Don't believe the hype. After hearing raves about Hank's, we decided to stop in on a weeknight. I…read morehave been to the Muskellounge a handful of times but our first to Hank's. Order at the counter for takeout or bring it over to the bar area to enjoy. I will say having it attached is a huge perk for those wishing to absorb the great vibes (and beverages) the Muskellounge has to offer. Moving to the food, I walked away unimpressed. A solid C with perhaps the exception being the biscuit in the chicken tender basket (a solid A). After hearing about their burgers, I opted for their special. Perhaps my fault but the burger was completely overdressed with flavors that overpowered the beef patty. On the other side was the chicken sandwich. Pedestrian. Rather flat and under seasoned. The chicken tenders were fried well but lacked salt. Perhaps I set the bar too high for Hank's but plenty of places in Madison to get your fix on burgers and fried chicken.

Went here for a quick food option and ended up ordering both of the specials for the day. It was…read moreone of the first nice days of the year, so we were lucky to grab a patio spot at Muskellounge. We were kind of shocked when out food was actually ready in 5 minutes like we were told, that's some efficiency! The specials for the day were a cuban and a meatball sandwich. This cuban sandwich was one of the best I've ever had and I really hope it's on their menu more! The meatball sandwich was also very tasty with a spicy giardinara to give it some extra flavor. We also had to get the waffle fries with Hanks sauce because it's just so tasty. Always a great option, especially if you can eat it next door.

So good and such great service we came back a second night!! Popped in on a super busy Sunday and…read morewere greeted by Alex with an acknowledgment that I see you and I will be with you in a minute or two. Dropped menus right away and let us know the wait on food. We were committed so we stuck it out and so glad we did!!! (Wait time was way less than anticipated!!) Lydia rocked the grill and I had one of the best shrimp salads and the husband is still raving about the grilled hotdog sandwich!! They were both getting their asses handed to them but they greeted every customer immediately, never complained and smiling. Being from the service industry to see those two work together was awesome and so was the food. Not your classic bar food but elevated and delicious. Highly recommend for the service, atmosphere, hospitality and delicious food!!!

I picked this dive bar thinking we'd have a really nice burger…read more Heard it won burger of the week last year. I hate to say it but we were totally disappointed. Sat outside and it took awhile to be waited on. The waiter said to another table it was his first day on job. Well I'm very okay with new people learning but this took it to another level. Very very inexperienced to say the least or they gave him no training. Said it would be 30 minutes for food if we ordered; okay fine! Over 1 hour later we still had no food. He was very forgetful, brought wrong drinks, was told to turn umbrellas down. He didn't know how to turn the handle to lose it, I helped him with that. Said he'd put brewer game on tv - not. Burger of the week was special 65rrr. So t thought I'd try it; finally when we were served our food by the cook herself ( who god bless her ) tired her best to make up for the mess. The burger had fried onions, bacon ( lots of bacon ) good bacon I must say. The burger was huge 1/3 lb they say but all the flavors blended into one so so burger. My wife's cheeseburger was better. They wanted you to vote for the 65rr for burger of the week. I just couldn't. I'm pretty forgiving but this was probably the worst diner/pub I've been to and I've been at a lot!

Food was OK. Seated at 5:30 - ordered right away. (We all ordered the fish fry - nothing fancy…read more nothing extra). 6:30 waitress had no idea when our food would be served. At 7, we finally (had to ask) for a snack - and all she could offer was some dry rye bread. At 7:15 she (finally, did offer another round of drinks. Which, the sodas already came with free refills). Just what our pregnant guest needed. We finally got our food at 7:20. We won't go back. (Oh, in addition to the unacceptable service) - those who ordered potato salad were disappointed - while the quality was good, the portion was so tiny, we remarked, oh, this must be a sample of what their potato salad would be if they gave you a regular portion.

