Vintage Brewing Co. Madison — Restaurant in Madison

I live in the neighborhood and the Vintage Brewing Company is certainly the singular bright spot among the otherwise mediocre restaurants that inhabit the Westgate area.

FOOD: They've taken your ordinary comfort foods and given them their own special flare that is not overdone but does not disappoint. On my most recent visit I indulged myself with perhaps their largest burger, The Tiger Burger. Prime rib, on a 1/2 lb of beef, on bacon, smothered with onions, mushroom, and provolone.

DRINK: Their beer keeps getting better and better and their variety should suit anyone's taste. Their "Snowflake 2012" is probably disappearing soon, but it is the nearest to Guinness that I've ever tasted. It was extraordinary!

PRICE: The range of price is actually quite inviting. They've tailored it so that you can eat light or in my case eat heavy and have priced accordingly and matches up with any other gourmet burger house. (This is not McDonalds) My Tiger Burger was on the high end of price, but I hope one would fully expect that for the ridiculous.

DECOR: We visited this same location when it was J. T. Whitney's and it was less than memorable. However, the Vintage has taken the same structure and made it something inviting, warm, and given the customer plenty to look at instead of their date. Every wall is ordained with wonderful "vintage" photos and relics, but not in a cracker barrel/famous dave's sort of way. Just the right amount. They've also done their best with the space they have and built a decent size patio which features some of their own barrels from the cask beer. (The only downside is that given the time of day, the traffic can be a little noisy on Whitney Way.)

SERVICE: Finally, I would agree that there is a hostess there that looks as if she could give two sh**s about anyone who walks through the front door. However, perhaps they just want you to be more attuned to how cordial the rest of the staff is. I've never had a bad bartender or waiter. The other day I took my two kids there (both 4 and under/Good kid menu btw.) We met with a couple friends for beers and lunch and midway through we were asked to switch booths so they could work on a bad audio speaker above our table. One might be irked, but the floor manager came over, asked us kindly, and then gave us our 3 beers on the house.

So, are you going to the Vintage tonight? You should do it . . . Really...

I'd Like to start out by saying that in general, we really like Vintage! We are in often. The restaurant is close to our house and we take customers here when they're in Madison because the menu has something for everyone. We also send many out of town customers here even if we can't come along!

We had some customers visiting on 10/31 and we headed over to Vintage around 5pm. The new menu was in place and I was excited to try it! The service was excellent, as always! 😊 I was not so happy with the food, which is the reason for my review. Our server was great and seemed excited about the new steak on the menu so I decided to give it a try. It wasn't great. My biggest issue was with the gravy. It was thick, dark and so, so salty. It was the consistancy of pudding and I couldnt eat it. The onion rings had good flavor, but two of them were cut from the tough, outer part of the onion and really weren't edible. The potatoes had good flavor, but were placed on top of the gravy and overwhelmed by salt. I ordered the steak medium-well, and it arrived very, verry well done. There was no time to send it back (and we had guests) So, I kept the dish. The plate didn't settle well. I'm thinking the meat may have a tenderiser or it's so much salt that's bothering me. It's definitely keeping me up tonight! My husband had fish and chips. He said it was okay, but the fish was a bit soggy. Our guests had the potato soup and a burger. They liked the burger, which Vintage always does well. They commented that the soup was salty. I'm hoping that the new menu is still being adjusted since it's so new! It looks like a good selection and we'd like to continue to bring our customers here when they visit...

Started with the curds, they came out quick, crispy and delicious. My table had fish tacos, and a chicken wrap, both excellent. The ice cream drinks were excellent. Service was friendly and professional. Can't go wrong here folks!

Follow up from Madison Burger Week 2017... The good, the bad, and the ugly. That's how I felt after leaving here last night. I went here with a friend to split the burger week special burger. We started with fried pickles and pork belly. The shining star of the night was definitely the pork belly, deep fried crispy on the outside and tender and juicy in the inside, covered with a very tasty glaze and sauces decorating the plate. Very appealing to the eye and the stomach. Then it went down hill... the breading on the Pickle Spears was falling off. So much in fact that they pulled 2 off the plate and replaced shortly after with 2 over-battered ones. Then the dinner burger came a few minutes after the starters arrived. Timing at this place wasn't on par yesterday. The special burger, well it's special alright. It starts with a grilled marble rye muenstr cheese, topped with 2 1/4 lb beef patties, topped with cheese, and lettuce, tomato, special sauce, the another grilled Swiss on marble rye, followed with twin fried pickles Spears, and 2 deep fried burger balls covered in cheese sauce. The cheese sauce was definitely not good, it was gritty, and I bet they used a packaged shredded cheese instead of from a block and shredding themselves. The burger overall was a mess of flavors that didn't work well. Probably not...