Sweet Home Wisconsin — Restaurant in Madison

I do not like writing bad reviews but I feel this experience was one of the worst I've had in years. The hamburgers were decent but that is about where the good ends.

We were greeted from the friendly bartender as soon as we came in the door. He told us we could take a seat wherever we wanted inside or out back for the patio which we chose. A server brought menus and took our drink order. A few minutes later he came back with waters but the single beer we ordered was not included. We ordered off the menu which was easy pretty straightforward. He left and didn't see him again for about 15-20 minutes which he finally brought the beer.

About 5 minutes after the beer came, he returned and asked if he could bring 4 hamburgers orders out as they were ready; the only chicken sandwich would be a few more minutes he explained, we agreed. Unfortunately, it took another 10-15 minutes before the chicken sandwich came out, all others in our family were just finishing our meals. What made the timing worse is that the chicken sandwich came out and was questionably under-cooked, enough pink was showing that my wife decided not to risk eating it.

We informed the server upon his return and he was apologetic and understanding, he removed the chicken from our bill but the damage was already done. The hamburgers were pretty good, the fresh sourced beef was perfectly done on a wonderful bun. But the timing of the meals AND the drink is just too important. You can't have half your family eat, then wait for 15 minutes before the last person can eat. Also, you can't serve chicken that is under-cooked, thats just not acceptable.

I'm sure this an exception to the service and food that is normally served at this restaurant but it just wasn't what were were expecting after all the good reviews we've seen online. We left pretty disappointed, it's a restaurant that we probably won't even want to try again in the future. I feel like Madison has some wonderful restaurants and even better wait staff. This place is nowhere near to the other well known burger...

I had the black and blue burger I had was pretty tasty, messy...but that's not a bad thing. The chips were ok, and I was happy to see the classic pickle with the plate. The beer selection was a bit all over the place, with maybe a little more domestic beers like Miller/Bud/Labatt/etc. than you would think, but also a fair number of craft beers on tap or in the bottle. Didn't have a mixed drink to cant comment.

The prices felt a bit steep, but really not any more so than anywhere else on the isthmus (and very similar to what OSS was). That is to say around $10-$13 for a plate and $4-$8 for a beer. Although the beers were a little small and I would like to see a little bit larger of a side with the burgers.

Overall the experience was good; the burger was tasty, the prices were on par, and the staff was friendly and accommodating for our large group. The one thing that kept feeling off to me (and my experience with the former owner OSS might show here), and that was the awkwardness of 'are we a sit down restaurant, or a bar?' feeling.

There were menus on the tables like you would find at a sit down restaurant, but the space is definitely a bar feeling where you order your drink and food at the bar. I hope that as they make that space their own (they're using a lot of OSS remnants) they'll figure out either how to make that space work for a sit down restaurant...or more preferably allow the space to work as a neighborhood bar (like Harmony for you east siders).

Looking forward to going back again and trying something different though. Glad to see that space back up...

This place has wonderful food and great drinks. Service was reasonably prompt and pleasant, food was delicious, drinks equally great. My only downside is expectations. When your times state 10:30 close, I expect 10:30 close. Instead, at 9:50 our table was told “We’re closing, but no rush, are you ready for the check?” This indeed insinuates that we should head out now. 40 min earlier than the advertised close. While finishing our drinks, all table’s chairs were being placed on the tables, a clear indication of closing. All tables chairs were on the tables except ours by 10pm. I totally understand a slow night, but as a manger, one should set expectations for customers regardless of current customer level. Instead they should set time for 10pm if this indeed is their existing typical closing time. Set a time, and stick to it. Again, food was delicious, from burger to cheese curds, it was all great. Please reevaluate your timings to align with your expectations. Nonetheless, thank you for...