Nitty Gritty-Middleton — Restaurant in Middleton

Like hamburgers? Eat here!

I've been here twice now with my family, and both times featured delicious burgers, awesome waitstaff, and very full bellies.

They market themselves as a birthday place, and I think I can confirm that it's a pretty good restaurant to go to on your birthday. My dad and I took my mom there for her birthday earlier this month. She was given a glass mug, hers to keep, that she could get free drinks in for the night. They tied a balloon to the mug handle, which I have to say is a pretty clear but not obnoxious way of making it easy to see who gets the birthday privileges.

Make sure the birthday person brings their ID, though!

The birthday names get written on a small board at the bar, then at some point in the evening they read off all the names and give people a chance to clap and cheer.

Finally, they bring out one of their adorable mini-sundaes (a good size to follow 1/3lb burgers and fries) along with a coupon promising the birthday guest one free mini sundae per month for the next year. It's a cute idea! Our waiter led the table in singing happy birthday--much lower key than having a bunch of waitstaff clapping at you.

Speaking of lower keys, I did NOT have the range to sing in the key our waiter chose. He was quite good, very nice choice. We're wondering if the ability to sing is a requirement for working there, or if he just happens to be a talented singer. He was super nice, too! 5 stars for him!

Oh, and for people like me who might be curious, I was told that they do wash out and reuse those little sundae containers, so they're not just throwing a boatload out all the time. Cool.

So, the food itself.We get burgers with no sides and a basket of fries to split, which is more than enough for three people. We've gotten burgers both times we've gone and haven't regretted it a bit. As I mentioned, they're 1/3lb hamburgers, and they serve them on a very tasty wheat bun. There are lots of customization options on the menu, including different patties. I would take a pretty confident guess and say that they can make you whatever kind of hamburger you're thinking of.

Within reason, I mean. I think. Some of them may well be out of reason...

I've been to the nitty gritty before always with a positive experience. This time was a bit different. Went for my birthday which means free drinks which definitely scores some points. We were initially seated at a two person table near the upstairs bar which clearly was added as an afterthought. We proceeded to wait for 10 minutes without anyone coming by to help us. My fiance actually went to to the bar to see if we had a server at one point and we still had another 5minute wait after that. When we finally were lucky enough to have a waitress speak with us it was all thank you for being patient and never an apology. We put in an order for a brat basket, a burger and a basket of cheese curds as a starter. The burger showed up correctly but the brat showed up as a double and without the fries that it was supposed to come with. No cheese curds in sight. We commented that we were missing the curds and that the brat was wrong. Our server left and came back still without any of the corrected items. Again we explained how the brat was wrong and missing fries and how we were waiting for the curds. The server apologized and disappeared again. Back she came this time with the correct brat but still without any fries or curds which we were told was because she just wanted to get the meal out. An odd explication for why an appetizer was not out. Finally once I'd finished my burger and my fiance ate her brat the fries and cheese curds came out. The server apologized and offered to comp us some mini sundaes, which I'm pretty sure are supposed to be free as part of the birthday special. We declined and asked for the check so that we could get out before the server disappeared again. We ended up paying full price for everything including the exceedingly tardy curds. The food overall is good, but if the service at this location is that bad on a night where it really did not seem busy then I'd recommend finding a different place...

Overall, probably the worst eating experience in the last year that I've been in Madison. The server was apathetic. After I asked for time to decide on a beer and water, never even came back to ask about a drink. Never bothered to collect our menus after ordering. Never bothered to refill the water. Didn't bother to ask about a split check.

That doesn't even get to the food. The chicken wrap had a single flavor: just a general greasy taste. Couldn't even taste to sauce. You could feel it, not not taste it. Burger was the same. I could see the onion rings, and I could see the butter on the pretzel bum. But it tasted more bland than a McDonald's dollar burger. I wish I was exaggerating.

The fries came out stale. I don't know how they managed, I worked dropping fries for a couple of years, and I don't know how they managed to have fries so hot that you could see the oil coming out. But they tasted stale after the first bite. Same for the pub chips.

And finally, I don't know what was going on with the salsa, but it was sour, and almost tasted rancid. After eating it, your tongue would burn, but not from spices. It was like somehow lime juice got under the skin and stung. It was weird, and disgusting.

They got the beer right. But anyone can tilt a glass and pull a lever.

Honestly, I might come here again in a couple of years, but for all the labels saying the best of Madison, stay away. This was the most thoroughly mediocre of Madison. If you have a guest coming into town on holiday, show them something else. Like the tap house, Freihaus Gastropub, or Bristled Boar. You know, a place that takes pride in it's food. After I mentioned how bland the whole meal was (all half eaten at this point, no one wanted to finish it). Nothing was done. No apologies. No options for something else. Just a bill. Complete and total apathy from start to finish.

Find a restaurant that cares....