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| - As a former resident and denizen of Madison's west side, I have taken a certain amount of guilty pleasure in describing aspects of the area which could lead one to believe that "checking one's soul at the door" is an obligatory first step in getting the full experience as a restaurant patron. While Cafe Hollander has enjoyed a well deserved reputation of success in Milwaukee, the Madison location has a number of issues which deserve to be addressed. The bustling crowds would lead one to believe that something here must really be great. How else can you explain the apparent zeal people have for sitting on a patio which faces a mall parking lot. Then I remembered that here in Wisconsin, if you have a novel alcohol-related theme (in this case, Dutch beer), people will sit in a dusty attic crawl space if the concept is unique enough. As most regular restaurant patrons will attest, it is the accumulation of details which add up to a positive experience, and this place is no exception. To say the food is as overpriced as it is, pedestrian might be harsh, but not especially untrue. My turkey burger had everything that was promised, but somehow the cumulative result seemed unilaterally forgettable. The promising inclusion of sweet potato fries was met with disappointment, as the serving was essentially a "tangled knot", served up at just above room temperature. The side salad had it's merit, but should have been served before the entree, which had a temperature which made me believe that it's wait time upon completion was longer than five minutes before being served. Perhaps their heat lamp was actually a black light bulb that you used to purchase at the mall. I requested some dijon mustard and upon presentation of the bill found that I was charged $.75 without any mention from the server. That was a first around here for dijon mustard. Regarding my earlier criticism about the food, the best I can surmise is that the window where food is put for pickup is at a central location and if a given server is covering too many tables, an issue with temperature is all but guaranteed. For those who would like an upgraded experience at a more reasonable set of price points, I recommend the Hilldale Great Dane, which is just around the corner.
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