Saturday 23rd of July 2011 01:06:16 PM

link
This place gets great reviews so my wife suggested we go here for lunch.

We arrived by walking and it was already pretty busy around 11:45 on a Friday.

A host seated us at one of those booth/table combo seats in the front window area. We were handed menus and then asked if we had joined them for lunch before. When we answered "no", it was then that we found out that they do some kind of half-ass table service for lunch.

The customer is expected to read the menu, and remember the number of the sandwich. Then go up and stand in line by the bar cashier to order. Oh and if you want a beer from their extensive list, then you also need to remember that, but that list is not on the menu they handed you at the table. I saw a sign hanging with the list, but then a passing waitress noticed me reading it and handed me a beer menu saying that they weren't all listed on the sign. There are numbers next to the beers, but don't bother remembering those, because the cashier was confused by them, explaining that they change all the time.

So we eventually ordered and paid. (How do you determine a tip on a credit card when you haven't actually been served yet?)

My beer was handed to me at the bar. For some reason, my wife's chosen beer was not immediately available and we were told it would be delivered to the table. I wish mine had been as well.

The beers were served in ICE cold glasses. This is NOT a good thing. I had to wait forever for my beer to warm to drinking temperature.

So back at our table with a little number on a stick, we waited for our food. It came out promptly and we dug in. My turkey sandwich with onion strings was delicious. My wife also enjoyed her grilled cheese with Swiss and cheddar and peppers.

Because it was a "work" day at lunch time, we appeared to be the only ones drinking beer at any of the tables that I could see. Maybe the bizarre service style better accommodates the in and out lunch crowd.

After we finished our sandwiches, we sat and enjoyed our beer, but we felt no desire to extend our stay by going through the trouble of getting another beer.

Overall I wanted to like Old Fashioned. The food was very good and the beer selection was an impressive list of Wisconsin breweries, some of which I had never heard of before. Unfortunately, the service was so disappointing that it sullied my opinion of this place. I hope they are better at dinner time.

Monday 27th of September 2010 05:58:15 PM

link
Stopped here, sat at a crowded bar full of happy people, had two wonderful beers, good conversation. The bar is lllonnggg, and there are lots of Wisconsin brews available. Local brews, local food. The food looked great, and the folks near me loved it. There are tables along the wall as well. A truly impressive beer selection -- it's as if folks went to Oregon or Colorado, saw the places that had nothing but in-state brews, and said "We can do that in Wisconsin... and it will kick serious butt." They were right.

Monday 11th of August 2008 02:19:03 PM

link
We stopped at the Old Fashioned for a late night meal. The first thing I noticed about the menu, was how committed they are to local agriculture. Local cheese, meat, produce and beer are highlighted.

I started with a Lake Louie Scotch Ale. We split cheese plate #2 that had local parmesan, sheep's milk, and gorgonzola cheeses. All three were excellent. (the sheep's milk was the best match for the LL) I followed that with the house burger. This big patty was topped with cheddar, bacon and a fried egg. Now, I'm not in the habit of putting an entire breakfast on my burger, but this night I gave it a try. It was the best burger I've had in a long time.

Service was friendly, but not fast. The beer list wasn't huge, but it is focussed on locals. That's a big draw for me.

Give me a restaurant that serves delicious food from local farmers and craftsmen and I'm a happy camper.

Update 8/10/09
Made a 2nd visit, and I upgraded a couple scores. $2.75 pints of WI beer sure makes me happy. Excellent fried cheese curd and super fish fry.

Monday 5th of May 2008 10:28:43 AM

link
The burger was awesome, thanks to Beerinator for the recommendation.

Old Fashioned was the first stop for us on the recent GTOM pre-ticket sale pub crawl. Arrived around 1:30-2pm as the lunch crowd began to dissipate.

Big windows in the front, double door waiting area. Lots of sunlight in the front during the day. Exposed brick walls with lots of kitschy 20th century americana decorating the walls. Nice wood tables and flooring, even the wood of the bar had a nice weathered texture to it. In the evening the lighting was low, from a row of paper lanterns high above the back bar, and a row of dim lamps directly above the bar itself.

Beer selection focused on WI micros, such as Central Waters, Lake Louie, Capital, etc. There were a couple bottles from Viking, Berserk Barleywine & Hot Chocolate. There was room for improvement, we didn't see anything especially limited such as Tyranena BGW series, or New Glarus Unplugged series. Taps were mostly local, with several great seasonals.

Food was great, had the burger for lunch, and pork shoulder for dinner. Evening crowd was decidedly more trendy, but the wait for a table wasn't too long. Afternoon visit was a little more enjoyable, sitting at the bar. The atmosphere was the standout, but the service and selection were also respectable.

Thursday 16th of August 2007 05:38:32 PM

link
The beer selection at the Old fashioned is good, and I give it high praise because it's all wisco beer... Having a place where I can get lake louie, blatz, furthermore, schlitz, south shore, PBR, and many others is really great... I wanna say a dozen plus taps of good beer, (not real clear as I did some shots that night) and a decent craft bottle selection.

Atomsphere is part bar, part food establishment. Walnut bar that seats about 30ish people, it's a pretty big bar with tables strung thruout. The place doesn't go out of it's way to be beercentric, the taps do the talking as having local to serve locals is a great thing over all. It's nice inside.

Service is good as this place knows to have multiple bartenders and a good serving staff on days that end in day...

Didn't have the food, but is recomended by the local folks...

Thursday 16th of August 2007 08:11:23 AM

link
I have to give the Old Fashioned some respect for having a superb Wisconsin-centric tap/bottle list. It seems that some of the other beer bars in town do not realize what a valuable resource their local brewers are. Maduro is the closest such beer bar and while they have a good tap selection, I usually end up there wishing I was able to sample some more local offerings.

Old Fashioned also has a good and interesting food menu. I had the #30, which is the big ole burger with bacon and a fried egg on top. It was very good (and when it comes to burgers, I know what I am talking about).

I would suggest a trip to the Old Fashioned to anyone who is in downtown Madison drinking beer. Hit the Great Dane, drop by Maduro and a couple of blocks north west and you'll be at The Old Fashioned.

Madison is a great beer town and it's nice to find a restaurant that is more focused on craft local beers like Lake Louie, Tyranena or even Furthermore.