Love the theme of this restaurant, couldn't ask for a better location, and the name "Old Fashioned" just screams Wisconsin! It's s place you see and what to check out. Tonight I decided to try the "Green Bay" Chili and the Sheboygan Brat Sandwich. Which is really weird because i'm from the Green Bay/Sheboygan Area. (I must have missed home tonight!) The brats were done well and were tasty, came with lots of fresh raw onions, but the bun was not as good as some of the real Sheboygan Rolls I have had in the past. I would still recommend this sandwich... it was pretty good! The part I would skip is the Green Bay Chili. I'm assuming the "Green Bay" part is the fact that it had spaghetti noodles. Here's where I feel the hometown snobbery comes in, this is no GB Chili! I would have to guess that this is a canned Chili that is doctored with spaghetti. More like Hormel, less like homemade. If you want good Green Bay Chili drive 3 hours north to Kroll's (next to Lambeau). Your welcome! As far as The Old Fashioned, come and enjoy the great drinks,cheese curds or haystack onions, but skip the Chilli. read more

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Food was ok. Large portions and fast service. I ate the patty melt and the meat wasn't as good as it should be. Deviled eggs were a hit.

Really enjoyed our meal. The ice cream drinks were amazing... I forget which one I got but it was delightful. The cheese curds were yum. Our food portions were humongous-- hubs had the fish n chips and I had the pulled pork. Neither of us could eat all. Good service even though the place was packed. read more

Good food and service for lunch will go again with friends sometime for dinner or drink at night

Placed was packed for lunch. Someone was waiting for me to arrive and they would not seat her until I got there. So we sat at the bar with a short wait and decide to stay there based of being told it was quieter at the bar. A sign where you walk in boasted about OR having the best cheese curds by USA Today and I would agree. I like cheese curds but there was something unique about these. I have had fresh fried curds at several WI cheese factories, OF stands out. I had the soup special Posole, hominy (white corn) pretty good, you normally don't that offered many places. The standout maybe over the curds was my Door Co. Salad with chicken. Very flavorful and delicious. Cherries were not overwhelming. I will go back for the curds and the Door Co. Salad, hopefully soon. read more

Nice location and great vibe. The cheese curds are top notch. I will definitely return.

When in Madtown must stop at the Old Fashioned for some of the best local fare in the area and be indoctrinated with pressed bourbon old fashioned (less sweet and bourbon instead of brandy). Walleye or Schnitzel you cannot go wrong with the choices! read more

The Old Fashioned - Pork Schnitzel - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

This was such a cool treat! There was a 45 minute wait on Saturday morning, but we grabbed 2 seats at the bar from brunch. Short version- food was great, bar tender was a trip, and price was really reasonable! Great experience ! I have the chicken fried steak and my wife had a cheeseburger while we shared cheese curds. Both were were memory makers! Homemade goodness but it's very best. Our bartender was an absolute hoot - he was like Nick Swardson - but still trying to figure out being funny - more organic. He kept singing hall and Oates songs. After our meal we grabbed a bar side, locally sourced beef stick that was somewhere between indescribable, and indescribably good. Nothing I can say will give it the due it deserves... The only thing that would've made it better would be if I were totally hung over when I ate it and I eat it for three days a little bit at a time because it was so rich. We will be back and I can't wait! read more

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Food and service was good. It was mediocre food and just ok. Not sure what the hype is about.

Yes yes yes! The old fashioned is a MUST GO TO in Madison. The food is amazing and the service this most recent time was amazing! I saw these two servers with curly pigtails doing an amazing job carrying the entire restaurant! I tipped so highly and would do it again. I would highly recommend the orange run old fashioned at the bar. Best old fashion i've had in my 53 years. read more

Down home Wisconsin food and service. I'll be back for every visit to Madison. I highly recommend the cheese curds.

We were out of towners looking for a place to eat at 6pm with no reservation.. sort of a hard task. We went to a few places but ended up here after hearing too many other places having huge wait times. We got seated right when we walked in and we were lucky enough to get the upstairs seating which was nice. I ordered the Saturday special- prime rib with a few sides cooked to medium well. It was cooked to perfection and had great taste. I ordered an old fashioned of course but was sort of disappointed. I'm not an expert on old fashion's but this one was not the best. The drink was an 6/10 but the food was a 10/10. I'd go here again. read more

The Old Fashioned - Saturday - Prime Rib Dinner - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Very cool location near the capital. Great atmosphere to enjoy on a Thursday night. Drink menu is expansive and affordable. Fish fry Alecto on was good, will try the walleye next time versus the perch. read more

Great place to get WI cheese curds! I suggest trying to coordinate your visit for the $1 Old Fashion night.

