The Old Fashioned — Restaurant in Madison

I can’t believe how horribly we were treated here, the server clearly can’t handle a high stress fast paced environment. I think her name was Sophie? Maybe she should go back to hosting. First she refused to do anything for us because she was anticipating a rush, fine, I get it, I’ve worked in restaurants before and I work in the service industry. Then two drunk people come in and start screaming the entire menu at eachother, and shining a flash light in our eyes from 6 inches away. We are sitting on one of those tables that is a booth and a table where you end up very close to the people next to you. We asked them to please stop shining a light in our eyes and they couldn’t believe it, my boyfriend was so upset they ended up getting in the most pathetic argument with these drunk people. I guess we should have just sat there and waited for them to stop pointing their flash lights at us and basically screaming in our ears so loudly. Then they asked to move tables (they wanted to move tables from the minute they sat down because it was wobbly, so just used this as an excuse) next thing we know the server immediately took the side of the screaming drunk people shining a flashlight in our eyes, these people just had a complete disregard for other people around them. Who knows what they told the server about us, it doesn’t matter. We were notified that our service has now ended, and the server refused to bring me a box for my food. Basically she got on a power trip and kicked us out… never had an experience like this one. Our only other options would’ve been to ignore the screaming people 6 inches away from us, which our experience would’ve still been ruined, or ask to switch tables, but the server really didn’t seem like the type to go for that especially because we were already eating, so we just tried to ask them to stop shining the light. I can’t believe how it escalated. Don’t come here unless you want to tolerate belligerent drunk people picking fights with you just to switch tables and servers who back it up. I shouldn’t have even paid seeing as though I couldn’t bring my food home or finish eating it. Horrible experience. I have never written a bad review in my life but this will be the first! The management needs to work on their service and how they treat their paying customers, your staff is inconvenienced by...

WORST birthday dinner EVER! First, the food was bad. My “Wisconsin” hot dog was so bland, and the fries that came with it were bland too. The fondue we ordered was bland and chalky; the chain, The Melting Pot, has way better fondue. Second, our waitress, Joana, was awful. She took SO long to take our order and we barely saw her at all throughout the whole meal, so we couldn’t flag her down when we needed her. My husband’s coke glass was empty for the majority of the meal due to her absence and, when he reminded her for at least the 2nd time to refill it after we had finished dessert and asked for it in a to-go cup, she gave him DIET coke... As for the icing on the cake of our whole awful experience, it’s pretty much common courtesy for restaurants to give free dessert for birthdays, but apparently Joana is totally clueless about this. We asked if they did anything for birthdays (because it’s my birthday today) and she said they don’t have cake, but could bring out a “crisp.” We said okay (because I at least wanted SOMETHING to feel celebratory) and she brought a dish out. It tasted like apple oatmeal with ice cream or something like that, so I ate a few bites and called it a day. Then, she has the audacity to charge us $7 for the dessert! I do not understand why this restaurant has been highly acclaimed by Food Network. I watch that channel all the time and the dishes they put out do not compare to what my husband and I ate tonight. I came with high expectations, and they weren’t even remotely met. Awful, slow, unkind, and inattentive waitress. Bland food. No cake or celebration. Disappointing ending to our trip to Wisconsin, and worst birthday dinner ever. $50 for an awful night. Would love to be reached out...

As someone who worked in the service industry for 20 years in 3 different states. I'd like to say, first of all, I understand how hard it can be to accommodate 11 people with no reservation. However, after arriving here right around 2pm (after lunch rush), Paula, our host, was unwilling to compromise anything. Had two tables open next to each other. One table could seat 6, and the other table could seat 4, but they couldn't make adjustments to sit 1 extra person. Fine. We ended up with 3 separate tables, 2 next to each other, and 1 on the opposite side of the entrance. Once there was an open table large enough to bring the rest of the party closer, Paula was unwilling to let them move seats. Even though about 6 tables opened up in the next 5 minutes.

At one point, I went to buy my father in law a shot from the bar. That was also unacceptable to Paula, who stated that if I have a seat, do not go to the bar to order a drink, but to wait for my busy server to come back. I've never heard of this at a pub/bar in my life. Overall, the servers & bartender deserved an A+. Unfortunately, Paula, our host, deserves an F. The food and servers were amazing, but the atmosphere that Paula provided left a dull taste in my mouth. I will ABSOLUTELY never go back and would not recommend this place to anyone.

Of all the restaurants I've worked at and visited in my 20 years, this is one of the worst experiences I've ever dealt with. Your restaurant should absolutely care about the employees, but to make the customer feel unwelcome because it wouldn't be fair to the server if a table switches seats is just ridiculous. Their server could have easily walked an extra 10 steps to provide the same table in a...