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| - The Vintage isn't my favorite brewery-restaurant combo in Madison, but that probably says more about this city's plethora of glorious brewery-restaurant hybrids than the Vintage. I used to come here more often when they had trivia (frankly, I'm not sure why they stopped - the place was PACKED for it on Tuesdays). I can't give it a much higher score, though, due to some snafus that I've had while dining here.
First, the good stuff. When everything goes according to plan, the staff is friendly, welcoming, and attentive. The beers are excellent, and there are almost always specials of one sort or another on various drinks. Hibiscus Saison isn't often in season or in stock, but when it is, it's a tart, fruity glass of deliciousness and quite possibly my favorite summer beer. A welcome surprise is their mixed drinks, which often fall to the side in brewpubs. Their sangria is a personal favorite. As far as food goes, I'm a fan of the cheese curds (although they're quite greasy), the meatloaf sandwich, and the Big Sky burger. The bathrooms are well-stocked (points for any bathroom that includes hand lotion at the sinks) and clean.
Now, for the less-good stuff. First, they won't seat your party until everyone is there. I know this is a common practice in most larger cities, but it's still enough to raise an eyebrow in Madison. Second, the beautiful outdoor patio has so much potential, but there are some significant problems. A lot of places will have some sort of mosquito deterrent in the form of citronella candles or torches, but that isn't the case here; I was eaten alive in the five minutes I was outside. Also, we had the misfortune of being seated directly under a pair of speakers with music so loud it was difficult to have a conversation; at times it even felt physically painful. On this occasion, my companion and I moved indoors due to these factors, making sure to speak to a server before we were moved indoors. This is where things began to unravel. The music was still extremely loud, especially considering this was a Monday night and the restaurant had very few people in it. There was only one other table of diners in our section, and it would seem that our move led to us being seated in customer purgatory, since neither of us could get a server's attention the vast majority of the time. There was one slightly-older female server who took pity on us whenever she saw us and made sure we had what we needed, made sure our food was tasting good, etc. However, I don't think it was her section, so we didn't see her often and would desperately try to flag down a server, sometimes waving our arms at the servers who congregated by the patio door to chat with each other and who were doing a great job at ignoring us. The noise level in general is fairly high, with practically nothing to dampen it. There are also some items on their menu that are ridiculous or bland/stale. The pretzel appetizer is tough and appalling. The spinach artichoke dip is fairly bland, and it would go much better with baguette slices than the tortilla chips that are served with it. The Irish nachos are anemic and fairly flavorless. And the grilled cheese cheeseburger - which substitutes an entire grilled cheese for each half of a burger bun - is a foot high, impossible to eat, revolting in concept, and seems like a transparent ploy to get Adam Richman to visit.
I'll still be back for more Hibiscus Saison, though. Mmm, beer.
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