Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co

I love the food there and the beer tastes great. You can get a bit and enjoy the nightlife at the same place. If you’re visiting Madison, definitely stop here.

Fast, extremely friendly and professional service, beer is awesome, last night I enjoyed the Devils lake red, and one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten (texacana), 5 stars guys. This one was a good find! I forgot to mention the cheese curds, AMAZING, MELT IN YOUR MOUTH, BUT A CRUNCHY OUTSIDE, PERFECTION

Went to Great Dane in Fitchburg for a brunch Sunday, not impress at all, way to expensive for the food they have on the menu and the buffet. Very standard quality and options. Then we tried the one by Hilldale hoping it would be better, but same thing, nothing special about their food and the buffet. Only good for a place to drink.

A group of 10 of us visited the Great Dane Brew Pub for a late lunch Saturday. What a great experience! Lucky for us, they were able to accommodate our group even though we had no reservations. (There are a lot of tables at the Great Dane.) Our waitress was friendly, knowledgeable, and patient (we had 3 children and a baby.)
There is an extensive selection of beverages available. The Emerald Island Stout was particularly smooth and creamy. The menu consists of a wide variety of pub foods such as burgers, sandwiches, salads, and appetizers with a lot of special twists thrown in. For example, I had the brat & pretzel bacon burger which had both a brat burger, a beef burger, bacon, cheese, and was served on a pretzel bun. This may have been one of the best burgers I have ever eaten! It was seriously that good. The home-​made chips are also great. Crunchy, thick, salty, not particularly greasy. A very good chip. There are also some less traditional dishes such as the chicken-​pot pie, mac & cheese adn peanut stew. Everrthing we tried was tasty and well-​prepared.
I am definitely a convert to the Great Dane Brew Pub. I plan to go back often!

Me: What is the most popular dish on the menu?
Waitress: I don’t know, I don’t eat meat.
Me: I try NOT to eat meat also.
Waitress: I really don’t eat here.
Me: Ok, I’ll have the poutine.
Ok, she was a bigger girl (for a vegan) and she wasn’t much help.
So, my party had the burgers… they weren’t impressed. Odd, my poutine was the star of the show and it was a $ 7 appetizer. I win!
Service: I picked off the inept waitress and blindly gave her my credit card and snaked the tab from my friends. Only 15 minutes later, she returned to ask «is this separate or all together?» Dammit! Awkward moment insues.
Why did I tip you? Ok, take away a star for mediocre burgers, one star for service… but damn… cool place!

Standard. Their beers aren’t the best, but you can count on consistency in the meal.

This is a lifetime review, having visited the Dane many times over the last twenty years, otherwise would be 3 stars.
I have enjoyed the Dane’s food, beer and atmosphere for years, and this is the first time I thought, it is time to try somewhere new. The food was sub-​par. We split several apps wings, fish tacos and cheese artichoke dip. The wings seemed to be breaded and flavorless, and the dip/​breadbowl were bad. The fish tacos were good, but not nearly as good as the last visit when they featured a flavorful slaw.
On the other hand, this was the best beer I have ever had at GD. The seasonals were well-​above average, and Bier de Gard and Zenn Pilsner were top notch, among the best brews I’ve had in WI — flavorful, interesting well-​balanced.
The service was awesome, as always.

Tried the pub burger with sweet potato fries and shared 2 orders of cheese curds. Great, comfy vibe and really quick service. Cheese curds were delicious and not too greasy, and the burger was thick and fresh. I like my sweet potato fries to be crispier, but overall they were fine!

The Great Dane is a go to when you want bar food. Their burgers are my favorite. I like to get the Dane burger since it has artichoke dip on it. If I’m feeling adventurous I even get the pretzel bun.
They brew their own beer and therefore you can only order beers brewed by them. They have many options so you can typically find something you like. Crop circle wheat is my personal favorite.

I gatta say the Ruben here is really good! Stacked and piled high with shaved corned beef, on a bed of sauerkraut, lightly dressed in Thousands Island, all sandwiched between two slices of grilled, fragrant, and flavorful marble rye bread. Slices of swiss cheese were melted on both side of the bread, a plus!
It comes with a side, feeling a little heavy, I opted with the side salad resulting in an additional $ 2.75.
The Ruben was $ 10.25, so $ 13 for lunch before tip may seem a bit much. However, if you get a regular side is a worthwhile lunch.

I’m pretty surprised I’ve never reviewed this Great Dane considering I’ve been here dozens and dozens of times over the years. As with many people, I fall in the camp that the Dane is a great place when you have a mix of interests and backgrounds and want to go out. Whether you’re with hipsters, bros, parents, or coworkers, the Dane is going to satisfy everyone, if not actually downright please them.
On the food and drink side, there are plenty of options that mostly hover in the pub food genre, but there are enough unconventional options to keep it interesting. They brew their own beer so the selection is limited in some sense — Great Dane brews aren’t at the top of my list, but I truly enjoy the Stone of Scotch Ale and ordered Crop Circle Wheat for years before that. Favorite food items include the James Madison Pub Picnic in the winter, the California Turkey Club, the Webster Street Chicken salad, and the Dane Burger. I almost always order the mashed potatoes as a side. While not everything I’ve sampled is spectacular, I’ve also never had a «bad» meal.
The thing we end up at this Dane the most for, though, is Big Buck Hunter. I have no interest in hunting and am in general not a video/​arcade gamer, but there’s something my group has found addictively fun about this game. At the Dane there’s plenty of room around the machine for us to play as a group, and they recently got Big Buck HD — I don’t like it as much as Safari, but it’s more challenging and the technology is more responsive. NERD NERD NERD.
TL;DR — the Dane’s got something for everyone.