Let me begin by saying that $16.99 for prime rib is not terrible, but sometimes a $16.99 prime rib…read moredisappoints. As I continue to learn more about butchery and cooking, I more often than not find myself disappointed with restaurant fare - especially at a value price point. Prime rib starts with an excellent rib roast. That rib roast should have four distinct muscles. In inferior cuts of meat, these muscles get separated by sinewy, hard fat rather than thin fat that renders during the cooking process. This is super-important in prime rib because each of those muscles can sit at a different angle, changing the chew mid-steak. Also in inferior cuts, the ribeye cap - or spinalis dorsi - consists mostly of fat. In good cuts that cap if the best part of the prime rib. That did not happen here. The steak was OK as far as tenderness, but not great. It's actually such a small piece of meat that it really needs the bread and salad they do not serve just in order to leave feeling full. The fat and sinew between the individual muscles did not render well, and even the soft fat was inedible. I have eaten prime rib where I ate every single piece of that steak put on my plate. Here, I had to essentially cut out the heart of the ribeye (longissimus dorsi) and eat that alone. My wife reminded me that it was affordable. In the future, if the goal is affordable I'll just have drinks.

Oakcrest Tavern is the *real-deal* Wisconsin Fish Fry. This is authentic as fish-fries get - I…read moredon't think the OT has changed much since your Grandpa ate there waaay back when. [est. 1950] The service was classic WI - friendly and beverages with a 'healthy' pour. The atmosphere is Wisco Northwoods, this spot could be anywhere Up North as they say. It is not big inside, and there can be a wait, but you should definitely give this spot a try.

A Madtown classic. Friday night perch fish and chips is the best!! Ambiance is spartan but…read morecharming. Staff were great!!

Last minute decision to go find fish fry and that is never easy on a Friday much less a holiday…read moreFriday. Drove down to Belleville and was able to find seats at the bar. Friendly bartender Van took car of us with great service. He's a big St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan so we connected over our mutual Cardinals fandom. Van knew all the regulars by name, so my goal is to someday achieve that status. Fish was perfectly cooked as was my shrimp. Breading is a bit thick, not the panko and club soda light batter, but tasty. Plate came with fries, buttered bread and coleslaw. In fact the Friday menu only says the kind of fish or chicken you want. The sides are as described. All of that food for $9.50/ person was a great deal. Bottled beer, mixed drinks and cans of soda. All in all a good Sconnie bar on a Friday night.

While staying at a friend's farm in Belleville, Wisconsin, he mentioned Friday Night Fish Fry. My…read moreCalifornian friend and I raised our eyebrows and asked, "Friday night what now?" Needless to say, we had to experience this Friday Night Fish Fry. On the way there, the concept was explained to us. For those unfamiliar with Friday Night Fish Fry, here's a quick 411: The Fish Fry is a classic Wisconsin tradition that originates from the state's Catholic settlers strictly adhering to the whole no meat on Friday rule. Soon, restaurants and pubs would be using the Friday Fish Fry concept as a marketing ploy to get patrons into the door. This is what led to the statewide phenomenon where everyone hits their favorite tavern for some fried fish every Friday. As for Borland's, aside from being a real, living, breathing piece of precious Americana, the food is good. It's pretty standard fried fare, so I think Borland's charm lies more in its nostalgia. Like one reviewer mentioned, it's not really a place that sees a variety in customers. In fact, as we lined up for a table, we bumped into Grandma! Yes, the actual grandmother of the friend we were staying with. And I tasted Grandma's cookies, so I know she knows how to do things right.

Service was top notch. Food was excellent and priced reasonably like we used to see. Clean and…read moretimely. The only negative was that it was a bit chilly outside and could feel a draft. Highly recommend!

Love this new restaurant in Pardeeville. Came for breakfast and was not disappointed. Biscuits…read moreand gravy were just like grandma made. The pancakes are fluffy and very tasty. Eggs and hashbrowns were just as tasty. The inside is decorated nicely and is very cozy. Our server was attentive and we always had a full cup of coffee. We'll definitely be back and will try lunch next time.

Great fish fry. Potato pancakes were the best I have had at a restaurant in a very long Iong time…read more Bartender and waitress w were very friendly and attentive to all of their customers.

A small cute country vibe athletic. The staff was friendly. I ordered one drink but got a…read morecompletely different one. The burger was absolutely delicious. The fish, definitely get it blackened. One of our friends didn't and it was quite dry. All in all, good food and good atmosphere.

