If you're here for the bar, you'll probably enjoy yourself. I was pretty let down by the food, though.
The host was very courteous and even allowed our party of 5 to squeeze into a 4-top to avoid a long wait. Our server was pretty good, but service got slower and spotty as the evening went on. It was a busy Friday night, but it still shouldn't take 20 minutes just to find someone to ask for a check. The dining room was intolerably loud and small.
I got the black bean veggie burger. The toppings were very good, but the texture of the burger and bun were lacking. The buns didn't contribute much of anything to the meal besides holding everything together, and I am curious if they are house made or packaged.
My dining partners enjoyed their selections, and I sampled a few. The salmon patty was ok, but not as flavorful as I had hoped. The beef burgers were cooked medium to medium well and had a nice flavor of their own, but got a bit lost in all the toppings and huge fluffy buns. The fried chicken burger with pimento and pickles was the one item that I would return to order, that was done very well and had many interesting flavors.
Our appetizer of french onion dip and kettle chips was quite good, but I probably wouldn't order it again honestly. At the end of the day, chips and dip is still chips and dip. The soup of the day was parsnip bisque, and it was the only item on the table that wasn't eaten up. It was cloyingly sweet and seemed a far cry from crisp tangy parsnips -- more like a chowder than a bisque.
Sweet potato fries were cooked nicely, and the accompanying spicy mayo was nice. But again, it's pretty much like any other hip burger joint with sweet potato fries. The house made sodas were nice, but just too sugary for my taste. A friend agreed that if they were to use less sweetener or simply have an unsweetened option it would be just as delicious.
Final word: it's just one more "elevated" burger joint. Unless you are on a mission to try every New American pub burger in Madison, I'd skip this one. Some of their promotions and happy hour specials may be worth stopping in for, though.