Great beer. They have quite a large selection, about 50 on tap. Great old fashioneds. It seams to be a staple in Madison to have muddled beverages read more

Food is geared towards comfort. Service is normally great even on a busy night. The place gives you the feeling of times gone by with the rustic decor and vintage beer memorabilia. read more

Great food, awesome service, and loved the menu choices! The waitress was very friendly and answered all out questions.

Love this place! Great location right on Capital Hill with great views of the lawns and capital building. Food is basic gastro pub fare, but just done better and fresher. My meal started appropriately enough with an Old Fashioned. I roll with Bulliet brand bourbon, but their selection is vast and I'm fairly confident they'll have your fav. My wife, daughter and I shared an appetizer of cheese curds. Theirs are top notch and my wife loved the assortment of dipping sauces available, albeit at an extra cost. Our meals included the walleye sandwich, turkey sandwich, and the Old Fashioned burger. The burger is pictured. It had a Smokey flavor from real open fire grilling. The cheddar was strong and sharp and the bacon thick and meaty. Solid. We'll be back! read more

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OBSESSED WITH THIS PLACE. I sat at the bar, my bartender, Luke, was excellent. He gave great recommendations! The cheese curds are an absolute MUST! Melt in your mouth. My old fashioned was perfect. The prime rib (Saturday night special) was leave your troubles behind & buy some real estate because you live here now. My whole meal was excellent. I can't wait to visit Madison again and come back! read more

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Apple Spice Old Fashions were amazing!! Cheese curds really are the best. They are not full of grease and the coating is light. You really cannot go wrong with what you order but I had the most amazing prime rib as my friends had other sandwiches. We will be back! Recommend booking reservation ahead of time. read more

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Seriously fun little pub/restaurant right on the Capitol Square. We were lured in by the over-the-top Christmas lights and historic-feeling, comfortable architecture. And.. we stuck around for a "Tasting Flight" which consisted of a dozen 3 oz beer samples off their fairly impressive menu. We chased that with the wurst sampler, which was fantastic. Worthwhile visit! read more

The Old Fashioned - Snits - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Really wanted to like this place. Cheese curds were the best thing we had. Wedge salad is weird. It comes with French and blue cheese dressing. The lettuce was three or four rectangles of iceberg. I asked for an extra ramekin of blue cheese dressing. Got it and tasted it prior to dumping on salad. It was terrible. No blue cheese crumbles. Sour flavor. Nachos were the worst. Kind of like homemade potato chips that weren't cooked long enough. Meat from the chili had a grainy texture. My brother liked his smoked turkey sandwich. His side salad was mediocre. Bar tender was a B-. Attentativniess to our needs were 65% of what it should have been. Finally we were kind of rushed out at 10:00 pm on a Saturday night. Maybe some of the other food is better. read more

Get an old fashioned at the Old Fashioned. Over 1.6m old fashioneds served here since inception. Get ready for a brandy old fashioned since that is the custom here unless you specify something else. I had a traditional then a local rye whiskey from Milwaukee. Both were excellent. Nice service, big long bar. read more

