, a couple types of cheeses and tomato on an oil-based crust. OH MY GOD. It was so good. SO GOOD! I am pretty picky about the way I want my bacon cooked - crisp but not burnt, and this bacon was cooked perfectly. It was amazing! I am a huge fan of thin crust pizzas , and this place did not disappoint. I saw one other review where the person mentioned the pizza was similar to New York style pizza. I completely disagree with that statement. New York style pizza, while thin crusted, still folds in half. The pizza at Greenbush doesn't fold in half, the crust would break. It's burnt in some places and chewy in others. Perfect! We also got the fried calamari appetizer which I liked. Some pieces were a bit chewy, but most were tender. They were dusted in a cornmeal batter of some sort and served with a creamy horseradish sauce which was a nice change of pace (I don't like marinara with calamari). Also, the have pretty cheap wine by the glass (pinot grigio was $5), and a number of cocktails all priced at $8 each. There was a wait to get a table at 8pm on a Tuesday night - can't argue with that! read more