Mickies Dairy Bar — Restaurant in Madison

Me and my darling lover reluctantly stopped here after arriving too late for Lazy Jim’s brekkie. To be perefectly frank I had my suspicions right away based on the “sconnie” atmosphere. The badgers could lose every single game for the rest of eternity for all I care. My darling partner was momentarily befuddled by the menu being on the wall and having no descriptions besides the names of the items themselves. This forced us to actually talk to our waitress which is something we generally avoid as much as possible because we’re antisocial curmudgeons. Anyway, I ordered the “Scrambler” as they call it which is eggs with cheese and either one meat or two veggies. I chose Swiss cheese and mushrooms and broccoli. My lover ordered the blueberry pancakes and some bacon. I ordered us a coffee cake as appetizer because I had enjoyed it there previously with a friend of mine. Sadly they did not have the blueberry but only the apple cinnamon. I do not hold this against them but it dampen my spirits. I was unaware of how low they would soon sink. When our main course arrived it was immediately apparent that these pancake were thick. Overwhelming thick. My lover enjoys thin fluffy pancakes as I believe most amiable good natured people do. However, this was beyond pure matters of preference as these cakes had the consistency of a dense paste similar to the chalking glue one uses to fix cracks and holes in their home. No amount of syrup, which it should be noted was bland and underwhelming, would assuage this problem of texture. These pancakes left my sweet immobilized by their heft. Surveying my dish the first thing I noticed was the horrible brown color of the eggs due to being over cooked. These were not fluffy. These were not soft. I wondered what kind of kitchen this cook was working in. Did he not have the proper tools? Were his burners malfunctioning? It couldn’t be that he was overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of him as there were hardly more than 6 diners in the establishment. The next disappointment was the mushrooms. They appeared to be canned or maybe just beset by improper storage. They sat sadly upon the broccoli glistening with a decrepit brown color. In an attempt to revive my crestfallen dish I tried to top it with the “breakfast gravy” provided as a side. This gravy was just as dissatisfactory as all I have mentioned already. It was clear that this dish was beyond reviving. All that was left to do was to munch on my cold bland toast and wonder why we decided to try anything new at all. Why we thought anything so engrained in the culture of our campus could be worthwhile at all? I wonder if this place begrudgingly engages in breakfast because they feel they have to serve the brunch market? I see many of people on this review page recommending their sandwiches. In my opinion it is simply not worth it. I would not recommend this breakfast to anyone I care for in the slightest. I would perhaps serve it to my two beautiful cats but it could make them vomit. The coffee cake is pretty...

I've been to Mickies many times over the years. As a Madison native, I want to love this place because of the nostalgia, but it's so crowded and noisy and the wait staff seems stretched too thin (not their fault). If it were just those things I might go back yet again, but today we had such a bad experience with a manager that I won't return.

When I arrived, I was surprised by how busy and noisy it was for late morning on a weekday. I tried to ask to be seated in a particular spot (an empty booth in a less crowded) to accommodate a member of my party who gets overwhelmed in crowded, noisy spaces. The man I was talking to (who I later learned is a manager, I believe Pete) was abrupt and dismissive before I could even finish my request. He seated the two people behind me in the booth I'd asked if we could have, even though there were many other spots open at tables. Okay, fine. The two people I was meeting weren't there yet and I understand the need to wait for your full party to arrive before being seated at a busy restaurant.

If that had been it I would've forgotten and moved on; however, the manager grew angry and strangely passive aggressive when I tried to follow-up with him several minutes later to explain what I had wanted to ask and why. I honestly thought he'd be interested in getting the full picture and that it might help remind him to give folks a chance to communicate their needs in the future (aka customer service), but he immediately began to speak over me, repeating their policy about not seating until your full party is there, growing increasingly angry that we had gotten seated in a different booth by a different staff member because I "should have waited for him to come back" to seat me. He then followed me back to our table for no discernible reason and passive-aggressively asked the person I was now with (the one who I had wanted to accommodate) if everything was satisfactory (weird tone, weird body language, not the least bit genuine). When the third person in our party showed up a few minutes later, we decided to leave because of how unpleasant the experience had become.

I asked for the bill so I could pay for the coffee I had ordered and leave the waitress a tip. By this point, I was quite uncomfortable with the manager. All I wanted was to get out of there but he continued to repeat himself and then talk over me when I tried to respond. The weirdest part was that when he was making change from the $10 bill I'd given him, he wouldn't hand me my change until he had said everything he wanted to (all of which was an unwarranted angry repeat of stuff he'd already said).

I haven't had such a bad customer service experience in years. Maybe something is going on with him personally, but he made me so uncomfortable that I will never...

Man, oh man, this joint is the cat’s pajamas when it comes to breakfast. The coffee? Hot, strong, and poured with a smile, just like it should be. You’ll want to keep the refills coming. Rather have OJ or something else? No worries, they got it covered. Now, let’s talk about the grub. The pancakes? Fluffy perfection, stacked high and served with butter that melts just right. Breakfast potatoes aka “Yanks”are crispy on the outside, golden on the inside, exactly how the good folks up here like ‘em. Whether you’re after a classic egg-and-toast combo, omelette, or even steak & eggs, they’ve got it down to an art form. The service is friendly (Anna is the BEST followed closely by Capri!), the portions are generous, and the atmosphere feels like home. No fuss, no frills—just solid, honest food made the way it ought to be. If you’re looking for a place where the morning starts off right, this is it!

Oh, what’s that, you’re more interested in lunch? Well, step right up and grab yourself a seat. From the moment you step inside, you’re transported straight to a sock hop of flavors. The booths are cozy, the bar is humming’, and the service is smoother than a drive down Highway 42. The burgers? Outta sight! Juicy, stacked high, and served up with a side of crispy golden fries that’ll knock your bobby socks clean off. Rather have Grilled Cheese or a sandwich? Not a problem. And don’t even get me started on the shakes—thick, creamy, just like the good Lord intended. The whole vibe here is like a blast from the past, where the coffee flows, the folks are friendly, and every bite feels like the best thing since rock ‘n’ roll. If you haven’t swung by yet, you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’—get yourself down...