Weary Traveler Freehouse — Restaurant in Madison

The Weary Traveler Freehouse was our 3rd attempt at dinner on St. Patrick's night, the 2 previous restaurants we entered had a 1-2 hour wait. Apparently it was fate that we decided to stop, as we waited a mere 10 mins and got a table in a very packed venue. Shortly after being seated the hostess dropped off menus and water. Within 10 mins we were greeted by a very pleasant server who took our drink order, discussed the nightly specials and asked if we had questions or if we wanted to place our food order right away. We knew what we wanted so we placed the food order right away. The drinks came and they were top notch. The atmosphere is fun and decorated to keep your eyes busy checking everything out. Music was light and smooth jazz, which was perfect for the venue, but perhaps just a tick too loud. We had fun talking and enjoying the sights and our drinks, but after 40 mins we started noticing that several other tables near us, that were seated after we were already getting food (remember we ordered right away with our drinks-10 mins after being seated). Our server stopped by and apologized for the extra long wait and that our food would be out soon, but another 15 mins and 2 more tables nearby received their orders and then finally our food arrived. Our order was nothing out of the norm, as we both ordered the Ruben sandwich that came with fresh greens and bacon potato salad. All of which was very worth the extra waiting time. The fresh baked rye bread was fantastic and the house made dressing was a welcome surprise compared to the usual thousand island dressing that most places use. The bacon potato salad was amazing, with chunky fresh cucumbers and smooth dressing seasoned to compliment the sauerkraut and pastrami of the Ruben. Our server then brought us 2 slices of complimentary Irish Soda Bread as compensation for the delay in our food making it to the table. As we finished our meals our server came back to ask if dessert was in our future and proceeded to describe the available items including the Irish Soda Bread, that he stated "not my favorite", LOL apparently he didn't remember giving us 2 slices 10 mins earlier. Subsequently we declined dessert and asked for the check. This place is great, fun, lively and energetic and the food is exceptional and worth the wait time. If our service had been slightly more attentive and detailed I would give 5 stars for all aspects of our visit. We will be back and look forward to trying other items...

The smells when you walk in are mouthwatering, it definitely puts you in the mood for food. However that's probably where the good ends. The atmosphere is unusual, a random assortment of decor, mismatched furniture, and a mix of disco and jazz music. The server seemed sweet, but not really caring. The lemonade was virtually cloudy water and when I asked for a Sprite, they brought me the same unnerving cloudy water but this time with bubbles and maybe a hint of sweet. The explanation was that their machine was malfunctioning and she just wouldnt charge us for it. How wonderful. I ordered the bad breath burger, medium rare, and my boyfriend ordered the meat and cheese platter. We had to leave early due to his feeling unwell, and it's a good thing I took my burger to go because with the lights at home on it showed that it was completely raw in the center. I discovered this after hauling away the almost half block of cream cheese perched on top of the pile of what I'm assuming are onions that look like they were dug out of a grease trap. The burger, from what I ate - minus the bun, onions, and box of cream cheese- was seasoned well enough and not too bad, it seems like a quality beef, so I'll give them that. The unfortunate part is the fact that I now have to finish cooking the burger I paid for to be cooked. The garlic chips that came with the burger were either soggy and limp or burnt to an inedible crisp, and the "fresh greens" were sad and left something to be desired. The meat and cheese platter was underwhelming, the crackers and fruit mustard that came with it were the saving grace of the dish. The meats were glorified cold cuts or grocery store quality sausages and the cheese was equally Walmart quality. I'm sure for your typical Madison college student or resident their non GMO, organic, free-range tap water is to die for, but for people like us who are just looking for a good meal and drinks, this is...

I'm having a tough time with this review because I used to love this place. I wish I had left a review back then saying how great it was instead of bumming everyone out with this blurb.

Third stop on our Sunday funday. Sat at any table we wanted since we were coming at an odd time of day for food; 4:00 PM. We didn't wait long before we had menus and water in front of us and our order was taken shortly after. Our food took forever to come and the longer we sat there the more we started to notice how dirty stuff was around us. The fabric covered bench backs were noticeably packed with grime and we found several brown and cracking tree leaves from Fall of an unknown year lingering next to dried up food stuck to the floor.

At one point I ventured to the restroom to take inventory of the number of people in the place to offer an internalized excuse for why the food was taking so long only to find we were one of six, groups of two in the place.

My mom's face sunk into deep disappointment when the table next to us, whom arrived 20 minutes after we ordered, received food before we did. I did take note what they received may have been easier to make than our two sandwiches, but still. My point drags on.

Our food finally arrives and it was excellent, maybe even worth the wait. Our server did an excellent job remembering my dumb food allergy and made sure to note I'd survive this meal. That was the last time they stopped at our table. They walked past us many more times but never checked in and eventually someone else showed up to offer us boxes and bring us the check.

As always, I'll give it another chance someday,...