Off Broadway Taproom — Restaurant in Madison

wife and I went here for dinner a couple of weeks ago... kinda crappy, all around...

we were about to sit down at an open table with four chairs when the waiter shook his head at us and pointed to a smaller table with 2 chairs...

whatever... it wasn't busy, but we sat at the smaller table...

within a minute or two, 2 of the locals showed up and sat at the table we had been shooed away from... guess it depends who you are...

then we sat and waited as the waiter took their orders and everyone else's around them & just ignored us for long enough that we were talking about walking out...

finally, he came and took our order and we waited again... then, $9 for 2 dozen tortilla chips and some bad salsa... for an extra $5, you can get that tiny cup of terrible guacamole...

took a long time to order, but the food came quickly... unfortunately, we both ordered those horrible tacos... pretty much inedible... the chicken one was particularly vomitous... we each ate 1 bite of each...

we felt so unwelcome that we wondered if the food was deliberately awful, to discourage us from coming back...

so, then i had to shout at the waiter to bring us our bill - he acted like I was rude to shout at him after he had passed us at least a dozen times without ever looking our way... he was obviously very deliberately ignoring us...

my wife, who is overly sensitive to this stuff, but who is also japanese, noticed she was the only non white person in the place, and assumed this was the reason for the bad service... I theorized it's an insular community that favors the locals, and it probably had nothing to do with her being asian... either way, it was terrible service and bad food...

(so, then we went to my aunt's and ate the rest of the b-bop pizza from the previous night... that place, btw, is the best pizza we had the whole trip... )

anyhow, on a 27 day road trip, where we ate over 50 meals, I ranked off broadway taproom dead last...

& obviously, were they not selling liquor, they'd have been out of business a...

We had planned a trip here for a few weeks. We aren't local to Madison so we married a visit to the taproom up with hiking at the falls. Unbeknownst to us, there was a street festival today which just made parking a little tricky and added some foot traffic. We stopped in to eat and were never acknowledged by the staff. It's a typical bar set up so it's very obvious when people come in. I went to the restroom and still... nothing. So we decided to leave, place an order over the phone, and take it to the river to eat. No one would answer the phone. Then we thought we would wait a bit and walked around downtown. Came back and my boyfriend hunted down an employee to ask about getting seated. We were told we were next in line. The crowd inside had quieted and tables were going to be opening up. A couple in front of us snatched the first available up which, considering they were having the same issues as us regarding a lack of acknowledgement, I don't blame them. No one came to wait on them ... um well ok. A table that could seat 4 opened up and we thought we would finally get to sit down and eat. But behold! The angry manager decided that a 4 top is only allowed for 4 people and that the 2 of us were not allowed to be seated there. He approached with a chip on his shoulder and my boyfriend didn't receive that well. MIND YOU NO ONE ELSE WAS WAITING TO BE SEATED but, even with pointing that out, the man in stripes got crappier as did my boyfriend. We were all but kicked out just because we wanted to pay good money for a local business that we had looked forward to coming to. Crazy bummed by the experience. I have major GI issues so it was a big deal to plan this with meds etc. I have no idea if the food is good but the typical bar vibe, ignoring by the staff, no one answering the phone, and craptastic attitude by the dude will make it so I never return or even mention the place in a...

While in Madison, IN last week, I visited a locally owned pub, the Off Broadway Taproom. I enjoyed good boneless wings and a perfectly poured Guinness during my first visit. The bartender suggested I return for Taco Tuesday. If you know me, then you can guess where I was Tuesday. The tacos were tremendous, especially the carnitas! They were the best tacos I’ve had in a long time. The margarita wasn’t the best, but then I am a tequila snob. When the check came, I called the waitress over because I thought it was wrong. I mean, three tacos and two margaritas for only $13.04? No way! The waitress told me their tacos and margaritas have special pricing on Tuesdays, and the bill was correct: $2.50 each for tacos and margaritas. Wow! I haven’t had such an inexpensive meal in a long time…not to mention when including two adult beverages. I can’t wait to visit Madison again, and Off Broadway plays a strong role in that desire. I strongly recommend a visit. I will note that you should plan to arrive early or leave time to wait for a table. They were packed during both my visits on Monday night and Tuesday afternoon. Also, no pets or children are allowed. This is...