I have eaten at Merchant twice and had drinks there a couple times beyond that. Both meals were really good - lamb burgers for dinner and some kind of breakfast sandwich for lunch. My favorite cocktail I've had in Madison or possibly ever was their Supercalifragalisticexpi-ala-Altos (I had to copy and paste that from their online menu), a refreshing, not-too-sweet tequila cucumber blend. I don't even like cocktails and I have ordered this more than once. Personally, I think their late night vibe is a little weird. By day, this place is classy-casual with really great food and drinks. I recently took a friend here for her first visit because she wanted a cocktail, and we went around 10pm. It was pitch black, we couldn't hear anything over the strange instrumental house music, and my friend asked if we could leave.