The Source Public House

This is a new favorite for me! My family was moving to California and others visiting– they were sad we didn’t go sooner! They have an excellent selection of mules, décor and atmosphere is great. We have never been disappointed by the food. I myself can’t get past the jalapeño burger! It’s a great out of the norm place than the local burger chains. Cheese curds are not heavy, batter is light with great dips. Fresh options always. We always end up sharing meals to try different things. I want to try the squash one of these times! And the summer patio– with the option of being my dog which is amazing! I wish more businesses allowed our fur babies. Keep up the great work– you’re doing above par in my book!!!

Nothing but good to say about this place. The service is great — bartenders always good for a conversation when we’re in. That being said, don’t come here if you want to get in and out quick. This place is an experience. The music, the art… The drinks are fantastic and the food even better. Their damn burgers. UGH. Just so good. Everything is local — so the menu changes according to what is available. Some may not like that, but for me, it shows that they are genuine in their mission/​goals. The menu never disappoints. Unique selections every time we go. I constantly recommend this place to friends and acquaintances and I always hear back about their experiences being stellar. Like stated above — I highly recommend the burgers. The cheese curds are amazing. And you will never go wrong ordering dessert (nothing will come out of a box. Seriously — order dessert.)

Excellent atmosphere, great service, real good food. Plenty of local wisconsin beer on tap. Owners are extremely nice. Nice looking patio (although it was winter…-15*). Plus occasional live music! If I’m ever back to Menasha, I’ll be back.

My daughter picked this place as a reward for a great test score. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. This is a great place to come for big groups when you don’t have a reservation because it is always dead. The food tastes good but the portion to price ratio is not reasonable. If you charge $ 14 for a burger, it should come with a starch. Most of the food isn’t a complete meal, but when you piece stuff together, it is challenging to come up with a coherent meal. The delay to get food given how dead it is made me question why we didn’t walk out. Here are the goods: music, some beer, décor, and food taste and presentation.

Outstanding casual dinner in a fun and classy atmosphere. Food was terrific and varied. Locally sourced, top notch quality.
Live music on weekends! Unique patio with a section for dogs. Great gas fire pits. We’ll be back for sure.

The food was okay. Based on the menu and the type of restaurant I was expecting exceptional. The potatoes were undercooked, the eggs were fine, the pancakes delicious. My friend ordered the quiche and despite it being a little wet it was incredible. We also ordered the bread basket and split it, there were 2 buns and a piece of focaccia, I expected more bread than 3 pieces for 5 bucks. The housemade jam was fabulous as well as the 2 types of bread we did get to sample. I loved the physical location and that the lower patio is open for customers with dogs. I will go back to try again and bring my dog. No issues with service.

Stopped here for dinner on their patio. Which is a nice location to have dinner or a cocktail. Before we were seated the hostess notified us there was a wedding going on so it might be a while for our food. When we sat down the server did the same– which I appreciated. Basically «hey if you’re starving to death don’t stay». They did offer us beers and soup on the house for our wait. We were in no hurry so we ordered beers off their well balanced draft beer list and placed an order of bread and the pecan rhubarb salad to share. Even for the kitchen being blasted with 100 orders we got this pretty quickly! The salad was perfect slightly sautéed rhubarb and toasted pecans were the perfect complement to the goat cheese. The bread was also nice. But not as nice as the butter and jellys it comes with! We added the jalapeño jam. Which is to die for! We even brought home a ½ pint for $ 5! I got the Garden of Eden sandwich and fully enjoyed it! The party was clearly made in house and had pieces of kale and sweet corn bursting at the seams! Would definitely have this meal again. Although our server– who was incredible– told us they were changing the menu next week. Looks like I’ll have to go back!

Had a great meal today! Had the cheese curds with the pepper jelly. Always a favorite! Then had the Source Burger with spinach and mushrooms and an egg on top. Was very juicy and great taste with the egg adding just that special something. We opted having the fries with seasoning and I had the Cajun blue cheese and my husband had the poached egg with the Parmesan. He said that would have been a great hangover food. :) Service, which has had its challenges before, was superb.

I loved the atmosphere… wonderful patio and nice-​looking restaurant! However, the service and amount of food was not satisfactory.
My friend and I shared the Wisconsin cheese platter for $ 14…what we got were three slices of French bread, a dollop of cheese spread, a handful of craisins and nuts, and four little wedges of cheese. Very disappointing. We both ordered small salads which were beautiful and tasty, but I’m not sure if they were each worth $ 12
Wait staff were friendly but slow.
I may go back again for drinks on the patio, but the food was not quite worth it. I was hoping to have found another great restaurant to frequent, but no.

Just tried the $ 12 bacon burger, which came out on a burnt bun with nothing but two small greasy patties and flavor lacking bacon. No lettuce, tomato or onion, after the waiter pushed the local food list boasting all manner of fresh local vegetables.
My dinner companion had the $ 17 walleye and they were served two very small fillets on grits, once again no fresh vegetables to be seen. I tried the dish and it was very uninteresting.
Lastly a band that wasn’t scheduled to play for an hour and a half was milling about the dinning area, eating from their lunch pails making customers feel uncomfortable. And if you stay to long you are forced to pay a cover charge.
Do your taste buds and wallet a favor and skip this establishment. I gave the place two stars as it was clean with a decent beer selection.

Not enough dinner choices. Had the walleye for $ 17, left starving, and I’m not a large portion eater. Nothing special about the flavor, average at best.
Try other local source restaurants before this one.

