Shipley's Tavern — Restaurant in Madison

This was my second time eating here. The first time, it did take a little bit long to get our food, but our server was very friendly and attentive to refilling drinks and carrying on good conversation. This time, however, we waited 20 minutes just to have our order taken. We had to practically wave her down to get our order put in. It wasn't busy either (2 others sitting at the bar besides us plus one table of 2 in the back). We got our appetizer and then noticed our server left the building completely. She came back right around the time we were finishing our meal. It took another 20 minutes just to get our check. We were there for a little over an hour and a half- most of that time was spent waiting. One couple came in and left after a while because no one acknowledged them. I felt bad because there was only 1 server left on her own to take care of the entire place by herself. She did a great job, though! We will still come back because you can't beat the tasty food - but for the love of Pete, hire more...

The big blonde at Shipleys sucks, sorry they dont have name tags... Theres maybe 15 people here, the little blond got us our drinks, was super friendly. We finished them and sat and waited for the little blond to get done with her break because the other 2 girls didnt acknowledge we exsited. My husband even went and asked the big blond for a couple drinks for us and still, we sat here til the little blond came back... they werent busy, we werent rude to them, I dont understand working in public service and completely ignoring people. Im pretty sure the owner is paying both the big blond and big dark haired girl to do a job... oh well. We used to tell our friends they had to get a shipley burger anytime they came to town (if we didnt take them down there ourselves), but we will never recommend this...

This place literally makes the best hamburgers, I mean it. Not much on the menu but what's on it is fantastic.

The downside is it is a bar, and it's small one so it gets crowded fast. Makes me feel old cause there is always that one person that comes in and plays horrible music on the jukebox, which is why I don't eat there alot cause you basically HAVE to get 2 beers in you so you can resist smashing your face into the brick wall to distract the pain the jukebox inflicts on your ears.

Oh, and there is the occasional bar fight, which doesn't really bother me compared to the jukebox... Funny enough the police station is literally right across the street, so why people start bar fights there is...