I came here on a whim as I was riding down Monroe street in Madison on a Friday evening after work. There is metered parking in front until 6pm, but I decided to swing around and catch some street parking not far off. I was greeted and opted to sit at the bar as I was dining alone. The place is quaint [read small] but with great decor for a brew house feel.
I was quite impressed with the beer selection. I'm still growing into my beer boots, but to have the assortment of Belgian, Netherlands and other foreign (and respected) bottles on hand was quite a treat. I flipped through pages and pages and settled on a a Belgian pale to go with the paté appetizer and moules et frites entree I ordered. The beef and pork paté came with a large grain gourmet mustard, grilled baguette slices and sweet pickles. The flavors together were wonderful, though the paté was a different texture than I expected; more of a tuna from the can consistency than a spreadable one. But again, the flavors were great and the paté itself was wrapped in bacon. I mean, it's Wisconsin. You gotta have bacon.
The main course came out and I immediately went to my happy place. The mussels were cleaned WELL and flavored impeccably. All a good medium size PEI mussels and the broth of garlic and white wine was simple and classic. You get two dipping sauces for the fries and boy... I love sauce. One seemed to be a Parmesan aioli and the other a more garlic aioli. If I wasn't scraping the bottom of the cups with the fries, I would have had time to ask what exactly was in them. Good.
The place filled up about 6:00 or 6:15, with dozens of folks crowded around the bar and front of the place. For good reason. The staff is incredibly friendly and the food and beer are great. Even the patrons were cordial; I had conversations with half a dozen of them while eating. I'll surely be back.