The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company — Restaurant in Madison

Great Dane is usually a consistently-good experience. Not this time.

We visited on Thursday, December 13, 2012. We had a new server, so it was expected that some things might not go as usual, but they really dropped the ball that night. The new server was as helpful as she could be. However, we were trying to use a voucher that we had purchased from the Chamber of Commerce some time ago. The restaurant would not honor the voucher because the company that issued the check had apparently gone bankrupt. But instead of saying, “Well, we know you came here because you had paid $25 for a meal that you cannot now claim at our restaurant, so we can give you 10 or 20% off your bill,” or something to that effect, the manager simply said, “We can no longer honor those vouchers. Maybe you can get your money back.” He was polite enough about it, but it was a very unsatisfactory response.

We ordered drinks. My Long Island Ice Tea was not very potent. The beer keg was spewing foam and so the beer took a long time to arrive (it arrived after happy hour had begun, but we were charged the non-happy hour price). The burger we ordered was something with Gouda and bacon. We got upcharged to get buffalo instead of beef. Despite its many toppings and cheeses, the burger was bland. We got the Nakomis Nachos. They come in an impressive stack, but most of those don’t have a single topping on them. Only the top first layer has toppings. So those were disappointing. We also got the Honey Pepper Salmon Club. It was a farm-raised salmon fillet (which, because they feed them fish pellets, tastes a lot more “fishy” than a wild fillet). The fillet was dry, and the sandwich was also not exciting considering the ingredients/description. The French fries appeared cooked in grease that was not hot enough and thus arrived wet with oil. We were upcharged for a side of ranch dressing that I said I only wanted if it was going to be free.

When I pointed out the billing errors (dressing and drink that arrived after happy hour), the server blew it off as, “Something you talked about with the other server. I wasn’t here.” She then sent the manager over to “explain our bill to us” as though we were idiots. I told him that it didn’t seem that either he or the server were equipped to solve any problems with respect to our experience (and I hadn’t even mentioned our dissatisfaction with the food), but only to offer reasons or excuses, and that was unacceptable. I explained this to the server as well. They both appeared not to appreciate my none-to-veiled suggestion that they need to practice doing more to “make it right” with a customer rather than offering excuses.

In the end, some of our drinks disappeared from the bill and the amount was significantly reduced. However, if they’d done this early on instead of making us feel unappreciated or like we weren’t valued, then I wouldn’t have had to write this review. However, of the 3 or 4 times I’ve been to the Great Dane, this has been my only bad experience (downtown location. Server...

Worst restaurant experience I've had in Madison for a long time. Service on Saturday 9/23 was slow to being non-existent. Even the drinks service dragged. The food when it finally came seemed to have spent too much time under the heat lamp. My black beans were skinned over and my companion's Mac-and-cheese pasta's edges were crisp-dry (again, too much heat lamp?). The 'mac' was penne, not macaroni ~ in this foodie town?! Seriously? He wouldn't finish it, though he spent the day on the golf course and was hungry. It was not the Wisconsin cheesy melt that was described in the menu and was expected. Even Panera does this dish better. They offered to redo my beans, but by the time they came, dinner was over. I had to ask for some basic salsa you'd expect with quesadillas! Again, served tooo late to enjoy with the rest of dinner. Geeze! I spoke to the wait staff about my concern who claimed the kitchen was 'backed up' because there was a 'large party' they were tending to. I guess my 'party' didn't rate!!! They simply cannot handle their business! We sat on the patio which is generally pleasant, but frankly, it seemed as if the place was short staffed. I was particularly disappointed because we were entertaining guests. It was my sister's birthday. Madison claims to be such a foodie town. I would say that The Great Dane, Madison does not live up to its hype. Tonight it reminded me of a second rate college town burger dive, instead of the brew pub with decent food it claims to be. I was embarrassed to have chosen it. Will not return. Will...

This is a composite review from a couple of different visits, one last summer (2022) and one this winter (early 2023). I'm a long-term customer and historically a fan of the Great Dane. I've been going to this location since the 1990's. It was always one of my favorite places to take out-of-town guests and I still like their Scotch Ale. But the last couple of visits have convinced us to go elsewhere when downtown Madison for the foreseeable future. The whole establishment has just gotten run down, from the bar area to the patio to the bathrooms. Last summer we sat in the patio area and it was in serious need of some maintenance...dead plants, brush and weeds run amok. It felt like nobody really cared about what it was like out there, and had been ignored for quite a while. The food was fine, but the menu has been pretty stagnant. We visited again this past winter on a Saturday afternoon and it had the feel and look of a college dive bar. The bartender, while not rude, seemed indifferent to her customers and again, the place seemed tired and run down. Their flagship beers are still fine (I still really like their Scotch Ale), but don't expect anything new/interesting from their brewer. I don't want to give up on them entirely, but this location needs to undergo a major refurbishment to get their old shine back. We still stop by the Hilldale location occasionally but are passing on the downtown location for now. There are so many other great options downtown these days. Once they seem to care again we'll give it...