the old fashioned

good food and selection of drinks.
their cheese curds are overrated, but stillgood(a tad underdone - i know, i just committed sacrilege by daring to criticize their curds! but it's true.) i've had better at numerous places (the statehouse bar at the edgewater hotel, the tornado club, oss and others, are also better).
i like the walleye sandwich the best of their food options...very tasty.
but this place doesn't deserve a 4.6/5 rating. it's good, but it's not that good. this overrating also shows by the long wait times to get a table. the wait times on weekends are ridiculous.
some might conclude that justifies the very high rating...if the wait is that long, it must be that good.
not to me. a 3.5/5 (maybe a 3.75/5) is more appropriate.
there are so many other places i go in madison that i think are asgoodor better and have shorter wait times.
if there are open tables, i'll dine here on occasion. if not, i'll happily go elsewhere.

yes yes yes!. best cheese curds - no questions! worth the busy bar and longer waits!

their sausage platter is 'the real deal' and they have all of thosegoodwisconsin traditionals our grandpappy used to refer to. fun place for a taste of what this state is made of.

we love the old fashioned!

i'd like to move in.. the service was almost as great as the food. we had an incredible server who made great recommendations and suggested specials.goodthing because everything was the best. there was an amazing sunday special of impecibly seasoned chicken, stuffing and potatoes. yum! we also had fried cheese curds. duh, it's wi. and a house brew beer to accompany. will be back time and time again!

nice location and decor. quaint. cheese curds were nice and soft almost melting in your mouth. service was a little slow going but not too bad. menus are mismatched as my last page with drinks were different from my wife's. a few of the soft drinks we ordered were no longer available so they should've corrected all menus. the dinner entrees were few but there were plenty of sandwiches to choose from. my wife ordered the mac n cheese with bacon and tasted ok, not great. i ordered the sunday special chicken dinner that came with mashed potatoes & gravy, a sausage dressing, carrots and polenta that was verygoodall the way around. the reason for my low rating is the "no weapons or firearms" sign at the door. it absolutely amazes me that all but a few states have passed legislation allowing citizens to protect themselves and their families (besides the 2nd amendment right to "bear arms") but some "businesses" wish to do nothing to protect their patrons and take further steps to hinder them from protecting themselves by trying to ban firearms from their establishments. the only weapons banned are those from thegoodguys. criminals will pay absolutely no attention to these signs and if you notice almost all attacks lately have been in gun-free zones like this. eat here at your own risk as they have no security measures in place in case of attack. violent crime has decreased almost 50% since the mid 90s as concealed carry laws have been passed.

i went to the old fashioned for lunch this week. i had heardgoodthings about it from friends and it did not disappoint. there were a variety of sandwiches and salads on the menu as well as sides, cheese-boards, and a number of entrees for dinner. i had the prime-rib sandwich with onion strings and my dining partner had the reuben and salad. the portions are huge, the prices are reasonable, and the flavors were all delicious! one unusual thing about lunch, was after they seat you at your table, you go up to the bar to order. (similar to an english pub.) runners bring your food to your table. everything we ordered was cooked perfectly and delicious! i couldn't have asked for anything better. i highly recommend the old fashioned.

i imagine that the overwhelming positive reviews are from people who have not had breakfast at the old fashioned. it might be a fun place for a drink (nothing makes me want to go back to prove this though), but i can't imagine the food would ever begoodbased on what i just ate. i hope you have something better for me madison.

great cheese curds and walleye. and plenty of beer options.goodstuff.

what a gem!. waiter was stellar and so very knowledgeable about their beer menu (which was 3 times as long as their food menu). reuben was on special (it was huge) and the double brat was reallygoodtoo. we tried the cheese curds with garlic aioli and started with the beer cheese soup sprinkled with popcorn. great food, great atmosphere!

classic wisconsin. great place to eat and have a couple beers on the square. affordable prices andgoodfood. cheese curds are some of the best available. great burgers. i love the fish tacos for $1.50 on tuesdays (ok not so wisconsin but great nonetheless). always has a wisconsin craft beer on draft for $2.50 a pint.

