Great Dane Pub Review

      Our last stop on the Great Wisconsin Pub and Brewery tour may have been the best. So good in fact, we ate lunch at the airport location on our way home the next day. The Great Dane looks more like a professional chain restaurant than a local place full of character. That may be because they now have five locations and plan on growing even more. We visited the Fitchburg location. Located in a mall area full of other stores and restaurants, the Great Dane is a stunner to look at. Lots of brick on the outside, beautiful dark woods and copper beer tanks on the inside. We chose to eat out on the patio, as it was a warm and sunny, summer night.

     Our first disappointment, was that some of the beers were sold out ?? It's a brew pub, shouldn't you have beers in stock. Since the Fitchburg location list only 6 beers ALWAYS on tap and of those, two were sold out, that left slim pickings, I settled for Old Glory American Pale Ale, it was quite good , not an exceptional ale but cold and refreshing on a hot patio. Next disappointment was our server, she was all smiles at first, but maybe because we moved to the shade without asking she got sullen? Not sure why but her attitude wasn't the greatest and she would disappear for long stretches at a time.

      When I first glanced at the menu I was intrigued and frightened at the same time. We have all been to those chain restaurants that have a hundred item menu of which NONE of it is local, or even tasty. All of it brought in frozen, in nicely pre-packaged servings, by big trucks with names like Cisco on the side, BLAH my absolute LEAST favorite restaurants in the whole, wide world. Give me a local hole in the wall place making food bought fresh from within the area ANY day. Now that you heard the rant I have to say I was wrong. The food was the best part of this experience. We all tried something different and every meal was great.

      To start we shared the Tuna TaTaki, this was very good, maybe a bit unexpected as we were far from water here, but the tuna was very fresh and the Cajun spice dusted on top gave it just the right amount of heat. For our entrees we visited around the world, starting with wifey and India. Her tandoori chicken was not a true "tandoori" but more tandoori spiced, still very good but what she truly raved about was the almond flavored Israeli cous cous that came with it. Along with tomatoes, olives, artichokes, grilled flat bread and a lemon yogurt dipping sauce, this was the U.N. on a plate.

      My meal was no less exotic for the mid-west. Called "Drunken Jerk", (NO comments please), it was
tender pork shoulder, soaked in spiced rum and jerk marinade,slow-cooked and wrapped in banana leaves, then finished with coconut-lime butter and pineapple salsa (yes I copied from the menu,and no I can't get the fonts to match ). Served with incredible, sweet, fried plantains, this was an exceptional meal. And it was a hoot for everyone at the table, because the amount of pork in the banana leaf wrapper seemed never ending, just when I thought it was done, I'd notice another fold and even more yummy tender meat. For his meal , Dean went with a great American city, New Orleans. His smothered and covered chicken read like this,a hand-breaded fried chicken breast topped with shrimp, andouille, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and tomatoes in a Cajun butter sauce. Served with jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes and market vegetables. All in all we were extremely satisfied and VERY full after the meal. No dessert for us.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5  Excellent all the way around.

Beer and Wine,    3.    How can you run out when you brew it here.
Service,                 3     Efficient but not really friendly

Ambiance,             4     Patio was great, bar looked inviting, I never saw the main dining room but overall nice ambiance for a Brew Pub.

Price,                     4      This is not a "cheap" place to eat, but the portions are HUGE, you will leave full and happy.

Overall;               3.70    Our final stop on the great beer and pub tour, and certainly the best and most creative food of the bunch. So good in fact, we arrived at the airport early, so we could eat at the Great Dane in the terminal. Food was just as good (just not as many choices), it was more expensive (DUH, it's in an airport) and they had a full selection of beers (Go figure).  If your in the Madison area , make sure to stop by one of their many locations.You won't be disappointed.

The Grumpy Troll Review

       As you will notice, no pics. In my defense, it was a long day, with an early morning flight and NO it has nothing to do with old age. Our first stop on the Wisconsin Pub and Brewery tour was the Grumpy Troll. Located in Mount Horeb, Wisc. (Former home of the World Mustard Museum), and located right on a major bike trail (smart location, nothing better than strenuous biking to work up a thirst). Because of the location, oh and maybe being prime time on Friday night, the place was packed. But, thanks to some friendly natives, we were able to secure a couple stools at the bar and have a tasty beverage while waiting for a table to open.

      We started with an Erik the red, a not too hoppy, American style amber lager. Very good but not entirely memorable. Good and refreshing but not that different from hundreds of other amber's made. Not so my 2nd beer, now this pushed some boundaries, Kentucky Porter, a nut brown ale, which has been stored in used Kentucky bourbon barrels for 6 months. WOW, great flavors, mellow but a great body, a really nice beer.

      How bout the food you say. Above average bar food is my answer.We went with a traditional Friday Night Wisconsin Special, Fish Fry. You could choose from different fishes (fishi? feesh? who knows), either fried DUH or baked and a variety of sides. I went with the fried perch with homemade chips covered in cheese, wife went with baked cod and also the chips, Cindy went with fried cod and (this is cool) sweet potato tater tots (told ya) and Dean had baked cod with I believe mashed potatoes or maybe rice? To start we shared a plate of that quintessential Wisconsin appetizer, fried cheese curds. Yes, I know it was ALOT of fried foods but what the heck we are on vacation. 

      Cheese curds were Ok, I have had better (in Minnesota of all places). These tasted not much different than your typical bar fare cheese sticks. The fish fry was much better, crisp coating and moist, fresh fish  and a huge portion ( to become a trend here in Wisconsin). Chips were fresh, crisp with a nice coating of cheese, all in all a very satisfying meal. All around the table things were great , Cindy's sweet potato tater tots quite yummy, until we got to Dean. Unfortunately, when you get baked fish in a brew pub you take a chance, wife's was good but Dean's had been baked to within an inch of its 9nth life (Do fish also have 9 lives? If not, why not?, these are the questions that keep me up at night). After all is said, it was a great time, with great friends and this is a place I'd love to have in my own home town.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.

Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing 

Price,                 And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4  Overall a great meal , with just some slight misses.

Beer and Wine,    4  Great beers made on site, who needs wine?
Service,                 4  The staff was wonderful. And service was prompt and friendly.

Ambiance,             3.5 It's a pub of course, and brewery, so don't think romance or quiet. But it is clean and fun.
Price,                     3.5 This is not a "cheap" place to eat, beer is rather expensive and entrees are average priced in the $10-$15 dollar range, though portions are huge.
                               

Overall,                3.8 Just a really fun place, I wouldn't mind having in my backyard.