Per usual the meal was well prepared and attractively presented.
Excellent service. Special drink and dessert for my birthday.
My husband and I chose Merchants to celebrate our 30 anniversary. The specialty drink menu was fun and our meals were outstanding! The locally sourced beef and chicken were perfectly prepared and seasoned. (My mouth is watering now as I think of my meal.) Our dinner was topped off with a complimentary dessert and glasses of champagne. Thank you to Merchants and Anna, our server, for a wonderful evening!
Merchant is always a good place. Our server was amazing. We had fondue which was good but not great. Too much wine and we probably would have preferred some cheddar or gruyere mixed in. Other than that, it is no small thing to feel cared for and taken care of. Thanks to the entire team.
Very enjoyable, great service from Trent! Craft cocktails were excellent as well as the cheese and meat board. Will be back!
Best part was that they had very nice vegetarian dinner option on the menu
Food is always great service really lacked this time. Steak and eggs . Steak underdone- eggs overdone. Server never checked after serving till we were done. Yes comped off bill but would of rather eaten it. Scotch eggs are always amazing, and French toast is to die for.
We had a celebratory dinner at Merchant, and as I had indicated on the reservation it was a celebration they gave our table a complimentary Prosecco toast, which was a lovely touch. The cocktails are inventive and delicious, the food was amazing (especially the buffalo cheese curds). I would definitely recommend Merchant, and would dine there again if I happen to be in Madison.
Great Cocktails!
Best cheese curds in town!
At times, a little loud but a fun place to meet for cocktails, appetizers and dinner.
Fantastic food & drink in a cool place off the square, top notch!
This place did not disappoint! It was even better in person. I love the creativity of the drink menu and the cocktail and food were amazing!
Great cocktails as always. Fondue was good too. The server took good care of us, and made sure to explain the menu when we were confused.
Outstanding food. We had scallops, chicken and lamp sausage dinners. All were great. Specialty craft cocktails. Super friendly and efficient wait staff and front of house. Will go back.
We visited Merchant during Chef's Week for the Whiskey Brunch. Service was excellent and quick, even though they were very busy. The menu creatively incorporated Whiskey or bourbon into traditional brunch items.
Went here for brunch and the food was amazing! It is on the pricier side but definitely worth it!
If you want to hear each other in the restaurant, you need to sit in a back hallway which faces the restrooms and the ATM machine, i.e. negative ambience. On the positive side, the food was delicious, and my birthday "cake" was a wonderful flourless chocolate cake.
Food was great, their boards are really delicious. Pricier than what we are used to but you get what you pay for. Artisan meats all the way.
Invited friends to join me for cocktails and dinner. Everyone loved their meal. Best burger ever! Still love the squash dumplings. It's hard to try new places in Madison when I love Merchant so much!
Drinks were amazing as always and food was good. Waitstaff was friendly but kitchen was slow.
Love the food and service it gets a bit loud. Overall great place to dine.
Met friends for brunch. They had not been there before. He had eggs benedict, she had French toast; and barely a crumb was left. My husband loved the Pozole. I liked my omelet a lot, but I loved the crispy potatoes that came with it. The server was very nice and quick to accommodate when asked, but there were some long waits in between check-ins to see if we needed anything. Not crazy about the 80s music playing in the background; too loud, too energetic for a Sunday morning.
Wonderful craft cocktails and food. I could have stayed longer to just read the stories in the menu book.
Love the craft cocktails and yummy grassfed burgers
French toast was so good, eggs were cooked perfect server was top notch
Delicious overall meal before the symphony. Friendly, attentive staff helped create a fun atmosphere. Cocktail was delicious, as expected, and the red wine was also tasty. Lamb and pork sliders were a yummy flavor combo along with the garlic aioli and cranberry relish if my tastebuds remember correctly. The smokey califlower soup was surprisingly flavorful and everyone in my party loved it. Buttermilk salad was disappointingly gloppy and bland, but everything else was spot on. I will be back!
One of my favorite Madison restaurants! I have never had a bad meal here, and would recommend for small groups or date night. The ploughman's board is a must have!
locally sourced, seasonal food. great atmosphere, and they have their own liquor store. What's not to like?!
For the price, there should not have been so many simple under/overseasoning missteps in the entrees. Appetizers (cheese curds and brussels sprouts) were tasty but much less quantity than you'd recieve elsewhere, and wouldn't rank on my own top 10 in Madison list for either dish. Our server was excellent though! Very attentive, although there was difficulty communicating at times with how incredibly noisy it is here.
Our waitress was outstanding - incredibly attentive and took my food allergies very seriously (since it's something that can be in a lot of dishes). She went above and beyond. It was Valentine's Day so it was a price fixed three course menu. We were unimpressed with the dinner entree selection for the price comparison. While the lamb was great, the pasta and fish dishes were nothing special and the pasta portion plating looked incredibly small in comparison to the lamb entree. It just made things look off balanced. Wine pairs were a nice touch, but a $3 different isn't much to make it a nicety.
Over priced, lacked flavor and too loud.
We love Merchant. We had a great waiter and the food and drinks were fantastic as usual. Love the atmosphere too!
Ate at Merchant w/my two college age children, ordered papardelle & two burgers, cheese curds. papardlle was a small portion of heavily tomato flavored unidimensional dish that was mostly noodles ($22) and the burgers were average. I've been to Merchant twice before both times for drinks. I'd summarize that this is a good place to go for a specialty cocktail and munchies but not for the food.
The service was a little slow waiting for our entrees. And while most of the entrees were a decent price, it seemed that $30 for 3 scallops was too high-we were expecting more.
Celebrated a birthday but no acknowledgement by wait staff.
Food was ok... not terribly hot.
Great service food and craft cocktails
We were there early about 5 o’clock before a badger game. It worked out great and was a nice alternative to unload busy bar. Loved The brussels sprouts, lamb sliders in Port proper deal. Honey cinnamon cake was a bit dry for our liking but everything else was great. Thanks
We love Merchant! The cocktail menu is the best, and the food is the same! Never disappointed!
We went this place for restaurant week. Second course menu came out little late, but besides that, everything else were beyond expectation.
Food and drink were amazing. Will likely return to try more of the drinks and small plates.
We recently visited Merchant for Restaurant Week in Madison. We love the vibe, and had dinner right before the DJ started (he came on at 10:30pm). After dinner, the dance scene was a lot of fun, too. Make sure to try the different cocktails when you visit!