Settle Down Tavern — Restaurant in Madison

Our group of three went here for lunch. Overall, this was a good downtown lunch experience with tasty food, responsive service, great atmosphere, and reasonable prices.

Pros: Food quality: I got the Chicken Sandwich (Tuesday special), my wife got the Sausage Sandwich, and our friend got the burger. I didn't try my friend's burger, but he said it was good. My sandwich was exceptionally good, and my wife's was pretty tasty as well (comparable to Old Fashioned's sausage sandwich). We also ordered a large basket of fries and cheese curds. The curds were very good, but the fries were unremarkable. Atmosphere: The bar and a dining area are under a traditional ceiling, but the area we ate in was covered by a skylight, with stairways going up to other merchants in the same building. I rather enjoyed all the daylight and the mood. It felt like we were eating outdoors, but had the comfort of the indoors (we went in March). Service: We were seated right away, and all the staff was very friendly. We didn't seem to have a single server, but they seemed to operate as a team. Our water glasses were always full, and we never seemed to wait long to order drinks or our food Prices: They're reasonable, which is often surprising these days! Our bill for three sandwiches, three drinks (two beers and a Bloody Mary), and two appetizer baskets was around $60.

Cons: No sides with sandwiches: If you want a side, it's a separate order, which I'm not a fan of. Some people might like this, but I don't. Tap beer selection: There were two tap beers to choose from. They had a lot more in bottle or can, but if you're looking for draft beers, this place is limited. Parking: This place is like a block off the square, so parking is going to be limited and/or metered. Plus there's a bunch of construction right next to...

Edit: TLDR: honestly it's not worth coming here unless it's after 10pm for their late night menu.

I've been here a few times for late night menu and had a good time. Tonight I wanted fish fry and I figured I'd give them a shot. I made a reservation for 8pm, showed up at 7:50, and was seated in the back empty area.

I asked our server one question about the fish fry and he said that they ran out over half an hour ago (7:20ish). We decided that we're already here, so we'll get two drinks and an order of fries, then go get fish fry at Tipsy Cow. The drinks came out quick, although one came with a tomato in the mezcal ginger beer cocktail (?). Our fries took literally 40 minutes to come out, and when they did, they were cold.

To be clear, our server was great and attentive. He was regularly checking in on our and apologizing for the wait.

The late night situation has never let us down, but I'll never come back before 10pm. After 10pm = 5 stars, before 10pm = 2 stars.

I stopped in here for the first time after seeing the symphony at Overture, and I'm dang glad I did. I've been meaning to go here but I always forget about it being tucked away - I definitely found a new spot for the downtown rotation, though!

It's a cool chic bar area, the bartenders are super friendly, and the cocktails are A+. I've had a lot of espresso martinis in my day, and this is honestly one of the best, no question.

What I didn't expect is for the simple late night menu burger to blow me away. After 10, they just have burgers and fries. A limited menu for sure, but they absolutely NAIL both of them. One of the best no frills burgers I've ever had.

100% will be back, don't sleep on this place as a late night pop in. I know...

Settle down was suggested to us to try while we were in town. We were a group of four looking forward to a nice experience in downtown. We decided to sit inside as we have been outside all day and our waitress didn’t come to greet us or take our drink order for 20 min, meanwhile four bartenders and other staff are behind the bar or sitting at it having the best conversation I even made eye contact in a desperate attempt to alert that we were ready to order. I personally was famished and in desperate need of food so after we ordered our drinks my fiancé got a old fashioned that tasted like they put the whole bottle of bitters in it and my girlfriend got a martini like drink that was just okay I asked for a Tito’s and Red Bull (no Red Bull) then I asked for a basic glass of cab which she then told me they didn’t have and gave me a list of wine like drinks that at this point I wanted to just stick with water. My fiancé and I decided to get the small beet salad while we waited for our friends to finish their tiny sand-which and it was not even worth what we paid. By the time we were able to get our bill everywhere else was closed so we left our first experience in downtown hungry and sober. I work in the service industry and I would rather eat ham wraps out of my cooler in the hotel then to ever go back. So settle down tavern your service ain’t that great and neither...