Badger Tavern

First impression was excellent service and hamburger. Nicer tables then I remember. Bar is the same I believe. Nice face lift. I’ll be back again.

Delicious burgers! Great service! Friendly neighborhood bar. Attentive staff and could not ask for a better bar burger. Try the TD Burger!

Great fish fry and excellent service! Salads and wraps are good healthy options too!

Nice to have Tony., whoops, Badger Tavern back! The place is clean, they did a nice upgrade of the bar area and reconfigured furniture placement and replaced a lot of it all together. Also nice to see a reasonably priced burger back on the menu along with some healthy alternatives. Plenty of help means good service in a nice clean place!
Looks like a nice steady business has returned so it looks like «The Clubhouse» is back stronger than ever!

For the most part, very little has changed at this location since it previous incarnation as Tony Franks Tavern. It still sports the familiar blue awning over the front entrance, has the same impressive L-​shaped bar and the iconic burger-​centric menu. There are differences if you look closely: the table tops are new, the new owners gave the joint a thorough cleaning and the service is significantly more attentive than it was during the Tony Franks death spiral. This confluence of factors seems to be a winning combination — the place was near capacity when I visited for lunch on a Tuesday in mid-​November.
I was promptly greeted as I entered and was instructed to find an open table. A cheerful server arrived a minute later to take my drink order. I let her know I needed to leave in 45 minutes, so I immediately ordered a corned beef Reuben sandwich with a half order of fries and silently wondered if the tiny kitchen could keep up with the sizable lunch crowd. As I waited for the food, I watched the staff in action and they energetically engaged with the lunch time patrons, especially the bartender. Despite the business, the noise level was not all that bad.
My order came in about five minutes and at first glance, passed the eye test. My fries had a gorgeous golden brown hue and the marble rye was well toasted from its ample time on the griddle. While the slices of bread used for my sandwich were not huge, the contents were generously portioned and poured out of the sandwich into the basket holding my meal. While the fries went from freezer to the freezer to the fryer, they were well prepared, perfectly seasoned and delightfully crunchy. Fortunately, the fries has enough flavor on their own because the «House Recipe» brand ketchup was way too sweet for my tastes– blech. Since none of the sandwiches on the menu come with a side, ordering a half order of fries for $ 1.99 is a solid option.
My Reuben ($ 7.95) was standard bar and grill fare with institutional grade ingredients. While the griddle work with the bread was solid, the generic corned beef needed more sear to add additional flavor, since the meat was on the bland side. The flavor that predominated my meal was the overpowering kraut that was copiously applied. The kitchen followed the standard script for assembling a Reuben without applying any unique touch — there was nothing memorable about this sandwich. While I didn’t order one, I do have to add that the burgers served at the neighboring tables looked outstanding.
While I’m glad this location has successfully re-​opened, the standard pub fare means I probably won’t become a regular. However, if that is what you seek, the Badger Tavern is worth checking out.

I am happy to see that Badger Tavern has opened it’s doors. Besides the signage, I don’t think much has changed since the Tony Frank’s days. The BT has a similar menu of it’s predecessor and I opted for the patty melt. Perfectly cooked with fried onions on marble rye, it was exactly what a patty melt should be. A little grease, a little ooze from the cheese, and full of flavor. With being open just over a week, service still needs a little tweaking with multiple waitstaff coming to a table to ask for an order. Not a huge deal-​eagerness is far better than apathy.
Happy to have a local tavern back in business.