Charlie's on Main

This was a wonderful choice for a night out that provided an unexpected and fun experience. Well waiting for a table for our party of two on a Friday night we chose to go to the second bar, which is the speakeasy downstairs. There are no run-of-the-mill cocktails, if you want the usual sit at the upstairs bar. The speakeasy is all about making a unique creation catered to your likes, whether it be flavors, hobbies or dreams. A wide selection of distilled spirits and unusual liqueurs create a drink that will have you excited to come up with another. The concept of the speakeasy by Chef Dave is unlike any other bar experience we've ever had. He and Ashley made a great team. When we were called to dinner upstairs we started with the spicy shrimp appetizer and the sauce was wonderful. Chef Dave is the king of sauce! I had the keto bowl and it's hard to imagine returning and not having it again because it was stupendous!! My dinner date had the gyro which was also very good, that he plans to order the keto bowl next time.

It's kinda like gluten free heaven. My mom and husband are gluten free and this place can make almost anything gluten free. So they got to have all their old favorites. Even an onion bloom. Fish fry. Etc. And they have a really cool speakeasy that's open Friday and Saturday which has the sweetest surprise ever. Can't wait to go back.

Arrived for the end of happy hour. Good prices for drinks. Got happy hour cheese curds. Appears to be half the amount of the non happy hour serving of curds, do less for the lesser price. Curds were fantastic with a tangy sauce for dipping. Great Gish Fry dinner and Thai Peanut chicken on rice noodles. Raspberry Cheesecake was a huge slice to share and would have licked that plate, but showed great restraint. Cocktails in the Speakeasy were delectable. Fun atmosphere with Chef Dave preparing them. Have yo return...more entrees to try and cocktails to consume.

Charlie’s on Main in Oregon, WI (southern suburb of Madison) was definitely voted “Best of Madison” and “Best Chef” for a reason...everything on the menu is gluten free or it can be made gluten free. I started with gluten free fried cheese curds. They were $8 and came in a large basket. Probably didn’t need to order an entre but I caved into peer pressure...definitely was not disappointed with the Wisconsin Bacon Mac n Cheese (in the shape of Wisconsin too). Huge portion and great flavors!! For dessert I had the cheesecake with raspberry and bourbon flavor. The cream was very soft and moist and the crust had the perfect cinnamon crunch combination. I also had a local Wisconsin gluten free beer. Service was outstanding too!! Going to have to make another trip from Iowa to Wisconsin soon!!

Really tasty fish fry. The fries are Brasserie V quality, but they ran out of garlic aioli. Lots of gluten free options, plus nearly everything else on the menu can be made gluten free. Good cheese curds. The speakeasy downstairs through the bookshelf door is pretty cool. The chef was hanging out making craft cocktails while we were waiting for our table. No normal bar drinks were available in the speakeasy; the chef asked for some flavors, came up with something unique, and asked who wanted in on the drink.