Growing up in Madison, The Old Fashioned was one of the nicer restaurants in town - it was somewhere you could take your date for prom or celebrate graduation from UW with your family. A supper club experience in the city. It was the venue that came to mind for celebrating the homecoming of my girlfriend's brother from the military, before he goes on deployment to Korea. Unfortunately, it seems things have gone downhill a little at The Old Fashioned since we last dined here, and the experience was less than we had hoped for. I'll start with what remains as good as before here - the appetizers. The onion rings are the best around (super thin and crispy) and go great with any of their dipping sauces. We also tried the nachos this time which come with potato chips and chili instead of tortilla chips and taco meat, which works out a lot better than you'd think. The drinks are priced very fairly here, although they aren't the best quality (I had Korbel in my brandy old-fashioned sour, which although typical in Wisconsin isn't the best-tasting, and also it wasn't as sour as I'd have liked). My girlfriend's brother also ordered one of their menu cocktails made from strawberry infused liquor, which they were out of, so they made it for him with cranberry liquor instead. The entrées and the service were the bigger let downs. It was very busy on Saturday night when we ate there, which we expected, so we arrived at around 4:30 for an early dinner and to beat the rush. We arrived in two parties and the hostess refused to seat us until everyone was present, which must be a new (lame!) rule as I don't remember this from dining here before. We were seated at a nice table 5 minutes later when the rest of our party arrived. Our waitress was polite at first but seemed to get stressed as the restaurant became busier and more crowded. Right before our food was ready to come out, she came over to inform us that my meal (the pork schnitzel) would take a bit longer than everyone else's, and that they were out of German potato salad and I could have normal potato salad or fries for my side instead. I told her it was okay and that I would just have the normal potato salad instead, and that everyone else's food could come out before mine, it wouldn't be a problem. The food came (all together, despite what the waitress said) 5 minutes later, but I was disappointed to see my schnitzel on the plate with a side of fries. When the waitress eventually came back midway through the meal, I told her politely that I had asked for potato salad as the side, not fries. She didn't offer any apology, but did fetch the potato salad quickly. I do think it would've been better if she had informed me when ordering that the German potato salad was unavailable, instead of waiting until right before our food was ready to tell me. Later, I also asked her for some sliced bread so I could make a sandwich with the leftover schnitzel at home, and she seemed mildly annoyed at my request. The schnitzel was crispy and thin (as it should be), and it came with a sour cherry and mustard sauce. The sauce was very strong and may have been better on the side than poured directly onto the schnitzel. The cabbage was way too salty and the caraway was a little heavy handed for my liking, so it was not exactly tasty. The (normal) potato salad was decent, though I actually ended up eating more of the fries that they mistakenly gave me instead. My girlfriend ordered the fish fry combo (walleye, perch and cod) which I will say was quite good. The rest of the family was happy with their sandwiches and burgers (the reuben, patty melt, and the house burger with the fried egg), so maybe this quicker fare is what you should order on the menu here. The Old Fashioned seemed a little tired and worn out during our visit, being out of a few different menu items so early on in the evening and with the server being forgetful and slightly agitated. I hope it was just an off-day for them, but ultimately I was a bit let down, considering the expectations I had from dining there several times in the years gone by. It'll probably be a long while until I come back again. read more

A must stop any time we are in Madison to get the perfect Wisconsin treat of fried cheese curds (some of the best around) and a brandy old fashioned. Perfect location on the square makes it an easy stop. Bartenders and waitstaff are always very friendly. read more

The Old Fashioned - Cheese Curds and Brandy Old Fashioned - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

I was in Madison on 3/1/22 for the Badger Basketball game against Purdue. The Badgers won in dramatic fashion to claim the Big Ten title! But what made my day was the fantastic meal I had at the Old Fashion! See I'm from Milwaukee which I consider it the home of the fish fry but the fish fry that I had at the old fashion was probably one of the best fish fries I've had in my life. great staff great ambience , I can't wait to go back read more

This is my second visit here. I tried something new, and although the portions are plenty, the food was lacking in taste, and nothing great. The fondue was very thin, no taste. The bacon Mac n Cheese was not very creamy, the walleye was watery, no taste and the wedge salad was the entire head of lettuce, with very little dressing and the grilled chicken looked like a processed pressed chicken breast, no flavor. It's very disappointing, all the hype no delivery. read more

The Old Fashioned - Frost bite - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Food was ok. Old fashioned's were typical Wisconsin old fashioned. Not a real old fashion. Our waiter was very good and attentive.

Very bland food. Service was friendly enough. Typical pub fare and decor. Pricey for just average pub food. Will not be returning.

What a disappointment. The burgers were dry and tasteless and the service we received was definitely subpar. When asking the waitress what did she recommend since this was our first time coming here, she said "spinach". All of us were confused as to why she was even referring to then said oh the salad. Additionally, the beer we ordered had been forgotten and took more than 20 min to come, while another one of our orders was "simply forgotten". I will say the cheese curds were certainly delicious (note: there's a reason why no one has posted about the poutine - totally passable). Also, there was a young gentlemen who assisted this waitress who was very helpful in picking up her slack. Unfortunately, even with his help, our experience was not a positively memorable one. Highly suggest a hard pass on this place. Unclear why there's high ratings. read more

Good food. Good beer selection. And AMAZING cheese curds. If I wasn't driving I would have tried the Old Fashioned

The old fashioned is an awesome experience to have when in downtown Madison. A staff member named Amelia helped me and made my experience amazing. She was so caring and sweet and brought joy to my friends day. The food tasted great to! I will definitely be back to this quaint restaurant. read more

It was really busy, with a long wait, when we arrived, so we sat at the bar. My husband and I loved it. I had the mac & cheese which I thought was wonderful, and he had a sausage sandwich which he raved about. I'd love to go back. read more

If you are ever in downtown Madison, WI, I highly recommend you stop by The Old Fashioned for the food and friendly mid-western service. Classic Wisconsin tavern featuring wood-burning grill, local cheeses, nightly specials, and an extensive beer selection. For the table we ordered the House-made fresh Wisconsin beer battered cheese curds (thumbs up). Wisconsin beer cheese soup garnished with popcorn (thumbs up) and for myself I ordered the Grill-seared Norwegian salmon with cucumber, shaved red onion, deviled egg, mixed greens and tarragon vinaigrette (thumbs up). All items were reasonably priced and well portioned. read more

