It was a very interesting place, as there was trivia night going on upstairs on my visit on 07/31. I went to this place based on a recommendation from a state area rest map & the very first question that a host asked me was, "Is it your birthday today?" When I said no, the host did not hide disappointment on his face. (They love celebrating birthdays enthusiastically. They apparently have celebrated over 700,000 birthdays since 1985, with their oldest patron being I think 108 & their youngest patron born just the day before.) Being a Tuesday night, the place wasn't too crowded downstairs - all the action was upstairs for the trivia night. The place is smaller in size on the inside than one would expect, but it seemed just right. The waitress was very knowledgeable & told me about all the local cheeses & sodas they had available. (They have local alcohol too, but I defer that knowledge to someone who drinks.) Bathroom was clean when I used it. The food was pretty good - I had one of their burgers with their special sauce as well as cheese from a local Wisconsin dairy farm. The service was very good & I got to try a local cream soda called Blumen's Cream Soda. I remember eating apple pie a la mode & that was also pretty good too. Price was reasonable, & I would definitely come back, especially if it is my birthday! read more

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It's an annual event to hit Nitty Gritty on (or around) my birthday. I always enjoy the new mug and whatever I can fit into it that day. :) On top of the mug and free drinks, I do enjoy their food - hopping around the various burger options depending on how I feel that day. The food is consistently good and always prepared as ordered. It's a clean, friendly environment. Service is always friendly and prompt. I have no reservations taking the family there, or meeting with a work group for drinks. read more

They celebrate you on your birthday! They give you a free drink if you are the Birthday person--unlimited drinks, with a free cup. You get the world's smallest sundae too. kids meal does too, with a free drink. The lemonade is awfully good. Great burger! Nice waitresses. It's a party! read more

We had a college club team dinner (Ultimate Frisbee) with 58 people here. We arranged a Pasta Buffet meal. It was awesome! The food was great, service was great, and we all had a fabulous time! Thanks! read more

Finally went to the NG for the birthday experience. My husband got his free balloon, mug and beer plus of course fantastic burger! My fav burger is the Farmers Market. We had good service and I was impressed with some of the thoughtful features inside too. read more

As a UW grad, I have associated Nitty Gritty with Power Hour, not food. I was incredibly surprised by the food quality and value when we got take-out during COVID-19. I had the Farmers' Market burger which came with so much goodness and a side of cheese curds. The white cheddar cheese curds were lightly breaded and delicious. The burger was perfectly cooked with fresh toppings all on an amazing Stella's bun. It was an incredible amount of food for $15!! We will definitely be going back. My friend had the pulled pork sandwich and also greatly enjoyed it! read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - Farmers' Market Burger - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

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If I could leave less than one star I would. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. to get burgers. It was busy so we decided to sit at the bar. We ordered water and were not offered menus and were completely ignored by the bartender, even after going to the hostess station to get our own menus. She walked past several times, looked directly at us each time, and waited on other people rather than taking our order. We finally decided to leave without ever even ordering or having been acknowledged beyond getting water. I will never set foot in this establishment again. Unbelievable. read more

I love this place. The burgers are great! The cheese curds and onion rings are also really good. Also, I would recommend the Nacho supremeo, which is pretty big and takes several people to finish it. I recommend going for your next Bday event or even a dinner on the way home. read more

I usually love the nitty gritty as my go to take out spot. Tonight, I wasn't given the 8 oz sauce I ordered for $3, the chicken strips were way over cooked and the pulled pork included with the Mac n cheese had a very large fat/silverskin chunk it it. Very very disappointing for a $50 meal. read more

This place is awesome. The food is great and clearly I need to come back for my birthday dinner because it's a big deal. The server was amazing and helpful. The bartender missed our ticket and we waited awhile and they gave us a free drink for missing our drink order. The service was fast and the place was clean. Keep up the great work I'll be returning. read more

Racist establishment. The server wasn't attentive and it took over an hour for just salads. I kept having to go in and ask for straws, order drinks, and food. Meanwhile, everyone else (all white) who came way after us was served by attentive servers. They just didn't want to serve us. Don't give us a BS of being short-staffed, when you say there are eleven people in the kitchen, and many servers at hand with mostly empty tables. Please note your racist establishment refused to serve a notable faculty member of UW and his family. read more

