Laurel Tavern

I came here for a celebration with a large group and unfortunately a couple members of the group didn’t tip. Don’t know why, but they didn’t. Super shitty of them. Even more shitty was that the waitress came over to our table and confronted us about it, complaining. When we told her that it was super shitty and we were sorry and would definitely make up for it she responded by saying things like, «Oh, no it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.» If it was fine, why did you come to our table just to complain to us about it?
I am consistently disappointed with a couple of the waitresses here because of this attitude and their vocalization in response to it.

I need to stop reviewing places after just one or two visits… but I’m enthusiastic, and I want to give places the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, it backfires.
Last two visits have been not so great, primarily due to a single bartender. The guy is just «salty» for lack of a better phrase. Spiked hair, glasses, appears to be in his early 40s? Often wears a softball/​baseball league t-​shirt. Routine goes like this:
(We sit down at a 99% empty bar)
(He’s standing at bar opening, reading paper or watching television)
(We look around, as if to signal «We could use some help»)
(He will eventually walk over and literally sling coasters at us without saying anything)
Me: Hi — I’d like to see your tap list?
Him: (points to wall)
Me: Oh — sorry, didn’t see it there. What’s your Bell’s Seasonal?
Him: *SIGH* (purses lips) Oberon
Me: Gotchya. We may need just a second to look at the wall.
Him: (walks away, clearly bothered)
That was the first visit intro… we ordered two Pabst taps at a cost of $ 8 for two 10-​ounce glasses… really? Really? Everyone else has it for $ 2 — $ 2.75/pint.
Second visit started exactly the same as the first, minus the inquiry about a tap list… just a non-​verbal, «you’re bothering the piss out of me by being here» greeting from the same dude.
On second visit, ordered some appetizers and several taps. When we ordered cheese curds, the spikey hair dude said, «Sauce?» (honestly! One word…) We said, «Ranch?» He said, «Figures.»
What does that mean? So, I asked, «Is there something you’d recommend other than ranch?» He said, «99 out of 100 order ranch. So predictable. But, hey. It’s Wisconsin.»
Again — what?!
Lose the ‘tude, Laurel. You’re not that great. The place stinks inside (literally, like sewer), your look is stuck in the 80s, and your prices are outrageous.

Positive: battered and deep fried green bean fries are novel if, uh, way overpriced and tasted like they were fried at a carnival.
Negative: what is a thick slice of raw onion doing in their signature patty melt? The whole time I was thinking, «somebody better complain about this because this is way gross.»
Please someone comment or message me a suggestion of a place that I don’t drop $ 14+tip for a patty melt and a side and then hate it. I would love to do a positive review of something because hitting misses is unsatisfying.

The fish fry, for the price, is the best in Madison — and I mean it. 3 big pieces of walleye with a potato side and soup or salad m8? Sign me up. Don’t go between 5 and 7:30 on Friday
Otherwise it is a neighborhood bar. Try the Scotch ale.

Two of my friends and I went there on April 4, 2015 to watch Wisconsin play Kentucky in the Final Four. There were five or six guys at the end of the bar by the door on Monroe Street who were extremely inebriated. As they game went on they got louder and more boisterous, yelling at everything, good or bad, that happened. They used the F-​word in almost every sentence, often multiple times, yelling at the TV. «What the f*#k kind of call was that? F*#k, yes, that’s the way to do it.» I walked over nicely and said hello, said I hoped that they were enjoying the game and asked nicely if they would refrain from using the F-​word. The said «No» and were upset I even asked. I then asked Dave, the bartender, nicely if he would say something and he said, «No.» I was stunned. One of the guys yelling then went outside to have a cigarette. When I turned to look that way he made threatening gestures towards me indicating he wanted me to come out and fight, which I ignored. When the game was over he came up to me, was very aggressive and tried to engage me in a argument. At one point, another bartender looked at me and said something to the effect, «they’re just having a good time.» If I recall, Dave said they were there drinking when he got there at 6 PM. While the behavior of these guys is horrible, I’m more surprised and disgusted that the staff would over serve them, tolerate such horrible behavior that was making the other patrons in uncomfortable and rationalize it as just some guys having fun. Not only did the behavior create a very uncomfortable environment, I felt unsafe by the aggressive behavior. After I told Dave about the aggressive behavior and that I did not feel safe, he volunteered to walk me to my car. Frustrated we couldn’t leave without missing the game, we stayed.