I had forgotten I reviewed this place almost 5 years ago, but I had an unfortunate experience here last week. I stopped in on Monday night, as I was meeting with a friend who was in town. I ordered the inner warmth peanut stew. I’ve had peanut stew before, and this didn’t taste anything like it at all. There was no peanut. It tasted like a tomato base, and nothing else.
I also ordered an IPA that came out too warm. I get that ales should be served warmer than lagers, but this was too warm. Would have asked our server, but she was nowhere to be found.

I find myself missing the Great Dane since I transplanted to Milwaukee post-​college. However, I’ve found that it doesn’t top my list when I go visit Madtown. Part of the reason it doesn’t make the to-​do list is because their beers lie in the «OK» range. I appreciate that they brew so many beers… some are not that great. Being a beer snob, I gravitate towards other places when I am visiting.
Still, their food remains delicious. I usually get the fish fry with slaw and fries with malt vinegar.

This will always be my first love in Madison. The food is always very good, and I love that they have some more exotic and veggie-​friendly options.
Craft beers are great here. The Rathskellar is my fav place to eat in the colder months, but as soon as it warms up, the hidden outdoor patio in the back is like a mini vacation. I’ve come here with large and small groups, and never been disappointed.
I also love checking out the game in the lower bar, and there’s a lot of pool tables to enjoy.
I take all my out-​of-​town pals here first – it’s the best place to whet their palates for a weekend of great food and drink in a city that has no shortage of it.

This is definitely a meat, potatos, and beer type of pub. The portions are generous, the staff is friendly, and they have all the local beers to get you started for the evening. On game days, it can get a bit crowded, but that’s part of the appeal. This definitely has a slight college bar feel to it, and the crowd seems to be younger.
Evenings, this place is a good place to grab few drinks and apps to pregame. It is within walking distance of the capital and all of the other «get wasted» bars. Drop by for a quick lunch at this iconic bar or meet up with your bros here before heading out to Paul’s Club for a wild night.

Great Dane was my first meal in Madison. It’s a large-​menu pub style restaurant: you can get any kind of meat, any kind of cheese, and any kind of potato, cooked any which way, with a beer, at this restaurant. I’ve also been told it has many Madison locations. They have enough vegetarian options too, but you better like cheese. My friend and I were visiting town, and ended up meeting a few people for dinner here.
I had the old glory cheese curds and the Wisconsin style cheddar mac. I’m disappointed in myself because I didn’t take pictures. The cheese curds were okay: this was my first taste of fried cheese curds, and Great Dane’s tasted mostly like a premium mozzarella stick, but without the marinara dipping sauce. Only later did I discover that you could buy bags of fresh cheese curds at Saturday farmer’s market for much cheaper, and that this method of consuming dairy products was much more delicious. The mac and cheese was a bit disappointing. There’s really not that much cheese, and it’s quite plain. Next time, I ought to add hot sauce on my own, or copious amounts of salt and pepper.
The server we had was very friendly. When I asked him if he could charge my phone for me, he was helpful and said even though there’s a «pay to charge» kiosk on the bar side of Great Dane, he could do it for me.
I’d come back if I were meeting up with a larger group of friends in Madison, but there are plenty of pub-​like American, traditional, blah blah blah places to eat in Madison to try, so it could be a while.

I came with friends to celebrate their first day of work we shared a pitcher of the circle wheat with lemon. Great choice. It was enough for 5 glasses. I wish we had ordered a second pitcher!
I loved their menus which are newspapers. I thought it was an actual newspaper and started reading it and didn’t realize until I opened it.
I ended up with a turkey burger and fries. It was delicious and filling. We sat outside and had great conversation. It got a bit busy.
Definitely great for groups. I’ll be coming back for sure.

I absolutely LOVE The Great Dane! I live a few blocks away from their Fitchburg location but have only been there 3 times. The downtown Madison brewery is where it’s at! They have wonderful staff that are incredibly friendly, bubbly and nice! Management is hands on and that in and of itself is quite refreshing.
Food menu choices are varied and eclectic which is quite lovely. I’m sure most patrons expect the standard pub fare and yes those staples are there but vegetarian options and twists on the traditional are mouth watering!
Saving the best for last… the beers. Their selections are pretty incredible! They have seasonal and gluten free options so no one is left out! They now can! You can get your favorite beer in a growler that is an alternative to the glass ones that everyone has. Also! They have 6 packs!
There is something for EVERYONE at The Great Dane! Even history buffs will love it since the building used to be a furniture store and hotel in the early 1900’s! Go enjoy a cold one downstairs or the patio and you’ll be immersed in Madison history!
It’ll be a great time and being that close to the capitol you just can’t go wrong!
CHEERS!

A great place for a burger and a craft beer.
I had the pleasure of having the Texarkana burger. The atmosphere was pleasantly cool.
The only draw back was finding parking close to the restaurant. The bartender recommend the food and it was delicious.
I highly recommend this place for a burger.

4 stars for the beer and patio. Some beer incould drink all day. I especially liked the sessional tri-​pepper Pilsner that has a robust meaty green pepper flavor… and I don’t even like pilsners. This was unique and worth taking home. Next was the crop circle wheat with a lemon garnish. So good and refreshing for the summer. I also had the black earth porter and the Emerald Isle stout but nothing to write home about. I then had the hard Ginger ale and it was way too sweet.
Service is friendly but just ok — patio seems to get the short end of the stick on the weekends I guess. And we didn’t try the good but it smelled excellent and noticed that it had a grass fed option.
Would come back to try more beer out in the patio for sure.

Wir hatten die 24-​er Chicken Wings Platte und sie war absolut genial! Allerdings muss man sagen, dass die extra scharfen wirklich zu ihrem Namen stehen — nichts für schwache Gemüter.