Mid Town Pub — Restaurant in Middleton

Had lunch here during the summer outside patio area and the service and burgers were some of the best. So I decided to try the fish fry Friday night inside.

We arrived at 4:50PM and there was already a 15 minute wait. You cannot sit at the bar to wait, as told to us by an older well dressed hostess, but in the waiting area located opposite the bar. The waiting area had comfy iseating ncluding one over sized two person love seat and a large oversized sofa. Our drink order was taken right away as we waited. What I did not learn, is that the free popcorn was not offered to us here in the lounging area until we were seated.

Once seated, we had a bit of a wait until a waitress came up and offered to take our order, but we did not have menu's so she got some and said she would return. Then, when we were ready to order, a different waitress came up to take our order. Not two minutes later the original waitress came up to take our order again and we explained it was just taken. She said that is fine, and that the waitstaff "free floats" around so anyone can take our order. Interesting, but this would be this places downfall.

I decided to go with the fried shrimp instead of fish fry as many people were ordering that as well. I asked for, and received my clam chowder bowl before my meal as did my sister. My brother in law though did not get his salad before his meal as requested, and it took a while to get someone to inform them. They even forgot to bring it with his meal! So we had to ask as they served the meal where his salad was. It came up ASAP then.

The clam chowder was only "OK". And I am a clam chowder afficianado. It was too runny and not creamy enough. The plus is the huge chunks of potatoes and clams, but it had no flavor. I had to add salt and pepper to get any type of flavor out of the soup. Would I order this or have it as my side again, no.

My shrimp were well breaded and huge. You get 1/2 lbs which was apprently equal to 6 shrimp. the cocktail sauce that came with it in a plastic small cup with lid was non descript. It had consistancy of jello, and absolutely no bite or taste to it. A simple catsup with horseradish added would of been better. I am not sure if this is cocktail sauce purchased this way in bulk, but it was bland.

My brother in-laws grilled lemon pepper fish was very good. I had a bite and wish I had gone that route. But looking at other tables, you get two to three huge breaded fish, and my brother in law received two very skinny thin pieces of fish! a fluke? Not sure.

My wife got a taco salad, and found it enjoyable except a little too spicy. This was due to the spicy alioli sauce they drizzled on top of the taco salad. She was only able to eat 1/2 of it because it was just too much spice from the sauce. Otherwise, she stated she would order this again, but without the alioli.

One of the waiters, a taller bigger male with beard was around our table taking orders and had very bad body odor. We noticed it everytime he walked by and we would just look at each other. Did not make for a pleasant experience everytime he was standing by our table taking food oders.

With the "free float" system of waiter/waitress no one came up to ask if our food was ok or needed anything else. It is a usual practice done in every restuarant I have been in except this one. Could it be they were understaffed? Did not seem like it with the amount of employees we saw. Could it be because of the "free float" system, I think so.

So would I give this place another try, yes very much so. It might of been a fluke type of night with the waitress order mess? I know I will not be getting the shrimp (due to sauce) or clam chowder again, but will try the fish or a burger next time.

I just hope they are able to work on the service of tables a little better as I had to look for our waitress to pay the bill, and ended up giving it to a different person so we...

I dined at Mid Town Pub several weeks ago. The staff was nice, the establishment has a large and impressive menu, and I was approached quickly, but several things went wrong with my order. It was almost as though the server hadn't listened to me at all when placing it. The restaurant was not crowded. In addition, the server made a vulgar comment about a competitor, which was offputting.

The problems were finally fixed, for the most part, and the meal was good, so I decided to give them another chance, and went there again weeks later, ordering the same thing - a Beyond burger, waffle fries, cole slaw, and soft drink. This time, I received the food the way I asked for it. I was even going to comment to the manager about the improvement of this latest visit. Instead, he approached me, and with a grim facial expression, hands me the check, and said I'm not welcome there anymore. I asked to speak to the owner. Reason: I complained about "everything", and was "rude" to wait staff". As an older and assertive woman dining alone, who had legitimate gripes, voicing them directly, I can't be sure, but I think that there may have been a discrimination factor at play. I had asked them a few questions, one of them being if they could replace my soda, which tasted strange. At the start, a fresh bowl of popcorn I requested had not been brought to me, and I got up and got it myself, but quietly, and not in a huff. I did make a comment about their charging for condiments like mayo and mustard, and joked that I probably should have brought my own.

Joel, the owner, wore the same hostile facial expression as the manager, and parroted the same thing he had said. As it stands, they both read a review I wrote on Facebook about my initial experience there (which was expressed in a fair manner and was legitimate). I think they did a disservice to themselves, as I was now ready to write a complimentary review.

Calmly, I told the owner and manager that I'll be writing more reviews after this last experience.

As I was leaving, I paid the check, added a 15% tip, like last time, was polite and courteous, wishing the staff a nice weekend.

I'm 67 years old, and have never been banned from a restaurant prior to this time. When mistakes are made by restaurant staff, and a customer verbalizes it, the staff should humble themselves, not be defensive, making the customer the villain. They should apologize, make it right, and tell them that they hope they return. When you're hungry and you decide to spend your money at one restaurant out of hundreds to choose from in town, that variable should...

Okay, so my first visit 4 months ago the bar was dirty and I didn't like the food. That was my opinion. BUT, today (7/14) was on a different level. My daughters brought me back for lunch before we went bowling. Everything was great, food, service, everything. It was when we went to pay the bill that we had an issue. The prices on the menu did not match the bill. We asked to have it corrected and one waitress said she was sorry and would fix it right away. Then she came back with another waitress who informed us that there was a price increase and they had yet to change the prices on the menu. She apologized and informed us that is the way it is. I enquired about what was just and fair and even asked how they would view the situation if they were in our shoes. We got shoulder shrugs and the statement of IDK. So, I then asked what the laws were here in WI regarding prices and what rights we have as consumers to be protected against this sort of practice. We were then informed that they had already spoken to the manager and the decision was that the price is the price and they hoped that we were okay with it. Well, we are not okay with that practice. My daughter sorted it out like this, we basically had to pay a fee just to come eat there... I explained to my kids that it wasn't about the money as we would've given it in the tip. But the bottom line is, that up until today this operation has basically hijacked its customers $. Today we showed them that for consumers that pay attention they now are hijacking their employees $ too. Tomorrow my daughters will get another lesson about the importance of the WI Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. It is all about the...