Good place. Gritty sauce is yummy!!! They do a decent job of food and the atmosphere is great. Come here on your birthday. Daughter ordered Mac & cheese. She hated it. So I tried it. Disgusting. Tasted rotten. Don't order!!!! read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - Don't order this. Worst thing I've ever tasted from a restaurant. - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

If you're looking for a place to get a really great burger and fries, you will not be disappointed here. you definitely get your moneys worth. They also have a very good craft beer selection along with mixed drinks. The service was also very attentive and pleasant. read more

All Nitty locations are all independently owned and operated, and you can tell the difference. This location has better food, nicer staff, and just outshines the downtown location overall. The downtown location usually gets my order wrong every time and this location does not. If I ask for extra pickles I get a small container, not just one. It's a little smaller than the location downtown, but more intimacy is nice. Come here, you won't regret it. They also have a dedicated fryer and gluten free buns. read more

I'm from Illinois and came into town today to meet up with my kid's grandparents (my kids go spend a few weeks with them every summer). My daughter's birthday is in a couple weeks and I wanted to do something with her today to celebrate, since I won't be with her on her actual birthday. I wasn't planning on even mentioning her birthday. I just wanted a nice meal with her. When I walked in they asked if anyone had a birthday. I did then mention hers was in a couple weeks and they allowed her to do the whole birthday celebration. SHE LOVED IT!! It was completely unexpected and I'm so thankful they gave me this memory with her. We will definitely be back every summer when I meet the grandparents. The staff were incredibly polite and the food was delicious. Thank you!! read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

So, I moved here to Madison, WI about three years ago now. I heard that at the Gritty you get a special birthday treat, not just the burger but bottomless drinks on tap or rail. For the past three years this has been my tradition. Now, the first two years, all we did was sit at the bar. Got food at the bar, served VERY WELL at the bar. The bar is amazing, and their bartenders are awesome. This year we tried something different. I wanted my burger, but wasn't going to be drinking for the night because of work conflicts. So we got a big group of friends together and had a table of twelve. It was the WORST Gritty experience I have ever had to date. We have been here for other birthdays, we have been here just to go here and we have never had this kind of horrible service. As an experienced bartender and server, this guy gets a 2 out of 10. He NEVER should have been allowed to serve this table alone, and have other additional tables. Whoever was managing that night, made a bad play and it would NEVER be allowed at any of the restaurants I have worked in from NYC to the San Francisco Bay Area. Just an idea of how bad our service was, our friends who were with us and were drinking, left the table to go to the bar... to get drinks. This server was inattentive, and got my order and a few other orders wrong. We waited so long for our food that no one decided to complain because we didn't want to wait any longer. And it was NOT that busy. I have worked in wall to wall, wait to wait busy places. Drew, (our server), when you have a larger party like that, drinking alcohol, you TEND that table as if every person will die if their drinking glass goes below 3/4 empty. You missed out on perhaps a high check(s) average and possibly even bigger tips. This is a tip for the future, so no on else has to deal with this. OH and tips for anyone else, don't bring in a big party unless you speak with the manager and have an understanding that the server can handle that table. Just.. go... to the bar. read more

Started with a delicious Fantasy Factory IPA, the cheese curds were delicious, and the burger was on point. I will definitely come back!

Nitty Gritty is my normal brunch fav on the West side, but with the construction on Park/Gammon, it's a bit annoying to get to at the moment. Still, the strawberry French toast is insanely good--and I will make the drive for that and a gigantic Bloody on a Sunday morning. The only thing I don't like is all the TVs. They are SUPER distracting. I know it's a sports bar. I get that. But I would love just one spot where there are NO TVs. None. Because for my crew, brunch is about the food and the company. Staff here are usually pretty great. One time there was a kid who looked like he'd smoked an all-nighter and needed the coffee more than we did, but his personality more than made up for his forgetfulness. The ample parking lot always has room, and they can accommodate pretty large groups here (we had a group of 20 or so one time upstairs!). Can't wait 'til the construction's over!! read more

It's the Nitty Gritty! Its a chain with the best possible birthday deal aka free drinks all day of your birthday!!! That includes a range from beer to milkshakes to plain old soda. its your pick! you also get a shout out, a balloon, and a glass to keep. now for the food, nothing here is that amazing. The burgers are decent and the cheese curds are nice since you can make them a side, but nothing stands out too much here. There are some good happy hour times, but be aware that there are more birthdays that fall everyday of the week so sometimes you'll show up on a random tuesday and be waiting for a table for an hour. service is mediocre at best and the environment can sometimes range from ok to divey. happy drinking, because thats the only reason you should really come here. read more

