The Fountain

Don’t come here, they can’t handle any more customers.
7:30 on Friday evening– «sorry, we’re out of spotted cow» «sorry, we’re out of block party» «sorry, we’re out of Pimm’s» «sorry, we’re out of the pulled pork» «sorry, we’re out of the soup of the day»
Asked us how we wanted the burgers done, and we told them various temperatures. No fewer than 75 minutes later, we were presented with burgers, one at a time, with no mention of the temperature (they were all the same). Some of the burgers came out, then 10 more minutes passed, then almost all of the rest of the food came out. One member of our party was completely forgotten. Fries were burnt to a crisp, burgers were fine but not worth $ 15.
Yes, some of our food was comped for this. No, I still won’t be going back here.

The Fountain used to be great … it did truly have the best burgers in town, great curds and good fries … but sadly it has experienced a serious downturn in quality … new and unimpressive menu … and the food we ordered from the blah menu was not even good.
No longer lives up to my previous review of 6÷13÷2015

They were out of many ingredients/​dishes for a Friday night dinner. Fries and sweet potato fries were just not good. Grilled cheese was also disappointing. My husband like his burger, but they didn’t have all of the ingredients of their signature burger. Drinks were good though.

Not recommended for parties over 5. Slow kitchen. Attentive wait staff.

Don’t know how many stars to give this? Unilocal says they are open but they aren’t. Walked a long way to try the food. Super disappointed!

The Fountain Burger = the best burger in Madison! I’d give them 5 stars but my only hang up was our experience when we first arrived: we entered the doors off State St, and it was unclear where to go to be seated, no signs, no host. We wandered down the hall to the bar and asked a gentleman sitting down at the bar if he worked there. He then sat us in a booth and got the server. After that it was OUTSTANDING. Great wine too, great sweet potato fries and seasoned fries, and the burger was outrageously good.

Didn’t live up to the Unilocal-​photo hype. I ordered a hamburger with a side of fries and cheese curds as an appetizer (they looked amazing based on some of the photos posted). Overall the meal was bland. My burger wasn’t special and the fries had a strange sugary taste to them. My friends also agreed that the fries were barely eatable. The cheese curds were OK but many other places in the Madison-​area offer much, much better. Service was good, wait time was nonexistent when I visited.

Came here around 5pm on a Saturday night. Completely dead. Decided to give it a try because we were hungry. Our server/​bartender knew nothing about the beers that were on tap. Ordered cheese curds which were very tasty. I got the fountain burger and my sister got a Rueben sandwich. Both very good. The food is nothing to complain about. The staff is very odd. Large restaurant that is split up into two sections. While our server was taking our order, a cook of some sort came up to her and handed her a sandwich, presumably for the bar. Unprofessional and weird. Our food came out shortly after our app of curds. Our «server» showed up and the cook who ran our food yelled at the server, «Haley, you gotta run your own food!» In front of us. Just very odd staff. I don’t enjoy being made uncomfortable when I am going out to eat. Maybe if it was busier and the staff wasn’t walking around like they had nothing to do, it would be more enjoyable.

I’d give it 3.5 stars if I could.
The Fountain is kind of weird. It’s split into two sections, sometimes has nice, fairly unobtrusive live music, and is generally pretty empty. The food is fine, but nothing special. In terms of their menu and pricing it seems like they’re competing with the Old Fashioned. The problem is that their food isn’t as good as the OF’s and their portions, while ample, don’t compare. The menu is also fairly short. They make a solid burger, fairly average sandwiches, and not much else.
Service is always friendly, but there are some bizarre hiccups. Two people in our party of six ordered grilled cheese and it came out at least seven or eight minutes before everyone else’s entrée. As the waiter explained, «Grilled cheese doesn’t take as long to cook.» Umm, yeah, I know– that’s why you wait a few minutes to start it.
I do have to say that these guys have hands down the best Bloody Mary in Madison. The garnish is incredible– they gave me thick slices of cheddar cheese, summer sausage, and a friggin’ barbecue shrimp. Hot damn.
Edit: I attended an event at the Fountain tonight with catered food and a cash bar. The food was awful– baked fish was horribly over cooked– and the Bloody Mary came with a slice of lemon and a slice of lime. Goodbye awesome garnish and goodbye third star.

Stopped here for cheesecurds and a few beers. The curds are a bite of heaven with very light breading… very light, almost nonexistent breading. #wortheverycalorie

Gave this place a try on Thursday night! What a great stop. I enjoyed the naked beer they had on tap and grabbed an awesome burger to go with it. The burger was ground fresh in house cooked just the way I asked served on a pretzel bun and topped with some melted cheese. The burger was absolutely delicious and so juicy. It was served with some perfectly seasoned fresh cut fries. You are missing out if you don’t give this place a try.

We went into this place impulsively because it was near our hotel and we were famished. The place was pretty much empty at 430 so we got the funny bartender’s antics all to ourselves. That part was fine. The fish fry, unfortunately, was quite disappointing. Portions were smallish and the fish lacked flavor and seemed overdone. Or something. Fries were meh. It just simply didn’t pop. We asked if they had malt vinegar for that British fish and chips touch and they brought back cider vinegar. I do not recommend cider vinegar as a condiment. Anyway, really nice staff, decent ambience. Ok place but maybe just skip it if you’re in the mood for fish and chips.