I was told that this restaurant has changed several owners since they open last fall. This is my first time being there tonight. I like the live band and I like the selections of the tap beers. I also think that the owner and the staffs are really willing to improve and they are trying to do their best to meet up your standards.
So here are my a few suggestions:
Fries: We had the Truffle and Herb fries. Let’s make it a bit crispier. You’ve got the flavor and it just needs to make it a bit crispier.
Wisconsin Cheese Platter: Please make sure that your wait staff introduces the jams/​sauces to the guests. Those jams/​sauces are wonderful, but it would be great if we know what they are while sampling them. Or you might want to use dry-​erase markers to write the flavors on the plate.
Salmon: It is a little bit over-​cooked (in my opinion). I think that it would be perfect if you just shorten the time a bit.
Tiramisu gelato: Hmm… take it off. Unless you can make it more creamier. :-)
The wait staffs were excellent. The atmosphere is great — you can carry on the conversations without raising your voice. I really like how they feature all the local artists’ work in the room.
I will be back. Because I like simple food and quiet dining area. (Yes, your happy hour also make it a great choice for after-​work social spot!)

So, one reads crappy reviews, and one expects a crappy evening. Not so much in this case. Yes, there was a bit of a wait for a table. However, staff was attentive, drink selections were good, and food service was very good. The flank steak choice was good, and the pommes frittes with Parmesan and poached egg was good– and tasty. The show with Hugh Bob and the Hustle was great, and it was a great evening. Forget the half-​baked criticism. This is a nice place for a meal, and if there is a show– even better.

I struggled between giving this a 2 or 3 star rating. This is a decent place on the east side of town. I have been here a few times and my meals have ranged from good to mediocre at best.
The menu does not have a lot of offerings, but they change it up frequently which makes up for it.
They have a great patio and I have always had good service. On the downside, there are times when it can get a bit loud with the bands and it makes it tough to hold a conversation.
I recently had a pork chop for dinner there. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed. It was mediocre at best. It was tough and bland, it sat on a myriad of vegetables that were swimming in liquid. It appeared to almost be floating. I cut in to my pork chop and it had pink. Undercooked pork, an absolute no no. I was tempted to send it back, but was out with someone that was dining there for the first time. I took it to go and played it off as «really being stuff and I couldn’t take a another bite». Needless to say it went straight in to the trash when I got home.
I am on the fence as to wether or not I will be back there anytime soon. Your experience might be hit or miss. On this occasion it was definitely a miss.

Waited 10+ minutes at our table just to be first greeted by our waitress, who seemed like we were inconveniencing her. After finally taking our order, then waited over an hour to get our food… which consisted of just appetizers. The restaurant was not even busy. The portion sizes of what we ordered were tiny, flavorless, and, to add insult to injury, the chicken on my chicken and waffle was burnt. Talk about extra crispy! The greens on our beef carpaccio were wilted and sad. We love to support farm-​to-​table, locally-​sourced restaurants, and are extremely disappointed in the service and wait time we received at The Source, as well as the taste and presentation of the food, especially for the price. I doubt we’ll be back!

Went in for Lunch– relaxed environment, easy to enjoy. They have music a couple nights a week which is always a plus. Food was spectacular! Service was great. All locally farmed food so whatever is in season is on the menu. We will be back!

I like the source for a number of reasons. I enjoy that you are receiving quality and local food. The first time i went there was with a group of six or so for a birthday, it wasn’t busy but had a very open, comfortable atmosphere, lights were not too dim. it was very nice.
I did have trouble finding anything to get on the menu because I’m a creature of habit and don’t always venture far from the norm. With a limited menu (understandable because the menu changes bi-​weekly i believe due to in-​season ingredients). I ended up getting a stuffed acorn squash and it was AWESOME. I even looked up a recipe to make it at home, its a new favorite. I also ordered a side of fries and they were great, made with truffle oil i believe. They were a little pricey but the quality is evident so i cant complain.
Our server could have been more knowledgeable on the drink menu. I was asking about the seasonal beers (this was Sept.) and she didn’t say much more than i don’t know. She did offer samples though so it was fine.
When i really started to like this place was when i went for halloween to see Stereo Frontier and Ifdakar. The Source really invested a lot into being able to accommodate live music. The sound was great and the place was packed! The bartenders were definitely working hard that night and keeping up well. I also really enjoyed the setup, the stage was big and in front but usable during regular business hours and the openness of the place made it easier to get around despite being at near capacity (thats what it felt like).
The Patio looks great I’d love to check it out sometime. I live in Milwaukee but am in Appleton frequently enough that i can say I will be back.

Went last night for the first time with a small group. The service was very good and reasonably well-​timed, the atmosphere was fairly casual (with just a hint of pretentiousness), but the consensus in our group was that food was mediocre to fair. I personally had the burger, which I ordered medium-​rare, and which arrived very well done. It wasn’t the worst burger I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t anything noteworthy either; dry and without a lot of flavor. The fries were good, of the style you’d expect to be served alongside a cheesesteak with a bottle of vinegar.
I’d probably give the food three stars, but for the price, you can do better elsewhere. While I didn’t run away screaming, I don’t expect that I’ll return.

We want last night for the first time. We were leary as we had read and heard mixed reviews. Mainly about the service. We sat at the bar and received great service. Granted, it wasn’t very busy, but the bartender was engaging and well informed about the menu. We started each with a cup of soup. Walleye chowder and short ribs stoup (a cross between stew and soup). Both were great. We then had the perch and old bay chips with cole slaw. The highlight was the slaw. The perch was ok, planko breadding that was a bit too heavy. The old bay chips barely had any seasoning on them. Next time we’ll try something else.
The atmosphere is nice, lots of local art displayed and for sale. The music was great. Then came a live funk band that was a blast.
We’ll definitely be back. Especially for live music.

Great food and drinks! We went for lunch and the highlights were the tempura fried cheese curds, the five dollar flight of beers, and the root beer Crem Brule! I’m just visiting the area, but I’ll be back for sure the next time I’m in town!