The Lone Girl Brewing Company — Restaurant in Waunakee

This is one of those instances where I wish I didn’t have to assign a star rating, since this business just recently opened and is still getting it bearings. After tracking the progress of their build-out on their Facebook page, I decided to drop by for lunch during opening week.

I am totally impressed with how they transformed the old Koltes Hardware Store into such an inviting and comfortable setting. The first floor is spacious, with a pair of dining areas and an impressive bar. The feature that immediately catches you eye is the corner rotunda, with its large round table and distinctive chandelier. The interior effectively employs plenty of rustic, repurposed wood and exposed interior cream-colored bricks to balance out the more contemporary elements like the concrete floor and exposed ceiling ductwork. There are a variety of seating options with spacious booths and 4 and 6-top tables in front and larger communal picnic tables in back. There are a number of flat screen by the bar, though none in the main dining area.

The second story features a large outdoor patio with a pleasant view of Main Street Waunakee and a fire pit. There is a separate host stand for this area to help keeps things moving efficiently.

The host stand is not near the Main Street door, so there is a short moment of awkwardness when you enter the restaurant. Once the host saw me enter, I was warmly greeted. My server dropped off the abbreviated opening week menu, which featured a short list of appetizers and sandwiches. I elected to go with the crab cakes (fresh crab & cod with red peppers over a shallot cream sauce), which were a disappointment. I was hoping to see more crab meat, given the $11 price tag. It didn’t help that the breading was too salty, and the flavor of the crab meat was too mild. The shallot cream sauce didn’t add as much to the meal as I would have hoped. The one saving grace of my dish was the bright lemon aioli, which helped cut through the salty breading and added an appreciated pop of flavor.

While the food wasn’t all that memorable, it still raises the bar for Waunakee and it is my hope that the kitchen can continue to fine-tune its offerings over the coming weeks. The price point for the menu will require the kitchen to be at the top of its game if Lone Girl hopes to become a...

We made the unfortunate decision to stop here for lunch today. It was not busy. We got our food pretty fast, but once the server dropped our food off, he never returned. We watched him take drink orders for the large group in his section, then take orders for the other two tables in his section - but he never came by to see if we needed anything, refill our drinks, he never even looked our way. I know, because I had been trying to get his attention for a while so we could at least get refills.

We finished our food without drinks and waited to get his attention to get the bill. Napkins on our plates, empty drinks, credit card sitting in front of me, waiting to pay - it was pretty obvious, but never did he look our way. We continued to sit for over 20 more minutes just waiting to be able to pay and leave.

I finally walked up to the bar to ask for a to-go box and a bill. He looked put out by my request, so I said "we've been waiting over 15 minutes". His response was crazy. Rather than apologizing or even just taking care of me, he snapped at me and argued that he's been busy, and can't we see that?? He said "it's not like I haven't been working. I am the only one here". At that point the female employee next to him - that had been helping him this whole time - asked me if she could go get me a box, thankfully. After a few more rude, defensive comments to me, he grabbed my card and ran it, then dropped the machine on the bar in front of me, turned and walked away.

My husband and I have over 30 years combined food service experience, so yes, we do completely understand getting in the weeds and/or having to serve a big table while still managing your section. Just because you have a big table doesn't mean the other customers no longer matter.

Never in a million years would either my husband or I have spoken to a customer the way he spoke to me. I was taken aback. Can't understand why that was the first place to go? Why not just give me a check and a box?

We won't be back to Lone Girl. I wasn't mean or rude, and I was right to be disappointed by the service. I absolutely did not deserve to be talked...

Being residents of Waunakee, we were very excited for Lone Girl to open. Their sign hanging above the windows facing Main Street claiming "opening late spring" had us driving out of our way every few days to see if it were actually open yet since there was no info online. Finally, the Friday after Memorial Day weekend, we actually saw some action through the windows. We called up a couple friends and headed in for dinner only to find out that it was a soft opening and the customers inside were there by invitation. This was a tad disappointing since it's already June, and there is no indicator anywhere when the place is actually going to open. Anyways, we got over it and checked them out again the following weekend.

The word brutal comes to mind..... My fiancé and I waited 10 minutes at the bar before any employee even looked at us. We were handed a menu that for some reason had dessert listed after specialty drinks and prior to entrees.....kind of weird. They had TV's mounted at the bar, but they weren't turned on. No cable yet? Also no beer of their own yet.... Anyways, we ordered two specialty drinks off their menu, she a Manhattan variant, and I, a Moscow Mule. The bartender tasted our drinks prior to giving them to us, while rubbing his belly and proclaiming "mmmm." We were a little creeped out, but also amused. What was not amusing was our check. We walked out of their with three drinks and an order of nachos with beef and guacamole for a tab of $50! Apparently the third drink, double Jameson and Coke is $14, specialty drinks are $10 apiece, and nachos are $10, but an extra $3 for guacamole, and another $3 for meat.

The place is pretty sharp looking inside, but the prices are ridiculous for Waunakee, WI. It's hard to give this place another shot after just returning from a weekend trip to downtown Chicago and paying less per item for similar drinks and appetizers at bars off of Michigan Avenue. In my opinion, similar offerings in both drink and ambience can be found less than 10 minutes away in Middleton for a much...