Descriptive phrase: homey, busy fish fry.
Four of us stopped by this unassuming brick bar on Monroe for a Friday night fish fry to find it packed to the brim. There’s a long bar area, a back room with a pool table, and a side dining room. All were filled with seated and standing patrons. We were quoted 45 minutes but ended up waiting closer to an hour and a half. Such is life. We partook in some decent Old Fashioneds and beers in the meantime.
Once seated we ordered immediately. I got their Fried Cod with hash browns o’brien and a side salad ($ 11.95). Our waitress was hurried and kind of non-​existent due to the crowd, but out food came out very fast. My cod was solid fried fish fare, and the wife’s fries were good. But my venture into the o’briens was a poor decision; the hashbrowns were burnt and the cheese on top seemed to be a slice of melted Kraft. It appeared unnaturally square.
Overall I enjoyed my fish fry at Laurel Tavern for a townie stop. I wouldn’t go out of my way, though.

This place is an old stand by. We have always had good bar food and drinks here and return whenever we can. Their burgers are right up there in my top ten places to go and its a young fun crowd.

The Good: Service was very fast, and it was a busy Friday night. Beer selection was great. Had a lot of local beers on tap which is always a plus for me.
The Meh: The food. Nothing was bad, in fact I would even say it was a decent meal. It just wasn’t memorable. I have been to a lot of fish fry places in Madison, and all of them had something I remember, from the ambiance, to the food quality, or even the drinks. I feel like in 3 months I won’t remember anything about the fish fry at the Laurel. So for me, there are many better fish fry options in Madison that I would go back to before the Laurel.

We had a wonderful reunion of friends at the Laurel. The service was great and the food outstanding. I think it was the best swiss mushroom burger I’ve every had. Prices were very reasonable and there were enough TVs for everyone to see the game.
Will definitely be back.

Best cheese curds in Madison! Service is generally not very good they can be slow and don’t seem to care if you need anything after food is dropped off. Prices are a little high for bar food. But poor service and slightly high prices wont keep me from going back for curds.

Burgers and fries are a little pricey for what you get but the service is quick and the environment is nice. Pretty good environment for kids too; at least during the lunch period and on a weekend.

This review is based, solely, on the service aspect because we didn’t stay to experience the food. We stopped by for a casual lunch on 7÷14÷14 at around 2:15pm, there was nobody up front. After sitting and waiting for someone to appear for a bit, my boyfriend stuck his head in back to give the bartender a heads up we were there. This to which he received a very unenthusiastic response. She came out and said «what do u want to drink» with a pretty significant eye role. Needless to say, we will not be offering our business to a place that treats their customers like this. Note to management: I read a couple reviews that resemble our experience, today. This isn’t a one time incident.

Disclosure: we’re rating this solely based on our one take-​out experience of Fish Friday.
We got an order of walleye with hashbrowns o’brian and salad, and cod with fries and coleslaw to go.
The fish were excellent, flaky and tender, with the perfect ratio of batter and fish. Even after the 20 minutes of getting home, the fish stayed hot and crunchy.
The woman at the bar that checked us out wasn’t too friendly, maybe it was because we used a
coupon, maybe it was an off day. I’d definitely come back and get take-​out fish again.

My family LOVES the Laurel Tavern! One of the best fish frys in Madison and an even better prime rib on Saturday night! We also love going there on Thursdays for their prime rib sandwhich special. Their burgers are just average but their specials will make up for it!!!

Good food, bad service. Our waitress was so rude I couldn’t believe it. We came in on a Sunday around 2 p.m. to a minimally filled restaurant and never got even a «hi». We received a «what do you want to drink?» I had to get our own menus and service was slow.
On the bright side, there was a younger gentleman there working in the back who popped out to help the tables our waitress was ignoring (I hope that isn’t true, but it sure felt like it!) and he was as friendly as can be. Thanks to him, we were able to order and be treated like we were wanted there. I wish I could say it was a fluke, but judging from another customer I heard complaining to our waitress about her service, I’d say I wasn’t the only one dissatisfied here.