Solid choice in Madison. Menu is locally driven with standards like cheese curds, fish fry, burgers and brats along with a Food Network-famous Mac and cheese and a variety of other entrees and sandwiches. The bar menu (especially beers) is outstanding. It's a Wisconsin beer menu with many dozens of beer on tap and a large variety also available via can/bottle. Food was very good - I'm not sure the hype on the Mac and Cheese and Cheese Curds is fully deserved as they were not uniquely outstanding, but no complaints. Service was excellent - it was very busy and our server was on it the whole time. She aimed to make sure we had a good meal, slowed me to sub salad for fries with the fish fry and told us if we didn't like the curds, she'd swap it for us. Beer was cold and fresh. Restaurant and bathrooms were clean and the location was great. The Capitol building was right across the street. Value was also excellent - dinner for two with two pints of beer was just over $50 before tip. Worth a stop. Just don't set your expectations on the curds or Mac too high. read more

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There's lots of whiskey bars, try another. My party and I were shooed away by server who was uninterested in our party of 3(manager said as much). "If you start at the bar you have to stay at the bar"-- no I don't, thanks anyway. read more

Stopped in on a Monday night for dinner with a colleague while we were in town for work. Pub atmosphere, casual, and a perfect spot for a low key meal. We shared the cheese curds that had a choice of 4 homemade dipping sauces. Our server recommended the smoked paprika dip so we got that and the roasted garlic one and both were tasty, but I really liked the one he suggested best. I've eaten fresh cheese curds many times, but never fried. These little nuggets were good and perfectly cooked. I ordered the No. 40 - Grilled cheese sandwich with Swiss, aged Cheddar, wood-roasted red bell peppers and Bavaria's hickory-smoked bacon on Texas toast, and a bowl of their homemade tomato soup. The sandwich was fantastic. Buttery toast, but not greasy, super cheesy, and smokey bacon. The roasted red peppers helped cut some of the heaviness of this sandwich. The soup was very flavorful and hit the spot on a chillier night (or what I consider chilly now living in the South). I took half the sandwich to go, put it in my hotel mini-fridge and shamelessly ate it cold the following late morning while telling myself it was like a breakfast sandwich missing the egg haha. Our server was friendly, attentive, and welcoming. The menu has some great options and I loved eating the local fare. Definitely recommend and hope to be back! read more

The Old Fashioned - Grilled cheese with roasted red peppers & bacon. Tomato soup. - American Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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This is a terrific spot with great, locally-sourced food and very friendly bartenders and servers. The classic decor provides an extra measure of comfort. The patty melt is an outstanding choice. read more

What an interesting experience at The Old Fashioned! This was one of my must do places and although we had fun, there were some strange service things going on here. The wait for a table when we arrived was 1 hour and it was accurately about an hour until we got our table. We sat at the bar while we waited and ordered different drinks. I went for beers while the guys went for Old Fashioneds. My guy friends are whiskey drinkers so they were surprised when the drink had no whiskey at all but instead Korbel champagne. One male friend loved this...one did not. He asked our bartender who scoffed and said, "You're not from around here, are you?" ....um....okay.... I *now* get the Old Fashioned is different in Madison than the rest of the country but my friends and I had no idea of this going in. It wasn't great having our bartender handle the situation in a judgmental type of way. Would have boded much better had he taken another approach and helped enlighten our ignorant Chicagoan minds. Cheese curds here were just okay - not as good as some of the other places in the area. I had to order a cool $15 drink that was on the menu - The Birdcage - Whistle Pig Bourbon, muddled brown sugar cube & house bitters enclosed in an ice block. Crack it open and proceed to get white girl wasted. This was a fun drink and tasty, was very happy with this one. We also had this awesome brownie dessert which was so rich, served with a strawberry, ice cream and a shot of milk! The milk was such a cute touch and I loved this dish to end our night. The view from the Old Fashioned? Gorgeous looking out on a lit up capital building. Overall, the food was hit or miss, the drinks were hit or miss, service was hit or miss, but that view was all hit! read more

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My first time in Wisconsin and of course, I had to get cheese curds! This was recommended to my colleague and I by a Wisconsin native. We were in town for the CrossFit Games and of course, the entire city is super busy. We waited for about an hour and a half for a table but it was definitely worth it. While my steak was okay, they are for sure getting five stars because the cheese curds were awesome. Service was also good and the restroom was clean which I definitely appreciate. It was super busy and they were able to keep that clean - awesome job. So, if you're in town just for a bit, swing by and get cheese curds from here. read more

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