The Great Dane is so good, it was almost left off this Bar & Dining Guide because its spectacular reputation doesn't need a review. The perfect marks it has received year after year were becoming old hat and even — dare I say it — boring, like the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-'90s. That's all you need to know.
It doesn't take a nuclear engineering major with a 4.0 GPA to figure out that Madisonites like beer. A lot. Enough to make mop water like Mountain Creek sell well.
That simple fact is why the Great Dane is quite possibly the best pub and eatery in a town that is bursting with them. The Dane — located just off of the Capitol Square at the corner of East Doty and South Pinckney Streets (a.k.a. the corner of Heaven and Awesome) — is a fully-stocked brewery serving more than a dozen brews every day, each one of them better and more unique than the last.
The brews cover such a spectrum so as to cater to everyone from the Lite, extra smooth beer drinking crowd to those who are looking for dark, complex ales to even those searching for a true traditional European casked beer. The Devil's Lake Red Lager and the Stone of Scone Scotch Ale are particularly mouthwatering.
If the Dane was just a bar alone, it would be noteworthy as a definite place to visit. But it also functions as a superb restaurant with something for everybody. Whether you are having the oh-so-Madison Brats & Mash, or the too-cool-for-school Brat and Bacon Pretzel Burger, or the best Friday fish fry in town, there is no wrong way to go.
And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, you won't find any higher quality pool tables in the isthmus area, guaranteed.
Simply put, the Great Dane is without a doubt one of the best, if not the top, restaurants in Madtown.