This place is the quintessential American tavern. Cheap greasy food and beer. The couple times ive been in the staff is always friendly and attentive and the food is pretty good. I typically gonwoth the basic burger and fry but their ruban isnt too bad either.

I have been to the Laurel a handful of times, and my most recent visit was the worst out of them all. The food is OK, nothing too fancy, just your typical bar food. The prices aren’t bad but I have yet to receive good service at the Laurel. The last visit the waitress was so rude, you could tell that she didn’t even want to be there. My friends and I had called ahead of time to ask if there was a wait, we were told there wasn’t one, less than ten minutes later when we arrive, there are several people lined up waiting for a table. How do you go from no wait to having several parties waiting for a table? While waiting for a table this particular waitress was rude when we asked her how long the wait would be. Her response was «I have no clue, you are just going to have to wait». When we were finally seated and handed menus, she walked away for several minutes before returning to take our drink order. When she finally came back to get our order she proceeded to walk away before all of us finished ordering. She then proceeded to ignore not only us, but other restaurant patrons as well, when we (and they) tried to flag her down for a simple request (requests for a refill, additional cutlery etc).
Now I’m not expecting for any waitress to be overly friendly and bubbly, but this woman was clearly in a horrible mood. No smile, no how are you, how can I help you, nothing. I have never received friendly service at the Laurel, which is one of the reasons I don’t go there often. Not only did this waitress have a foul mood, but she made it known that she did not give a rats a** about anything.
One of my friends decided not to tip her at all because she was very rude the entire time, and my friend was so disgusted by this woman’s attitude. My friend has ALWAYS left a tip no matter how shitty the service, but in this situation she felt that this woman did not provide the service one would expect. Come to find out a few weeks later, that this waitress wrote in a $ 2 tip on the credit card receipt, after my friend had written a ZERO in the tip section. Who does that? I will NEVER return to this place again. I have also heard that other newbies or people that don’t come here often have complained about service before, and that those complaints were not taken seriously.
If you are a regular, chances are you will be treated way better, but if you are a newbie or someone that doesn’t frequent this establishment often, do not expect fair or even decent customer service. If you don’t care about the quality of service, and want a good greasy burger, then by all means visit this place.

Good food. Local crowd. Good selection of taps. One of my fave spots to take in a game.

It’s been years since I dropped by the Laurel, so when I was running some errands in the Dudgeon-​Monroe neighborhood the other day, I thought I would pay my old haunt a visit. I’m always a sucker for a good Reuben, so I selected the «Best Reuben Around» from the menu along with a bowl of chili.
After eating the Reuben, I would consider renaming the sandwich more along the lines of «The Best Reuben within a Stone’s Throw». It was an OK rendition of the classic sandwich but nothing worth getting too excited about.
When I first saw the sandwich, I almost considered returning it, since it looked like it was burnt to a crisp. However, that was more a function of the color of the rye bread rather than too much time on the griddle. I really enjoyed the bread component of the sandwich. The thick slices of marble rye held up well to the moist interior and the time on the griddle added a nice crunch for some textural contrast with no greasiness. I also was pleased to notice there was no caraway in the bread.
The weakest link of the sandwich was the dressing. It was watery and didn’t add a lot of flavor. Meh.
The sauerkraut, while applied in the right proportion was light on flavor and crunch.
The corned beef was your average tavern-​grade meat, it was lean and tender, but didn’t wow me with the flavor. I also you have liked more corned beef on a sandwich with no sides that set me back $ 7.45.
The chili was above average bar food and had a homemade taste and feel. It had none of the problems often encountered with bar chili. It didn’t have the grittiness that occurs from adding too much chili powder. It was loaded with tender ground beef and tomatoes, giving it more of a stew-​like consistency versus the soupy consistency of some bar chili variants. Most importantly, it didn’t have the greasiness that plagues other versions of this dish. While far from transcendent, I’ll definitely consider grabbing a bowl the next time I’m in the neighborhood.

The current free drink policy is one free drink ticket for the first Packer touchdown of each half when you already have an alcoholic drink in front of you. Less generous, but still nice (although I hear rumors that the High Noon Saloon gives out free shots for every Packer TD, «my people» are here).