I had dinner at Growlers while staying at the Crowne Plaza in Madison. I usually steer away from hotel restaurants for dinners, because they tend to be pricey and the food quality is usually not as good. I had dinner with a business associate of mine upon our arrival - we decided to give it a try because it was snowing pretty hard and we didn't want to venture out.
They have a great drink menu which is organized by type of liquor, which is very easy to order from if you don't know exactly what you want. The mixed drinks were well made, and they have several local beers on tap (a little pricey for drafts). Both me and my dinner mate had the beer cheese soup and it was just okay - it lacked some real flavor. Our server was great, friendly and was willing to offer recommendations. I ordered the salmon (her recommendation) and it was very good as were the vegetables that came with it. My dinnermate ordered the sausage sandwich, who said it was VERY dry and lacked flavor.
There are a lot of options for dinner in the Madison area - there is a giant shopping plaza with many restaurants near the Crowne Plaza hotel. I would recommend stopping at Growlers for a drink before dinner or a nightcap, but go out for dinner elsewhere.