The worst places I've found in the Madison area still manage to be 4 stars, at least to me. The beer selection here is on the small side but they have some nice ones. The portions were a bit small for the price, but the food was delicious. I was happy to have two types of cheese curds to choose from, as the mozzarella can get melty, but the cheddar stays firm. I got grilled cheese with extra cheese (because Wisconsin) and it came out super-melty and every bit as cheesy as I wanted it to be. Grilled cheese with a side of cheese curds? I had the waitress convinced I was local, when I was by far the farthest traveler to the dinner. And yes, other people enjoyed their food, it wasn't just me in a cheese coma oblivious to their suffering. I think the birthday thing would get annoying after a very short while. I dealt with it for one night. But that could deduct another star if I were a local. Fortunately, I'm not. read more

The Nitty in Middleton seems to live off of its name recognition. The food is so-so at best. I had the premium Prarie Farms burger. To bad it was completely unseasoned. Toasting the bun on a $10 burger would've been a nice touch and would have added som texture. Why bother to pay for a premium products if they aren't properly prepared. I also think the menu is in the pricey side for basic so-so bar food. The choice of sides did yield a nice surprise - fresh asparagus spears. This meal was a disappointment. There are few places that can pull off a decent burger. You want a great pub burger... Hit the Eastside - go to Players. read more

We were VERY disappointed with our dinners. The burgers were chewy, pre made patties and were undercooked. The fries were super soggy. Not worth the money! read more

Disappointed. I stopped in for lunch, around 3:35p. After ordering, I went to the washroom to wash my hands. Cruised by the kitchen and saw the cook playing on his phone. I actually took this as a good sign, figuring if they had nothing to do, I'd get my food quickly. But I was wrong. After ordering, I started playing Tetris on my phone while I waited. I played an entire game of Tetris, 22 min according to my phone. I then played another partial game of Tetris, 11 minutes, when my food arrived. Burger and fries. Pretty simple. Everything was ice cold. Not cooled off, but cold to the touch. Nothing was hot. The burger patty was cold. The bacon didn't appear to have been heated at all. Like it came out of the steam table but the steam table was on the lowest setting. And the Pepsi was flat, to boot! Flat soda. Everything about the dining experience was wrong. I was presented with a bill for $19, and I paid it and tipped the waitress $5. All for nothing. Like everywhere else, they just don't care. read more

How does this place have so many good reviews. Ordered a burger and you could tell it was from a frozen patty. Cheese curds were barely cooked. Don't waste your money so many better Classic American restaurants read more

It's the birthday spot! Ever since I brought my boyfriend here for his birthday last year, he insists on making it his tradition. I have never been here when it is crazy packed, which is one of the biggest appeals to me. It's not overly crowded like the downtown one, so I can actually move around. I am not entirely sure if there is a specific time where it fills up or not, but, I have been here all times of day and have yet to see a completely full house. The burgers and other food are delicious, as to be expected. Our personal favorite are the cheese curds. In fact, they are a must when we come and need sustenance. We always order extra gritty sauce, too, because, well, it's yummy. The service here has always been friendly and prompt. We always end up staying longer than expected because we love talking with the bartenders, who are always fun and have fantastic people skills. There are usually some pretty great drink specials for every day of the week at all times of the day; so if you're on a budget, there will be something to make your wallet happy. My only complaint is that the last 2 times we have come here, we have used our 2 for 1 burger coupon and the discount was not applied to our check; so, we have had to remind the person closing us out or even have had to drive back to get the adjustment made, which is a bit inconvenient, but it is what it is. That won't stop me from coming back, but I will take some extra time to look over my check going forward. read more

I've ate here a few times never once have I gotten my order right even ordering online I've missed more than 30$ worth of my food

I've celebrated at least a dozen birthday parties at the NG's across town but only ever had fun if it was a child's birthday and I was home by prime time. The food is good and the family friendly atmosphere is great for people seeking a balloon and free ice cream sundae but I would only sell it as a "birthday bar" for a certain age group. read more