I like going here on Taco Tuesdays. They offer $ 1.50 beef tacos, $ 2.00 chicken tacos, and $ 2.00 pork tacos. I really recommend the chicken and pork. They come topped with cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro, onion and your choice of mild or hot salsa. I was really impressed with the fact that they use double corn tortillas instead of the tasteless flour tortillas that most places use. Their fries are also really good, so get those too, However, I do not recommend the beef tacos. I’ve had the beef tacos on one occasion and there was something off about the flavor. I’ve heard good things about their burger, so I’ll have to try that soon. As of now, I’ll be seeing you all on Tuesdays!

I’m very confused. How does this place have a high rating?
The space is bizarre but could be kitschy if it weren’t for the service, food and cleanliness (or lack thereof).
We sat at the bar and the new bartender didn’t know how to make an old fashioned. Wow.
Piano player is a cool touch but it doesn’t make up for the shortcomings on every other level.

My favorite thing about this place is the ability for small appetizer style ordering. I often want several things off the menu and I love that their appetizers are well priced and portioned so that I can order 2 or 3 and satisfy my fickle ordering nature.
I ordered a housemade seasonal pasta dish, pickled vegetables appetizers and a slider. Their slider is totally worth it at $ 3. It even comes with a little bit of fries. It’s the perfect size. The pickle dish was also delicious. It’s drizzled with a reduced balsamic vinegar giving it the perfect sweetness to balance the acidity. I found their pickled ground cherries delightful, and for someone who normally doesn’t like mushrooms, their pickled mushrooms had a beautiful meaty flavor without being slimy. I wasn’t super wowed by their pasta dish, but it’s listed as seasonal on the menu so it changes and I would definitely be interested in their other pastas.
The Fountain is also a pretty nice music venue. I like that when there is a band, it’s not so loud that I can’t hear my dining partner if we leaned in a bit, but also loud enough that I can tune out the other patrons determined to talk over the music. The entrance to this place is a little odd, but overall, a charming place.

This place is often overlooked, but it shouldn’t be!
Things I’ve tried:
Fountain Burger — I’ve had a lot of good burgers in Madison and this one is high up there. The aged cheddar is so rich it dominates the palate but still plays nice with the other toppings. This is a very tall burger but I was somehow still able to bit into it without everything being forced out the backend. Highly recommend if you don’t mind $ 15 for the burger.
Cheese curds — I’ve been a long time fan of OF’s but these just might be better! I enjoy that they are lightly breaded and didn’t seem as greasy as most places. The ranch was also pretty good but was more of a mild flavor that complimented the natural flavor of the curds nicely.

We will DEFINITELY be back… the food was great, the server was super friendly and attentive (but not annoying/​let us sit and chat too) and the atmosphere of the dining area can’t be beat… a definite gem in the Madison area that I would not have guessed from walking by it in the past…
The burgers were huge and cooked perfectly! I would definitely recommend «The Fountain» burger. Super yummy!

I’m disappointed. I came with such high hopes from other reviews and found that the burgers are not that fabulous after all.
Yes yes. I love the vibe, I am curious and am planning to be back for live music.
The place was kinda confusing. I entered from the front door at state street, saw a drumset and a bar but there was no one to help us. So my boy and I headed to the area at the dark area at the back and finally saw something like a reception. FYI, there’s the front bar and back bar…
So what to try?
Cheese curds was good as mentioned. The crumbs were special, reminding me of a fish fry batter at Long John Silver’s if you ever had it. But i still prefer the ones at Graze cos the ones at fountain have empty cheese curds (batter with no cheese)
Fried onion straws — similar to the old fashioned.
Skip the following, BOO!!!
Pulled pork sliders. Not enough sauce so the pork was rather dry. Taste was good. And it was cheap and came with chips. The server was so puzzled about us getting the 2 free toppings -.-
Fountain burger — no patties here please. It was supposed to be medium rare and turned out charred on all sides

A hidden gem!
I’ve worked in this area for about a year now and thought I had found all the good lunch spots in the capitol square area. Add this one to the list!
Came here with some colleagues for lunch during the week. There are two areas, the front— which is mostly a bar area. The back area– which also has a bar, but more dining tables. Our service was great and so was the food. If you’re on the search for good cheese curds, check this place out. They were light and gooey and the ranch matched perfectly (funny, but true). They’re hand breaded and locally sourced from Westby, WI.
I had the rueben which was pretty solid. picture attached. And yes, finally a restaurant that takes their cole slaw seriously. Very good.
My co-​worker had the Shaved Ribeye Sandwich. The dude wouldn’t shut up about how good it was! He kept saying stuff like «this sandwich changed my life» and «Wow, I didn’t even need to dip it in Au Jus.» He had a cup of the beer cheese soup which was also very good.
Add this place to your list.

Some friends and I popped in to The Fountain for a post-​dinner drink last weekend. We went with their special of the night, screwdrivers with fresh-​squeezed OJ. It was pulp-​free and you couldn’t taste the vodka, so it was fine by me (I’m not a big fan of OJ or vodka).
The bartender (and presumable owner) was very friendly and very excited about their food menu — it’s nice to see someone who is passionate about what they’re doing.
The bar is warmly lit and has an old-​timey feel, and they did a great job of opening the flow between the front and back room, something the former occupant TIki Shack lacked. I’m interested to give them another go-​round.