Draft House

In a word: The Very Good Dane.

The specs: #0348
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Madison Beer Review, 77 Square, ; official web site.

JM ate the barbecue chicken sandwich with chips and a lemonade.
John ate the ribeye steak wrap with fries and a diet Sierra Mist.
Nichole ate the vegetable beef soup and the Irish egg rolls with a diet Pepsi.
Rose ate the spinach artichoke dip and an iced tea.
We split an order of onion rings.
The bill was $44 plus tip.
Rose gave Draft House an A; JM and John gave Draft House an A-; Nichole gave Draft House a B.

In the middle of three make-up trips to Verona, the Draft House seemed to us like just another new building amidst development along the Madison side of Verona. It's hard to say what to expect from such places since other newbies like Byrd's and Erin's have been somewhat disappointing - marginal in more than one sense of the word - and how is it even possible that the area needs another pub?

A large chalkboard above the Draft House door taunted us with beer selections that were no longer offered, leaving fair-to-middling options that failed to sell us on the "draft" part of the house. (As an aside, Draft House's web site is one of the more better-maintained sites we've seen, with daily specials and soups posted with today's date every time we checked. How often is the web more up-to-date than the chalkboard?) We appreciated the way our server broke the beer news to us gently as well as her all-around skill and tableside manner.

As for the food, there's nothing like starting on a high note, namely this homemade beef vegetable soup. Tomatoes, carrots, corn, green beans, mushrooms, celery and even broccoli and cauliflower - an interesting choice but not too bitter - accompanied tender corned beef  in a savory broth. Potatoes were not missed, as the soup was plenty hearty already. It did benefit from a dash of salt but that's so much better than the alternative that we can hardly call it a flaw. Half-joking, we asked for the recipe, but the soup expert wasn't working during our visit. Being homemade, the soup may have its good and bad days; we'd be interested to hear if it's always up to par.

Rose found the party-food dish of spinach and artichoke dip to be excellent, warmed up and flavorful. The quantity was large enough for leftovers as well.  At no time did she stop commenting on how much she was enjoying her dish.

Though John's prime rib wrap fell apart due to not being tucked in sufficiently, it was very tasty, with tender meat, melted cheese, onions, and red and green bell peppers.

JM's barbecue chicken sandwich was a little dry, but ultimately was what he was looking for.  The burger dynamic of such restaurants is a little tiring and having just come off Dexter's, he was glad for another option. The fries were coated and delicious and the lemonade was good. He was very happy for the meal.

The only thing that really stood out on the menu to Nichole was the weirdly compelling idea of the "Irish egg roll." (Mock her if you will.) The standard egg roll wrapper was laid in with the right ratio of ingredients: a thinly sliced piece of corned beef, a forkful of sauerkraut, and just enough Swiss cheese to hold it all together. Fried to medium-toughness, yet still easy to bite through, the rolls could not escape the predictable fate of getting sogged out on the bottom. Still, it was an interesting Reubenesque twist on bar food.

The menu needs a little more inventiveness to warrant notice by foodies. But on the whole we were not disappointed by this place and though Dexter's Pub may have overshadowed our experience because of their advantage in the novelty of menu items (including beers), Draft House is all clean lines and finished wood for when your pub dining experience needs to look corporate.