Took a work group here with 12 people. First time, and walked in and was very delighted. Queen,…read morelittle eclectic place with extremely friendly service. Room in the back with games to keep us entertained. Old fashion was phenomenal. People in our group had steak, shrimp, flounder, and many appetizers. Everything tasted great and was well seasoned. Would definitely come back again. Already scheduling a second visit with my dinner group. Hidden gem that I would highly recommend.

We came on Friday, 3/13/26, to have a drink and listen to some great Irish music. We had a great…read moretime! My partner had a Coors Light and I tried the Irish Margarita. So yummy!

Checked out this Irish pub located in a hotel in Galena. Frank O'Dowd's certainly is an appropriate…read moresetting for the guests here. It has a lot more room than expected with enough space for live music. As for the drinks and food they're good stuff also. The prices can be high but it's not crazy for the atmosphere and quality. Basically this is one of the first places one encounters when entering town from the east. It's located in the Irish Cottage Inn & Suites. The hotel itself is very nice and has lots of amenities of its own if wanting to stay there. As for the restaurant itself it's one of the highlights. It's about $8 for an Irish coffee, which is a classic in the morning, evening, or whenever. Amazingly they have non dairy options including Bailey's Dairy Free Toffee Cream. It's about $18 or more for an entree which is a lot. We were able to find a few plant based options. I got the Roasted Squash Bowl. This has broccolini, farro, heirloom tomato relish, pickled red cabbage, and white beech mushrooms. An earthy flavor. She had the Vegan Shepherd's Pie. An alternative made with faux beef and mushroom gravy There's also plenty of meaty options like beef medallions. For sure it's one of the nicer restaurants around here. It's closed Mondays. They amazingly have a few things for vegans and vegetarians.

We were in town and looking for a good place to eat and excited to try this joint, with a 4.4 star…read morerating. We've always had good food in Madison and even though we wanted to get home after a long day, we thought it would be worth the delay. Unfortunately, this time, it wasn't worth it. I feel like it's time and money wasted. I'll get to details, but I'm mainly basing this review on the quality of the food I received. Before getting to the food, our service was great. Our server was a bit slow considering there were only 3 tables (including us) occupied. Or it's more of a relaxed atmosphere, so she was just giving us a lot of time to look over the menu. But aside from that, she was friendly, helpful, and kind. Atmosphere is on the dark side. There are two screens to play games (golf, etc) on two corners of the building. I think there are plenty of options, but we were mainly in for food, and didn't really get much info on the games. I did ask whether they were run on a reservation basis, and the hostess (who was also our server) said yes. She didn't mention any pricing, so I'm not sure what the details on that is. Margarita special $5 This was great. Not overly sweet, and just the right amount of booze. It came in a whiskey cup rather than a margarita one. 3sheep chaos pattern on draft Price for draft beer is not cheap, and the beer was great. The glass it came in was super clean, but also warm. I think it just came out of the dishwasher... So clean, but beer glasses should be cold on principle. Wings The description says these are baked, and then fried before tossed in their sauce. The sauce is yummy. The wings are a fairly large size. But I think they forgot to fry it. The skin on the wings weren't at all crispy, but kinda mushy. The meat was well cooked, but also on the dry side. The celery sticks and carrot rings on the side were super fresh and crispy. Blind burger with side salad I ordered it done medium. It came out very well done. For a wagyu, it lacked fat content, and cooked for too long, so it was very dry. We had just hiked 4 hours at Devil's Lake and quite hungry, but I couldn't finish it. Seasoning was great though. And the side salad was also very fresh. Brussels sprouts Something I haven't done in the last 15 years... I had to ask them to redo it. It came out with underdone Brussels. Interestingly, after I asked them to heat it up more for me, it came out perfect, with the right amount of searing on all the cut sides. Overall, it feels like the kitchen was having a bad day and bad timing - wings needed to get in the fryer for longer, burger should've been out of the pan sooner, Brussels should've stayed in longer. For the prices I paid, I expect better food. Especially since the kitchen knows how to fix their stuff! It was like they put 70% into all the dishes until I spoke up. Would I go back? Nope. Not convinced that the 4.4 rating is justified for me.

Great Eastside find... other than the complete lack of parking. Great craft cocktails and…read morereasonable bar prices. The service was good and the place had a nice vibe.