Stopped here to celebrate my Dad's upcoming 89th birthday, proving you're never too old to have a good time at the Nitty Gritty. Burgers were great and their beer list is extensive, with lots of choices from both near and far. My Dad enjoyed the attention as well as the birthday treats. Thank you for helping make the day special. read more

It's the Gritty, so if you've lived in Madison for any amount of time you pretty much know what to expect. First time at this location, service was great, food was good and the Birthday special can't be beat. Its obviously going to be a little more relaxed and low-key than the downtown location, you have a view of a parking lot and Gammon Ave instead of campus, but you know that going in. We weren't there with kids, but seemed pretty open and kid-friendly. read more

Long my favorite local spot for a burger, but at the last three visits (Middleton), the medium (some pink) burger I ordered arrived well-done and dry. I dislike returning food, but did so on the third occasion. The replacement, while a little less dry, was still well-done. Service was slow and during one visit it took almost 10 minutes for a replacement fork to arrive. read more

I've been ordering the Impossible Gritty Burger here for quite some time now and it is excellent: juicy, saucy, packed with familiar and delicious (umami!) flavors -- a special treat! I wish they had more vegan offerings as such things are not so healthy (more so than animal products, but still, full of [sat] fat and sodium), but every so often when that craving hits, this is a satisfying solution! Interestingly, this restaurant prepares food very differently from the Mad E side location, which was sorely lacking literally -- missed including the cheese, pickle and ketchup for the fries and there was little sauce. Middleton is the one to go to, for my money. read more

Always solid burgers. Very good crispy fries. I had the salmon sandwitch and it was very good too. Relaxing atmosphere. read more

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I really like this Nitty Gritty location. No offense to the downtown location but this one is a little more sane for semi-quiet dinners or a cool trivia night. The brunch is always satisfying and the cheese curds are one of my favorites in Madison. I highly recommend the Falafal Burger for an interesting alternative to a Veggie Burger. read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

This past weekend I was visiting Madison for a conference and ate at the Nitty Gritty with a group of 50 people. The service was outstanding, friendly, attentive and quick. My water glass was never empty. The restaurant has two levels with high ceilings and polished wood floors. A relaxed, clean atmosphere. My table of 5 started with chicken strips, good and standard and spinach dip. The spinach dip is excellent, extra cheesy and hot served with chips, and fresh veggies- carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower. We all had burgers and fries. The burger was enormous I could only eat 1/2. Pretty good deal for around $6. If you are in the area I recommend the Nitty Gritty. read more

You know I hate to do this but I have to agree with Vickey M. The Gritty burgers are something of an acquired taste. They taste good to me because they bring back memories of the 70s. They do have good flavor but are somewhat messy and there are better burgers than the Gritty. The bar was more fun when it was small. We don't go there anymore because often it is so busy that we can't really enjoy the place like we used to. But I would stop by again for the Gritty Burger. I recently learned that the gritty burger recipe was changed in the 80s sometime? Correct me if I'm wrong. We did think the burger was somewhat different from what we remember. Now we know why. The old burger that everyone loved was way better than the new one. We think they need to enlarge the place and bring back the original burger if they still have the recipe. The sauce was the bomb. read more

First time here. The place is big with a upstairs and back room. The waitress was very friendly and did a good job to see if we needed anything. I had the Chicago style hot dog with fries. Fries were good the hot dog was so so. read more

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We came here a handful times after Dotty Dumpling's and I went through a brief break up (but no worries, we've learned to love each other once again). Burgers are okay. Like some have mentioned, the burgers are an acquired taste--I don't think the beef patty was thick enough or had much flavor, and the toppings on the burger just didn't meld well together. Spinach dip that we got once was pretty good, though. Another thing that really bothered me was that when I ordered mini hamburgers for my kids I looked at the patty and they were still pink. My husband and I don't mind ordering burgers for ourselves medium, but we try to hold that off for the kids. Granted, we did not specify that we wanted our kids' burgers well done, but I was surprised that wouldn't be common practice for kids' food. On the other hand, it is a fun place and good for parties with kids and/or a crowd. The beer selection is decent, and you get a very nice mug if you eat here on your birthday. My son also loves the video games here. All in all, a decent restaurant. There are several places in Middleton or West Madison that have better food, but it's a nice place to go to have a good appetizer and maybe split a burger with a friend on your birthday. read more

