The Great Dane (Downtown)

Short Summary:  The default Madison dining experience.  Take the relatives, the out-of-town guests, the first date; the guys from work.  Craft beers plus from-scratch cooking in a wide range of styles equals something for everybody.

Location:  123 E Doty St. #1, Madison, WI 53703

Hopefully most Madisonians already have one of the Great Danes on their radar as a safe go-to supper location for just about any event.  Their menu is broad and plays around with a number of modern updates on supper-club fare.  The franchise is up to four locations in the Madison area, with a fifth in Wasuau, with slight variations in beers on tap and nightly specials from one to the next.  The main menu remains the same for all of them, however, and we've found the preparation to be reliably consistent from one to the next.

All the Usuals, Updated

The Dane's menu is a lot of familiar faces with some gentle twists.  You've got burgers with a variety of toppings and sauces (and, for the fans of excess, one with a 1/4 lb. bratwurst patty added in), fish fries, tex-mex staples like quesadillas and a killer vegetable burrito, and the occasional foray into Cajun and soul food.

As good as the burgers are (especially the buffalo patty Sustain-A-Burger with mushroom gravy), I usually find myself straying toward the dinner plates.  The "Smothered & Covered Fried Chicken" is a masterpiece of gastric indulgence:  a breaded chicken breast topped with andoullie sausage and butterflied shrimp in Cajun butter sauce.  Some odd fusions like the "Southwest Tortellini" pay off; others, like the "New Orleans BBQ Shrimp" fall a little short of the variations you can get at other Madison joints.

A couple of sour notes in the general high quality:  the pizzas are hit or miss, with a tendency to dry the toppings out and a crust that needs more sauce or cheese than they're willing to give it.  The BBQ ribs are forgettable, as is the pulled pork sandwich -- it's either Sweet Baby Ray's or a close imitation, too sweet and overpowering to do the meat any good.  But for the most part you can expect ample portions of good, strongly-flavored supper club favorites at any of the Madison-area Danes.

Oh Yes, They Also Brew Beer

Their own beer, in fact, and it's very, very good.  You can't get it in bottles, so it's less well-known to Madisonians than offerings from Capitol Brewery, Ale Asylum, or New Glarus, but the Great Dane's beer can easily match up to any of them.  There's always a variety on tap to please everyone from the American lager drinkers to fans of bitterly dark porters.

We particularly recommend the "Stone of Scone Scotch Ale" as an impressive local offering that won't be like other craft beers your guests might have tried.  It's got everything a beer drinker wants:  hop, malt, and a smooth creaminess that goes down dangerously easy.  But you won't go wrong with anything off the tap, so go nuts.