Sweeney's Oakcrest Tavern

In a word: Packs 'em in.

The specs: #0622  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Madison Fish Fry, A. V. Club, Restaurantica, Waunaburger, A Hamburger Today, Eat Drink Madison; Facebook,

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JM ate the chicken teriyaki burger with a lemonade.
John R. ate the grilled chicken sandwich with a diet Dr Pepper.
John W. ate the pork tenderloin sandwich with small fries and a soda.
Nichole ate the special grilled cheese with a cup of chili and two Winter Skals.
Rose ate the ribeye sandwich with a caffeine free diet Coke.
We split two orders of onion rings.
The bill was $60, or $12/person, plus tip.
JM and Nichole gave Sweeney's Oakcrest Tavern an A-; John, John W. and Rose gave Sweeney's Oakcrest Tavern a B+ (see our grading rubric).

Sweeney's is tucked away on Old Middleton Rd. across from Knoche's, which is where they get their burger meat. The place was full. The warmth and wood paneling made Rose and John feel like they'd walked into a bar in Black River Falls. As a personal bonus, this visit let us finally make it up to John W. for the Segredo-meal-that-wasn't.

Fortunately, food was both available and decent. John W.'s pork tenderloin sandwich with BBQ sauce had good flavor and was tender; it was nothing spectacular, but a fine sandwich nonetheless.

Rose and John happened to order exactly the same thing they got at Slice's, the last neighborhood bar we visited. John's chicken sandwich had real grill lines and was better than average. He would have liked a slice of tomato but was happy there was no mayo. Rose's ribeye was cooked medium as as she requested, and again she wished for a steakknife, but it was hard to catch the server's eye. Deja vu?

Because no one could convince JM to order another summer sausage sandwich (though it's on Sweeney's menu too) he and Nichole didn't repeat their Slice-o-history. Instead, he got a chicken teriyaki sandwich. It was sweet and fruity all the way around. A thick slice of grilled pineapple was a welcome taste of summer as the snow fell outside.

Nichole's special grilled cheese was two kinds of cheese and all kinds of good. The cup of chili was packed with beef and tomatoes and light on the kidney beans. 

We liked that the sandwich menu was a la carte, rather than the basket-with-cheap-potato-chips model common at bars. We therefore splurged on two orders of onion rings, which were sweet and salty in a cornmeal batter.

The menu is broad, and includes a surprising number of seafood options (clam strips, Wednesday and Friday fish fry, salmon as Caesar salad add, and sandwiches with tilapia, salmon, or grouper), and cookies from La Brioche True Food for dessert. Sweeney's is worth a look.

Comments

[Jeff]

It's too bad no one got a burger - this place has one of the best hamburgers in town!