Great place to grab a drink or a burger. Pretty good brunch menu too! Trivia on Tuesdays is pretty fun as well read more

Wow, Why haven't I reviewed this place yet? Alright on to the show, I had stopped in here for a little happy hour refreshment one blustery Tuesday and was about the 3rd person at the bar. Place was deserted, I though whatever.... I had a soda and some cheesecurds, real men drive sober ya know. Cheesecurds were available in two options, white cheddar and yellow cheddar. The white cheddar ones aren't uniformly shaped like the yellow cheddar ones. They give you this sauce to dip them in. All appetizers are 1/2 during happy hour so that was a plus. The cheesecurds came out and they were..... ok... I've honestly had better cheesecurds. The sauce was rich so I didn't use a lot of it. The curds were far too small and some seemed over fried. My better half had a mixed drink, (name escapes my mind right now) and she said it was bland. read more

the nitty gritty gets 1 star from a lifelong patron... because I can't give it zero tonight. We were out for my fiance's 30th birthday. I grew up going to the Gritty to celebrate and we bring relatives when they are in town on a birthday. Tonight however was deplorable. if we weren't going to see a movie afterwards we would have just left and gone elsewhere (may have been faster actually). We were seated at the weird table upstairs that is in the center of the room and crushed up against the bar. All the boothes were full so that's understandable. what is not understandable, is that we sat there for over 10 minutes with NO service at all. no hellos, no be right with yous, no waters etc. I went up to the bar and asked the 4 servers behind the counter if they knew who our server was as we had been waiting awhile. they saw the table I pointed at and after some faltering, gave me the reason that our server just hasn't had time to get to us... I said ok and sat back down. about the minutes later our server Ellie comes up. no apology. she thanked us for our patience. that really irritated me as we had been waiting for 15 minutes! so I responded well we didn't really have a choice did we? we had sat so long with menus we knew what we wanted. I ordered water, and a double brat sandwich with fries. while my fiance ordered I realized that the single is on a pretzel roll, which I would rather than the doubles hoagie. He ordered a burger and waffle fries, and an appetizer of cheese curds for us to split. I apologized and said I would actually like to change my order to the single brat basket please. ok fine. Some boothes had cleared up so I requested we be moved there. we were able to move, and I was very appreciative of the accommodation. our "food arrived" very quickly, and I was almost ready to say wow!!! the speed makes up for this so far... but then we looked at our food. my fiance's order was correct, but there was no appetizer. my order was a double brat, with no side, or the raw onion I ordered. when I explained this was wrong, she seemed very confused and when I explained what I ordered she told me she thought I meant a single.... the excuse doesn't make sense but ok. unfortunately I realized that it was wrong while I started squeezing my ketchup on it. she took my basket and walked away. no apology. my brat came back immediately! but when it was set down in front of me, it was a single brat alone. she asked if it was right and I explained that the brat was but I had a basket (?). She told me that my fries were cooking and she wanted to get me my entree right away... ok, that is good because I am starving and my fiance had finished his burger already ( I insisted he eat his BIRTHDAY meal hot..while I waited). my basket of fries emerged with a basket of curds. so I ate my side while my fiance picked at our curds. I asked for our check and explained we were getting to a movie afterwards and just wanted to get it while we still had her at the table (she was seating a table of 11 people... who had no water for at least 10 minutes )... she asked if she could interest us in mini sundaes to "make up for it" and we declined... we took our nephew here for his birthday in september... and that isn't an apology, it's part of the birthday experience. we declined. she brought our check and explained she voided "that stuff off so our check is right". pleasantly surprised, and impressed I expected perhaps the app to be free. what she meant however, was that she deleted the mistakes she had made, so our bill was correct. we checked our bill and she was nice enough to wait for our card because we were wanting to leave asap. she ran the card and apologized. and that was our major milestone birthday experience... as someone who has waitresses for years, I understand the challenges of the job. however shame on you for not having basic apologetic instincts to such crappy service. and an even bigger shame on you to the servers behind that bar who all knew we had been waiting for so long, to not help out and bring us 2 glasses of water, simply because we weren't their table. that isn't even including the fact that they were unapologetic, as well as what appeared to be annoyance with me. embarrassing for your business. read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - This is my second course side basket with our appetizer... notice the almost empty basket my fiance. - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin