Let me get this out of the way: I feel like "not a true Madisonian" because I only find The Old Fashioned to be good, not great. This is where a lot of people take visitors for the "Madison" experience but ultimately as good as they are (and they're a bit of alright) ... I can't get past the noise level.
When I go out to eat I want to be able to talk to the people I am out with. If you get into The Old Fashioned after 5pm -- you can kiss that goodbye.
The way the restaurant is arranged it can be a gauntlet navigating through it as well (my sympathies to the wait staff, who are excellent by the way).
Their food is always good, but nothing else really stands out to me. I tend to go for burgers here and so perhaps that is partially on me.
The big pro, for me, is definitely the cheese curds. The breading is my ideal for what I want cheese curd breading to be. The curds are always flavorful (as opposed to just a wad of gooey salt, or obviously from frozen which is what you experience in many places)... and for this reason alone I will probably still keep coming back once in a rarity.
When I do come back, however, it will be early enough so that I can still hear the raving of my friends about how amazing the curds are.