Prairie House Food & Spirits

I was so excited to get a place like this outside of madison. But, after trying this place three times. I won’t be back. Although the menu reads well, the presentation, execution and quality of ingredients are all below average. Last time I tried the Ceasar salad thinking something that simple would be a safe bet. But, at $ 12.90 for the shrimp optiom, the Romain was oddly shredded like you would cabbage for slaw and I have had much better Ceasars dressings from a bottle. The croutons were not crunchy, but more old bread with a soft/​dry bread texture. The shrimp were very small and dry from being overcooked. Also of note was the mac and cheese which had a sauce just like the box kraft. Service has also been spotty each team I went.

I liked this place. I came here for a business lunch and was greeted by a nicely designed interior and a menu that features soups, sandwiches, burgers, a salad bar, and even some steaks and pasta. I was swayed into the buffalo chicken wrap lunch special. It also came with their frites aka french fries that included a light dusting of parmesan cheese and topped with chives.
They also had a number of good beers on tap that I unfortunately could not partake in. Overall a solid meal.

I’ve been to the Prairie House three times now. I work in Prairie du Sac and my cousin lives in Merrimac so I’m in the area often.
First of all, the Sauk Prairie area does not have tons of restaurants to choose from. I would say besides Green Acres, the Prairie House is the only other «nicer» restaurant in the area.
The first time was for dinner and I sat outside with two other people. The service was good and efficient, especially since we were outside. I had wine, the bacon wrapped shrimp and a side of macaroni and cheese. The shrimp were good and the Mac and cheese was yummy. We also shared the poutine which I enjoyed.
The second time I went was for a business lunch with 3 other guys. I had the prairie house burger, prairie fries and soup of the day. All were good and so was the service. One of the guys had a pasta dish made gluten free. Nice to have a place that can accommodate. They brought it out with bread though which was kind of funny since he gluten free pasta. We asked the waitress if the bread was gluten free and she said no.
The third time was today with 6 other people for lunch. I called ahead about 5 min and they sat us upstairs. The service was good and the only complaint would be on refills. She wasn’t bad and it is harder to have a table upstairs. I’d give her a ⁷⁄₁₀ on keeping the drinks full. Most of the guys had burgers and liked them a lot. I went with the chicken tenders and they were awesome. Made from scratch and very crispy.
I’d recommend coming here if you are in the area for sure. I’ll be back a lot for work lunches and sure the occasional night out as well. The décor is amazing compared to when it was masons and I think they will do very well!

We were very impressed with the menu and looked forward to ordering… it never happened. We waited and waited, rarely saw the wait staff, and when we did, they ignored us. One of our group had been sitting out on the patio and came in to tell us the restaurant was short staffed. That being said, present employees needed to give the impression that they cared to get to us. The hostess could have brought tables water, a basket of bread, anything. We got the impression that the staff resented being there. I have waitressed, and when someone was missing I knew it could mean more tips for me if I hustled. We had considered going back on a better day, but we probably won’t as we’re from out of town. Words of wisdom for the owner, train your staff !

I really hope to see this place succeed, very good food, and nice staff. However, I never know what I am going to encounter each time I visit. The first time I went in everything about the meal was great! Our waitress was awesome, fast and nice! The wait for our food wasn’t long and it was nice and hot!
The last couple times I’ve been in, we almost got up and walked out, they were not that busy, and we waited 25 minutes to get drinks, waited another 20 to order, and waited an hour and half for our food! Little unprofessional if you ask me. They need more staff and more cooks. Our pretzel braid was hard and cold, as well as the cheese it comes with. The rest of the meal was okay, not the best it’s been. I think they have some kinks to work out but I’d like to see them succeed!

Wow is all I can say. A very nice little restaurant. Often I am a little disappointed with the food and service when I am visiting family in South Central Wisconsin. Not the case with the Prairie House! very pleasant staff and really tasty food.

Love the food, love the service. High end quality food at super reasonable price. You definitely get your money’s worth

Our first experience at the Prairie House was fantastic. Our food and service was excellent! The décor inside is upscale along with an outside seating area that is great. 16 craft beers on tap and a delicious menu selection is sure to please all. This is our new favorite place!

I really like what the new tenants have done with the space. It’s a very comfortable/​welcoming restaurant and the bar looks like it would be a great place to watch a game. It’s a 5 minute walk from my house so I would really like to see these guys succeed. But while the décor is a big improvement over the previous restaurant, the food and service is a severe downgrade from Mason’s (which closed in December 2014).
We’re only a couple weeks in so I’m hoping they can work out the kinks but here’s what we encountered:
*Surprisingly wide variety of tap beers, good mix of local and national microbrews.
*We ordered poutine and our kids meals right away so we could get those ASAP. Waited an hour for those. They have reasonably priced kids options so that’s nice. And my first bite of the poutine was great, unfortunately it was inconsistently flavored and heated. So I would get hot/​cold bites and very salty bites.
*I ordered a NY strip, medium rare. It came out rare. Usually, I would be fine with this since I prefer undercooked to over cooked. But the piece of meat was a really poor cut. At $ 20.95, I wasn’t expecting an amazing steak, but I was hoping for something decent.
*My wife got the Rueben sandwich and while the flavor was good, it should have been sliced more finely. Not bad but not great she said.
*We were there for two hours and everything about the service was slow. Very polite, very nice but very slow.