Beef O'Brady's

Update 10/27/10: Beef O'Brady's is closed (thanks, Caissa!)

In a word: We've got no beef.

The specs: #0504  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, , listing at Eat Drink Madison; official web site.

JM ate the cheeseburger wrap and a lemonade.
John ate the grilled chicken salad.
Nichole ate the fish and chips.
Rose ate the baby back ribs.
The bill was $40, or $10/person, plus tip.
John gave Beef O'Brady's an A; JM gave Beef O'Brady's an A-; Nichole and Rose gave Beef O'Brady's a B (see our grading rubric).

Latest Beef O'Brady's news and reviews

Beef O'Brady's is a Tampa-based, family-aimed sports bar chain with just one franchise in Wisconsin. The Sun Prairie location shares a building with an athletic club and is decked out in the right UW sports paraphernalia. We found it more than one standard deviation better than Applebee's, but we wouldn't necessarily seek it out.

Nichole's fish and chips were fine, though she realized later that subbing in the (from-frozen) broccoli meant no chips, so who knows what those are like. The baby back ribs Rose tried had a honey BBQ sauce that was excellent, but the mashed potatoes were average. Neither Rose nor Nichole noticed much special about the pineapple coleslaw other than that it had bits of, well, pineapple in it. When you got a piece, you tasted it; otherwise, it had no effect on the mayo-based slaw.

John loved his grilled chicken salad, and said that the mushrooms were the best part. His only quibble was that the dressing container spit at him when he opened it. JM's cheeseburger wrap tasted exactly like a cheeseburger from Mickie D's (only in a good way), right down to the flavor of the pickle. The wrap in lieu of a bun didn't actually change the experience much. The fries were just like Arby's.

Before you think the fast food comparisons are just lazy, we use them with good reason. The menu happily cites its Kraft and Campbell's affiliations, for what that's worth. At least there's no affiliation with Sysco that we could suss out.

We thought it was interesting that the men ordered and really enjoyed the "healthier" fare while the women ordered standard pub grub and thought it was just OK.  Beef O'Brady's seems to be a chain that's on the right side of bland and vanilla, though going as far as this into Sun Prairie should depend on how close you were in the first place. 

Comments

[Bradd Piontek]

I'm a bit surprised to see the high ratings on this place. We used to view this as a very family-friendly Sports Pub with a good menu for ribs and wings. We visited just after the new year (or maybe it was just before).

1. Service was not up to par with the previous times we've been there (5+
2. The menu had changed.
3. The wing sauces have always been spotty (especially the hot buffalo). it left much to be desired. We have stopped giving them our business after the last debacle of service.

[Caissa]

From what I saw (over Twitter), this place is closed and has been replaced by Buck and Honey's: http://www.buckandhoneys.com/
Looks completely different.