a staple in madison. the old fashioned is probably one of my favorite places to eat in madison. whenever we have friends in from out of town, we take them here to experience "wisconsin food". the atmosphere is good, the food is reallygood(their house burger is, in my opinion, the best burger in madison) and the drinks are also fantastic. of course, their old fashioned is my favorite, but they also have plenty of tap beers and other mixers. the staff has always been really friendly as well.

i will question friendship if you don't like the old fashioned.. i like the old fashioned so much that if i met someone who didn't like it, i would question whether or not i could be friends with that person. there's a common theme to the bad reviews: "we waited so long." i'm really baffled by the negative review that says "without a lot of flavor." there's a reason why this place is packed and the wait for a table is so long. that doesn't happen by having flavorless food. next time be a little more adventurous. maybe ask, "what'sgoodhere?" instead of ordering a burger with nothing on it after waiting 2 hours.

this was outstanding. unless it’s a broth-based soup, agoodsoup should always be hot, creamy and flavorful, and this fit all three qualities.

burgerific!. on a saturday evening my 4 dining companions and i made a visit (first time my myself) to the old fashioned at 5pm. the place was not too busy yet but a decent crowed had begun to make its way in by this time. we were seated upstairs where its a bit more quiet. i was not aware they had an upstairs until this visit. our waiter was very informative and knowledgeable of the menu items and the preparation of the foods and sauces, and the way several drinks were made and how they taste. the others in my group all got either beer or an old fashioned of their choosing, i passed on drinks to save room for what i had been reading reviews on over the past weeks on urbanspoon.com both gave the menu overwhelming positive reviews across the board so i was pretty sure i was going to have an easy time finding something both filling, tasty and affordable on this visit. lets take a quick walk through this visit so prep your senses for some teasing because that’s just what your in for!

my appetizer was the soup of the day($3). i got the bowl sized serving of spicy black bean and pork with corn. this was a beef broth based soup with a slight peppery note to it. the pork was shaved and very tasty. the black beans could have been cooked a little bit softer but a great soup none the less.

my main course was the no 30. old fashioned house burger. ($9.95) a 6 oz burger (ordered mine medium) with fried onions, hickory smoked bacon, aged cheddar, garlic sauce, a soft cooked egg and a buttered, toasted roll. i upgraded my side item to the very highly recommended (urbanspoon) beer battered cheese curds ($3 extra). the burger was absolutely phenomenal! messy but not like sloppy-joe messy, simply so much substance to the burger that it becomes hard to handle. but worth it of course! my only comment here is that my burger was cooked well done (i checked after a couple bites in) vs the medium i had asked for. outside of that, a hit for sure! the cheese curds were sogoodi could feel myself becoming more and more connected with all things wisconsin on every bite i took i swear! like small peaces of golden softness that melted in your mouth. the nice part about them is that they use a very light and thin breading leaving mostly pure wisconsin cheese to hit your pallet! these are a must if you have not had cheese curds before or have not had them in a long time (such as my case).

if that was not enough read on…..i did go and ask to see a dessert menu (the only one in my party with room to dare ask for more). the waiter told me that the fruit crisp with vanilla spice ice cream ($4.95) was currently stawberry-rhubarb. that sold me right there! the ice cream was spiced with cinnamon and wasgoodbut not amazing. i was expecting a cold ice cream topping with a warm pie underneath and perhaps a crust at the bottom. instead the fruit portion of the pie was also cold as well. not a bad thing just not the contrast i expected. nor did i find the crusty top or bottom i would have liked either but still, a very sweet, fruity and satisfying end to a great meal indeed!

my bill which came to just under $24 was a fair price to pay for the portions, quality and service my group and i received on this visit. i will be looking to make a return to the old fashioned soon to try several of their other burger listing but also to try what looks to be (and has been reviewed as) a fantastic brunch menu which for this food blogger always gets my attention!

curds o' the gods. #30 is a great burger; way above average for any place. the atmosphere and location is killer,goodbeer on tap and friendly bartenders. packed with people but the smell of those bad arse cheese curds draws 'em in. i thought we had the share of the market for fried food in the south, but their curds takes it to another level. imagine crack deep fried, and you get the idea.

refreshingly unique. great throw-back atmosphere and food to match.
i never had fried cheese curds but had to try them here on a recommendation. verygoodhot, but were not so appealing when they cooled off. an excellent burger one night, but overcooked on another visit.goodhouse salad. exceptional draught beer selection withgoodlocal beers.