Great Dane Pub and Brewery (Downtown)

September 13, 2008
Stopped here for dinner after the Great Taste of the Midwest. Beers were pretty good and it had a very lively college town atmosphere. A large place with a very nice beer garden where we ate dinner. Service was ok. Food was very good bar type food with very large portions. This place pretty much put the hammer down on my evening with the good beer and food and I had to go to bed afterwards - which was fine.

September 2, 2008
The location on the capital loop is nice. It has the early 20th century feel when you walk in, a view of the beer vats and an wide selection of great beer and food. I recommend visiting it, the beer is great. But having been there at least a dozen times, I will say that the service at the downstairs bar is sub-par. Bartenders have little to no personality, and I made my final visit two days ago when it took close to ten minutes to get service at the bar. There were maybe 5 other people there. When they finally did show up, they wouldn’t let my wife, who forgot her I.D. but has visited the Great Dane with me many times in the past several weeks- have a beer. I hate to knock a place, because of just a few bozos, but customer service means alot.

August 18, 2008
I made a stop down here during the 2008 Great Taste of the Midwest. Very cool place, literally 5 different settings (front bar, sports bar, upstairs restaurant, downstairs cellar like, and outside patio). There were about 10+ beers on tap. I tried the Wheat wine, IPA, and Pale Ale. Food was good and priced well. All in all a nice place I’ll be visiting again in the future when in Madison.

August 11, 2008
Right in the heart of downtown Madison. Walking in the look is of an old style English pub with a dining area off to the right. Off to the left is a more modern bar area. I left the GTMW about a half hour early and I found it pretty vacant so the service was good but everyone there was waiting for the rush. Probably at least 10 beers were on tap along with a pretty good menu from totaly expensive to moderate. I had the Dane burger and it was quite tasty. Bonus is the free shuttle to and from the taste that runs about every 20 minutes. Since i was staying about a 100 yards from the place this really helped big time. I only wished i could spend more time here before all the druks showed up.

July 13, 2008
Huge place. Gets really packed and loud. I like it late afternoon before the crowds really hit. Big selection of beers, most of them really well done, although on my last visit they seemed in general to be lacking some body. Servers seem to know their stuff about the beer, too. Overall, really worth the visit.

June 23, 2008
This place is enormous - standard brewpub ambiance (wood floors, tables, etc.), only more well-lit than most - they had thirteen beers on tap when I was there, which was awesome (I always get excited when a brewpub has more than 8 beers on tap) - the brews ranged in style from a dark mild to a wheat wine (great variety, especially for the summer), and most were pretty solid - the service was standard, as was the food (nothing to rave about) - overall a nice experience - a place worth checking out, even if you have to go slightly out of your way for it.

June 10, 2008
The Great Dane is a pretty large English-type pub with a ton of dark wood. They were pouring 18 of their own beers when I was there (tap & cask). None of the beers that I tried that day were amazing, but they were all well above average. The food menu was nicely varied, but not overwhelmingly large. Food was above average. The bartender was fairly knowledgable about what he was serving (food & beer). All in all, a really nice spot.

May 13, 2008
There beers are all well made, but it is only every 2 or so months that they break out a big gun...which are usually great. Still...they always have a wide variety of english style beers...what i would even call session beers as far as the tastes of ratebeerians go. Service is alway nice, but if you want to eat and get a table...some of the staff falls apart when it is busy...then again...this happens at all restaurants. The food is actually really good...not top notch for the area...but definitely great for a brewpub.

April 18, 2008
Nearly all the beers I sampled were done well. The burger I ordered medium rare actually came medium rare. Tons of beer options, a few casks and a well done hot pepper beer. I’ll be back here next time I’m in Madison

March 5, 2008
My favorite brewpub in Wisconsin. Good, fresh beer, good food and good ambiance. It is an older building that used to be a hotel, lots of brick and wood. The brats on mash are fantastic. I always take visitors here.