Hilldale's Year of Turnover: What Opened, What's Still Coming, and the Corner Still Waiting on a Name

On November 8, the Great Dane's Hilldale pub will have been closed for a full year. It was a 19-year anchor at 357 Price Place. Since it closed, Hilldale has added an Italian restaurant, an ice cream shop and a clothing store, and it has a Mediterranean chain on the way. Hilldale's own directory doesn't list a replacement for the pub's old address.

That gap shows how Hilldale is changing. In 2026 the large dining rooms have gone to national brands. The one Madison-founded business to open this year arrived in a space the size of a cupcake shop. For anyone who walks Midvale Boulevard on a Saturday, that changes what a Hilldale afternoon looks like.

The pub that said why it was leaving

When the Great Dane announced the closing on September 15, 2025, it was unusually direct about the reason. The company cited a changing restaurant and retail environment and "falling revenues at the Hilldale Pub."

"Ultimately, the financial challenges were too much for us to continue operating at Hilldale," said Eliot Butler, founder and president, in the company's release.

The Great Dane didn't leave the area. Its Downtown flagship on Doty Street, its Fitchburg pub and its East Madison location all kept operating, and brewing continues Downtown and in Fitchburg. For west siders, though, the closest Great Dane pint now means a drive somewhere else. And the Hilldale spot where you could settle in for a long, local, sit-down dinner hasn't been replaced in kind.

A year of swaps, space by space

Look at it address by address and the pattern is easy to see.

One of these changes is a restaurant-for-restaurant swap. Another is a dessert shop replacing another dessert shop. The Great Dane's address is the only one on the list with no successor named.

The local name came in small

Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream opened at 554 N. Midvale Blvd. on April 1. Opening day started at noon with one free scoop per person. Madison Magazine reported that the shop filled the space GiGi's Cupcakes left when it closed the previous September.

The company goes back further than most of Hilldale. It started as an independent ice cream shop on Monona Drive in 1962. Today it has eight Madison-area locations and more than 100 flavors, including gluten-free, soy-free and vegan options. The owner told Madison Magazine why he chose Hilldale:

"As a locally owned business for over 60 years, connecting with the vibrant Madison community has always been our priority, and Hilldale, with its unique mix of local favorites and great atmosphere, is the perfect new home for us."

So the Madison-made stop at Hilldale this year is a cone, not a dinner reservation. That makes for a different kind of outing. You can grab a scoop on the walk back to the car, but you won't spend two hours there.

The big rooms went national

The larger restaurant spaces filled differently. Before the deal was done, the Cap Times reported that North Italia, an Italian chain owned by the parent company of The Cheesecake Factory, would take over the Hilldale space most recently home to Amara. NBC15 reported on September 2 that it had officially opened at 670 N. Midvale Blvd. Executive chef Catie Swimm and general manager Ali Scherer lead the local team. The restaurant serves weekday lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and a weekday happy hour.

That schedule covers much of what the Great Dane used to handle at Hilldale: a weekday lunch spot, a place for an after-work drink, and a weekend brunch table for visiting family.

Next comes CAVA, and it will be Madison's first. NBC15 reported on September 14 that it would open at Hilldale "this fall," next to Chase Bank and LaserAway. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that a Community Day with free meals is planned before the opening, with donations matched up to $1,000. Hilldale's own CAVA tenant page still says "Coming Soon," and the State Journal reported that Hilldale didn't have a more exact date. Watch for the Community Day announcement. It's the clearest sign the opening is close, and it's the one day the meal is free.

The shops are moving the same direction. Hilldale lists Reformation as now open. In February, NBC15 reported that this would be the brand's first Wisconsin store. Hilldale's directory also had Pottery Barn and Sunglass Hut marked "Coming Soon" as of late July.

What's left on this fall's calendar

As national names fill in, the outdoor programming is what still gives Hilldale its neighborhood feel. That programming reaches its seasonal end this Saturday.

1. Saturday, October 31. The Hilldale farmers market has run Wednesdays and Saturdays since May 2. Halloween morning is the last market of the 2026 season.
2. Saturday, November 21. The Dane County Farmers' Market moves indoors for its Holiday Market at Monona Terrace, 1 John Nolen Drive.
3. Saturday, December 5. Two options on one morning. The Holiday Market is back at Monona Terrace and closes at 1 p.m. Warner Park Community Recreation Center hosts its HolidayFest Arts & Crafts Fair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the City expects 45 crafters.
4. Saturdays, December 12 and 19. The last two Holiday Market dates before Christmas.

Hilldale's events calendar doesn't list any 2026 holiday dates yet. Last year's Santa page shows dates from late November through December 23, but those were 2025 dates. Wait for the center to post this year's schedule before you plan a photo.

The corner at 357 Price Place

Hilldale's tenant directory from late July lists neither the Great Dane nor a replacement at that address.

That space matters more than any other at Hilldale. The other turnover this year was like-for-like. A cupcake shop became an ice cream shop, and Amara's room became North Italia. For 19 years the pub was a big sit-down room run by Madison's first brewpub, pouring Great Dane beer. Whoever signs that lease will decide whether Hilldale keeps a Madison-founded dinner table or adds another national menu along Midvale.

If you live near Hilldale and wonder how all this change affects a street, a block or a home you care about, we're glad to talk it through. We follow the west side space by space, the same way you do. Call or text Madison Lifestyle. Let's talk neighborhoods.